Visa and carnet
 

Hallo everybody !
Planning a long but fast trip . From
The Netherlands to Togo , before Christmas , fly back , leave ( sell ) the car in Togo or Ghana ,
Passing the Med over to Ceuta , to the Mauri border , it is all straight forward .
As I read on the Forum , through Mauri also , now that "the road " is ready .
But after that : Senegal , Mali , Burkina , Ghana , Togo .
As the car is definitly more than 5 years old , we can expect the works . Does that mean that some Senegal Custom Officer will be driving with us , from Rosso to the Mali border ?
( As we don't want , cannnot , buy a Carnet , because we will be selling the car and return home without it...)
About Visa : I do know we can obtain one at the Maroc-Mauri border , but what about Mali , Burkina , Ghana and Togo...???
For information about those two topic's I will be very gratefuul !
Also for any other info . about subjects for this trip .
Many Thanks beforehand ,
Peter Peters
P.S.
I do know about the most essentials , I made two trips already with friends and one trip alone by myself , my friend who will be accompying me , (much) more than that ...
Peter



------------------

No carnet? Skip Senegal!

Sam.

"No carnet skip Senegal?" I understood a carnet was not necessary for Senegal and am planning to cross into there from Mauritania without one. Does anyone know the definitive position on this?

maybe someone with greater knowledge than I can can clarify this, but my understanding is that the carnet needs to be signed out of the country when you leave it (with the vehicle) after that what you do with the vehicle is up to you. i.e selling it at your destination is no problem as long as it has been signed out of the countries that require Carnets

Andy
Landy 101 Ambie
Toyota Landcruiser
Morris minor traveller!

Skip Senegal!
You can get...
Visa for Mali in NKT, Mauritania
Burkina on the border
Ghana in Bamako, Mali (NOT on border!)
Togo in Accra (or poss on border).



------------------
Simon

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tstories/fitzpatrick

There's no need to skip Senegal when you don't have a carnet. The carnet is only an issue at the Mauri-Senegal border. (Rosso and Diama). When you enter Senegal from other countries like Mali, Guinee, Guinee Bissau and Gambia you'll be offered the passavant. This is only valuable for max eight days. You could get into trouble when you try to extinguish this paper at one of the custom-offices inside the country. But probably you won't, except for the Saint Louis custom office.

One of our groups enterd Senegal last monday from Mali at the Dibola - Kidira borderpost without problems.

Just add one week to you're trip. From Nouakchott (where you can easily obtain a visum for Mali) drive to the city of Ayoun el Atrous on the Route d'Espoir (Nouakchott - Nema). Then take the new road to Nioro. Be prepared for a section of 100 kilometres bad piste (Nioro - Diema) From here you can take the new road to Kayes - Kidira - Tambacounda (Senegal) which is in an excellent condition right now.

All this is so much more rewarding than driving along the coast. Although you have to add almost 2000 kilometers to the total of your distance.

Marius
www.transsahara.nl

Making the detour through Mali is an interesting alternative to buying a carnet.
How much do they charge for the passavant at the border between Mali and Senegal. Is it remarkably cheaper to obtain such a passavant than paying a custom officer to escort you through Senegal, or is this option no longer available? Does anybody know the current price for joining the custom convoy. The convoy is probably just rushing through or is it possible to take some time.

Thanks a lot
Hans

If you enter Senegal via Roso the convoy is obligatory. To Gambia it costs ca 230 euro, to mali, Conakry or Bissau 300 euro. You tend to drive straight through although night stops are allowed.

In Diama the passavant is available by a bribe for between 75 and 125 euros depending on your bargaining skill and who is on the desk. It is valid for 8 days.

There are no problems prolonging the passavant although I wouldnt do it in St Louis.

Kind thanks for your replies. Unfortunately you've all given me bad news!

I am committed to a trip of only five weeks from the UK of which I would like one week on the Adrar plateau for some 'desert riding' and a week at the end to sort out shipping of my bike back home. I therefore will not have time to do the 2,000k detour in Mali (of course I would like to do it if the time was available, as well as a trip to timbuctou etc!). It is also a concern that even the non-Mauritanian borders of Senegal seem to have a rather hit and miss procedure for vehicle entry.

I have booked a flight out of Gambia so I am committed to entering Senegal. This was based on the fact that the guide books seemed to be saying that a carnet was not required for Senegal and I suppose strictly speaking it is not.

Travelling in a convoy is not really my cup of tea. I suppose I am going to have to get a carnet but if anyone can offer any additional suggestions as to how I can get round this problem given my travel constraints I would be very grateful.