Have Carnet for Eastern African Route, Forgot to Add Ethiopia...

[Remy]

Hi Guys,
Long story short, I forgot to add Ethiopia to my carnet so I was wondering what to do as I have no desire to go near the apparent peril in the south of Sudan. Anyone have any advice or experience as to how I can get into Ethiopia? I have a carnet for the rest of the countries from Egypt to South Africa. Thanks in advance for your time.
Cheers,
Remy

[Ekke]

Hi Remy,

You don't mention when you are leaving on your trip but changing your carnet shouldn't take more than a couple of weeks. Tanzania was the most expensive country on the list for us (at 100% duty) so I don't think it will be any additional cost (aside from the courier fees and admin costs) to change the carnet.

Just phone Suzanne Danis at the CAA and I'm sure she'll be able to help.

Depending on your aversion to risk, if you choose not to change the carnet, you could simply try going in to Ethiopia and hope they don't notice that Ethiopia is crossed off the back of the document.

Oh, I hope you aren't planning to skip Sudan because it was one of the absolute highlights of our trip. The "standard" route down from Wadi Halfa to Khartoum and Ethiopia is nowhere near the Darfur region and therefore fairly "safe".

[Remy]

Hi Ekke,
I'm in Turkey on my way south right now. I'm not too sure how long it will take to get there (probably two months at least) but I'm happy to spend some time idle in Egypt if I need to wait for the carnet. I guess I'll contact Mrs. Danis today and see if she can sort me out somehow. Thanks for the quick response.

[Remy]

After a quick search through my old documentation, it turns out I did add Ethiopia after all on my original CAA application, it is just not typed anywhere (either crossed out or legible) on the back of my Canadian Auto Association Carnet. Does that mean with one of my tear out pages the carnet can be used even though Ethiopia is not listed? Just curious from anyone who has also had a CAA carnet and traveled into Ethiopia. Cheers.

[quastdog]

Ethiopia -
They do their own vehicle import paperwork at the border (carnet provides all the info they need, so "they do use it") and provide you with a document you leave at the proper office on your way out of the country.

[Remy]

Thanks Quastdog, all of my fears have been alleviated. Cheers.