Stuck in Dakhla need help please

[Max.rb]

We drove our car from England to and wanted to go along the coast all the way down to Ghana. Currently we are stuck in Dakhla/Morocco and we can not cross the boarder. Flying in is no issue but Land boarders are apparently closed for anyone other that Moroccan, Mauritanian or Senegalsese. Boarder post said that we can get an Authorisation so we drove back but there is nothing like that. Does anyone have an idea? Could someone else drive our car to the other side and we pick it up? Boat? Tow truck? Bribe? We are desperate. Thanks a lot for any reply in advance!

[Toyark]

Sorry to hear but I'm curious on the source of the information you relied on which gave you the idea that you could cross all the borders?
Getting 'someone else' to drive through- even if possible- would be a very bad idea IMHO.It sounds like it may be time to turn north.

[Max.rb]

Originally Posted by Toyark

Sorry to hear but I'm curious on the source of the information you relied on which gave you the idea that you could cross all the borders?
Getting 'someone else' to drive through- even if possible- would be a very bad idea IMHO.It sounds like it may be time to turn north.

Thank you.
That’s the information you find on the internet. „Boarder is open - visa on arrival“ (Morocco to Mauritania)
Why is it a bad idea? Even if it gets stolen it’s cheaper than driving it back and spending 550$ for a ferry back to Europe.

[Toyark]

Originally Posted by Max.rb

Thank you.
That’s the information you find on the internet. „Boarder is open - visa on arrival“ (Morocco to Mauritania) .

Such information is best and safest obtained from Embassies or Consulates - and certainly not from a forum post!

Originally Posted by Max.rb

Why is it a bad idea? Even if it gets stolen it’s cheaper than driving it back and spending 550$ for a ferry back to Europe.

I am assuming you have either an EU or GB plate.
How would you explain to customs/police how your vehicle (and you!) entered their country? - which would probably be illegal since they would know of the 'no visa ruling etc. Then no insurance even if not worth the paper it is orinted on, plus illegal entry...etc. It all seems very high risk and potentially very expensive.

Also consider what may happen to you / your car / its passengers if you were involved in an accident of any kind.

Good luck to you whatever you decide.

[Max.rb]

People had the same issue on here and I thought they might have found an answer and could tell about their solution and be of any help

[TheWarden]

First, as you have found out the border has been closed since March 2020.

Second, the info in the COVID thread here is updated faster and more accurately than the UK's FCO advise . As is the information posted on the Overland West Africa and Morocco and also the Overlanding North Africa facebook groups.

Third, most border information at the moment published by the UK FCO, embassies etc is focussed on flying in and out rather than land borders

Since the border closed, there have been 2 confirmed tourist crossings over this summer, one heading North and one heading South. The guys heading north had medical reasons, support from their embassy and a huge amount of patience, it took them 2 months to get across the border.

The people heading south got a Mauritanian national to drive their vehicle south across the border. The owners had to clear the car with customs at Guergarrat, then return to Dakhla, fly into Mauritania, then travel up to the border to process the vehicle with Mauritanian customs. Apparently it wasn't easy or cheap.

Details of both crossings can be found in the Overlanding West Africa and Morocco group on Facebook.

Shipping from Morocco to dakar is possible but you would need to go back north to Casablanca or Tanger, its unlikely this is possible from Dakhla

Nobody knows any news about when the Moroccan land borders will reopen, everyone is guessing at the moment. Next announcement from the authorities is expected in the next couple of weeks.

Personally, I would spend the time enjoying Morocco and hope for some news over the next month or so.

[markharf]

At the moment there are other borders on your route closed, so even if you managed to get to Mauritania you wouldn't make it to Ghana. By now you should know that anyone can write anything they please on the web, and that sounding knowledgeable and self-assured is no guarantee of accuracy--or even intent of accuracy. If in doubt about this, just look at the pronouncements of various politicians in my country or yours.

To compound matters, a lot of what you see is dated material, often re-posted uncritically by people who don't really have a clue, but hope to monetize clicks by people much like you or me. To the extent that there's a solution, it will involve a combination of actual government sources (as suggested above) and whatever couple of reliable sources you can find online. This website is one such, which is why you haven't seen any claims here that the Mauritania border is open. I'd also suggest a Facebook group (I say this with a slight sneer) called "West Africa Travelers," which has been steady and reliable.

I'll add only that familiarity with the Sunk Cost Fallacy comes in quite handy when traveling in Africa. Just because you spent a lot of energy, time, and/or money getting into a situation doesn't mean you should continue to do so.

Hope that's helpful.

Mark

[PanEuropean]

Max:

As others have explained in posts above, the border is closed. There's not really much point in pushing on to try to get further south because you will only encounter more and more problems as you hit other borders south of Mauritania.

If you are thinking about trying to find a way to side-step or work around restrictions in place at the Morocco-Mauritania border crossing, I suggest you read my post of 2 weeks ago that tells of the difficulties and large financial penalties that I encountered retrieving my motorcycle from Tunisia after I had to leave it there in April of 2020 at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Here's the link: Tunisian Customs Problems.

Take note that I did everything legally and properly, including the importation procedure, registering the moto with customs when I evacuated out on a repatriation flight back to Canada, and I followed all the correct procedures to export the moto. Despite all of that, it still took 3 days effort and cost me a ton of money in "customs penalties" to re-export my moto.

Now imagine yourself having to go through what I went through somewhere between 5 and 8 times if you press on to Ghana.

Michael

[Max.rb]

Originally Posted by TheWarden

The people heading south got a Mauritanian national to drive their vehicle south across the border. The owners had to clear the car with customs at Guergarrat, then return to Dakhla, fly into Mauritania, then travel up to the border to process the vehicle with Mauritanian customs. Apparently it wasn't easy or cheap.

That’s the one we had in mind too after a long day of talking to several authorities. It involves a lot of time, risk and money though. We don’t bother about getting the car stolen too much but leaving the Country without the car as it’s not possible. We already drove to the border but are back in Dakhlar now. The border customs said that there was a Turkish dude who just managed to get through as well as a Belgium apparently a day before. (Please no blame for believing in any other I formation than calling the embassy, from the guy who answered to the thread first) as soon as we could get to Mauritania we won’t have any issues anymore because it’s easy sell or dump the car there (like Senegal) it’s just pretty much impossible here in Morocco. Right now working with the New Zealand Embassy on getting one of us the authorisation to drive it through and I could fly from Casablanca.

To anyone but Toyark, Thanks a ton for all the information!! Will keep you updated if you are interested. Any other ideas will be appreciated!!
Stay safe everybody

[TheWarden]

Leaving without the car is possible, you just need the right paperwork with customs, it used to be impossible but they have made easier over the last few years.

The problem is the car will still be in Morocco (as far as customs are concerned) and if its there more than 6months you either have to pay to import or pay a fine.

If you find someone to take the car across the border you would need to go to Guegerrat clear the car from the Moroccan customs system and then let someone drive it though no man's land to the Mauritanian Border where you meet the car to process it into Mauritania.

That sound quite straight forward, but it won't be!

[Max.rb]

Originally Posted by TheWarden

Leaving without the car is possible, you just need the right paperwork with customs, it used to be impossible but they have made easier over the last few years.

The problem is the car will still be in Morocco (as far as customs are concerned) and if its there more than 6months you either have to pay to import or pay a fine.

If you find someone to take the car across the border you would need to go to Guegerrat clear the car from the Moroccan customs system and then let someone drive it though no man's land to the Mauritanian Border where you meet the car to process it into Mauritania.

That sound quite straight forward, but it won't be!

Hey Warden, thanks a ton for your message!
You wouldn’t happen to have any details of this guy who paid a local to drive his car over the border? Where did you read about that? Thanks a lot in advance!

[TheWarden]

The guys name is Simon Elkjær, and he posted details in the Overlanding West Africa and Morocco group on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/overlandingwestafrica

Its by far the best group for upto date info, with several members trying to head south at the moment and also members further south posting info where possible. We've just had updates about the Morocco/Mauritania border posted today from someone in Dakhla

[Max.rb]

Thanks mate!!!
Yea we are in that group so it might’ve been us or the other guy that has left and without his car and planing on coming back in six months or maybe never. Really appreciate your help here!!

[priffe]

The easiest way of getting the car out of the country would be to exit at the border and then sell it to one of the many car sharks in the nomans land before the Maure border.
They wont pay much, but...
Then go back to Guergerat, reenter Morocco and find some transport northwards.

[PanEuropean]

Originally Posted by TheWarden

The problem is the car will still be in Morocco (as far as customs are concerned) and if its there more than 6months you either have to pay to import or pay a fine.

There is a workaround for the above problem, but it is cumbersome.

The workaround is to find what is called a "Customs Bonded Warehouse". These are common in first-world countries, I don't know if they are common in Morocco or not.

When you put an object into storage at a Customs Bonded Warehouse, the object is treated as if it is not in the country. If you simply want to store the object, you go through the export process when you put it into the warehouse, and you go through the import process when you take it out of the warehouse. During the time the object is stored in the warehouse, the Customs authorities of the country consider it to be "not in the country".

Customs Bonded Warehouses are normally used in one direction only, for example, someone is importing an object but is unable to clear it out of customs when it actually arrives - so it is stored "in Bond" until it is cleared into the country. Or, conversely, someone is shipping something out of the country, but the transportation out of the country won't depart immediately, so the object is cleared out, kept "in Bond" and then loaded onto the boat/plane/whatever at a later date.

Be aware it is forbidden for anyone to access the object for any reason while it is in the bonded warehouse.

Michael