Any 4WDs made it into Kenya without a carnet?
 

I know that Kenya officially requires a carnet for vehicles, however has anyone managed to obtain a Temporary Import Permit at the border to enter Kenya in a 4WD recently?

Please note that I am specifically interested if it can be done in a 4WD rather than a motorbike, as I know that it is likely to be easier to get a TIP on a bike.

cheers
Matt Roach

I was refused entry at the border and so had to leave my vehicle at the border post and get a matatu up to nairobi to buy a carnet before they'd let me in.

I have met a guy though that entered the country through a small border post behind Kili - small enough (at the time) for them to let him in without a carnet. However you'll still need a Foriegn Vehicle Permit (bought at Nyao House) and for that you'll need to show your Carnet if you decide to stay more than a month.

Bundubasher,

where was your vehicle registered? I ask because I am about to import my UK registered Hilux into Zambia, who don't have an autoclub such as AA and so can't issue Carnets. I have no idea how to get into Kenya, because I will have given up my UK RAC carnet.

From your reply it seems that Kenya issue their own version of a carnet....... Is going to Nairobi the only way of getting one? Was it pricey?

Mike

Thanks for that Bundubasher.

$850 for a carnet for a fortnight's visit isn't really a bargain!! The Hilux is only worth £1000ish. I am just planning a short visit to my daughter's study group in the Maasai Mara, and if I have to go through all that rigmarole and spend that sort of money I would be better off keeping the RAC carnet running. The whole point of registering the vehicle in Zambia was to remove the necessity for continually replacing carnets, but it looks like Kenya is going to foil my cunning plan. What a pain.

Mike

OK - if you are visiting the Mara...

You could enter TZ on a TIP, drive up to the Sand River Gate (well that's what it's called on the Kenyan side).

Then you should be able to pop over for the day as long as you do not intend to stay over there permanently (This is because there are no border facilities there).

We did this (coming the other way ie: into the Serengeti from the Mara) a couple of years ago. The border guards allowed us (3 vehicles) to cross the border to chase the Migration for a day - for a small consideration.

So don't give up hope...maak 'n plan man!

Thanks for the advice, both here and on the two sites you link to. I have a friend in Dadoma so I'll check with him a few weeks before the trip about the state of that border crossing before I commit to attempting it without a carnet.

Nice sites, BTW........ Below is my Hilux in action.

Mike

Thanks Bundubasher,

I have heard that occasionally people heading south from Ethiopia have managed to get in via Lake Turkana without passing customs.

Do you know if there are any small border posts coming from either TZ or Uganda that are similar?

cheers

Mike - love that amazing roof tent! Home made or what?

Matt - the only possible border post coming from TZ is the small on ebehind Kilimanjaro. Coming from Uganda...I just don't know - any car ferries on Lake Vic?

Errr...... MikeAG ......... don't look yet, but has anyone mentioned you've got a house on top of your car?

Mr Basher - I bet you'd wished you had one of them on top of your HiLux.

Absolutely amazing RTT! Finally something that will fit my whole family! I WANT ONE!

Yep.......home-made. There were no 4 man rooftents available when I set off on my trans-Africa 15 years ago, so I made one. This one here is the Mark 11 version, without all the mistakes I made on the Mark 1. The Mark 111 is currently underway in my workshop.......should be 30 seconds to erect rather than the 3 or 4 minutes of the one in the photo.

There.......that's how you hijack a thread!! Sorry.

Mike

Serious...I want one! What are the external dimensions?

Folded it is 1500 x 1500 by 250. Open it is 1500 x about 4350 at the base. So, effectively it is bigger than two king-size double beds end to end. The photo doesn't really do it justice, because it shows it un-braced...........leaving the material just a bit slack. The mosi-net that runs along the length of the roof is covered up with a top sheet when we feel cold or if it is likely to rain.

Is there a hijacking tzar on this forum who will come along and slap my wrist shortly?:offtopic:

Mike

It's all good overlanding content - anyway, it all depends on the OP!

Currently my roofrack is: 1.22 x 2.3m, I could exted it at least another metre over the bonnet, so 1.22 x 3.3m. How much?

Never mind a Carnet, you'd probably need a building licence for that one as well.

:offtopic: Time to get this thread back on topic: MikeAG, surely you don't need a carnet to take an ox-wagon into Kenya?:clap:

:smiliex:

You aren't the first, Tony!!

It's an odd problem, though, isn't it? I wonder how ordinary Zambian vehicles ever get into Kenya? As I understand it, Zambia has no motoring body capable of issuing a carnet, and to get a Kenyan one you have to put up with 2 or 3 days of kerfuffle in Nairobi. I have a mental picture of a whole lot of Zambian vehicles in a car park at the border, abandoned for days whilst their owners sort out the paperwork.

Mike

The last Zambian I knew that went to Kenya got his carnet at AA in Malawi. aamalawi@gmail.com

Thanks Robbie........I'll investigate.

Mike

Mike, if you do a carnet search on the SA 4x4community forum, you'll find the contact details for the AA in Malawi, posted, I think, by Linda from Mukambi. The woman there was evidently very efficient and quick in sorting their carnet for Tanzania.

Beat you to it Tony! I've already emailed her directly. Thanks...

Can you make sure you post her details here as well? Just for our information...:)