Carnet for Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia.....
 

Planning a one way trip down through Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Mali and maybe Guinea Bissau. At first glance this trip requires a carnet which will be quite expensive on a nearly new KTM 990ADV. A bit of ferreting around on this forum suggests that the carnet may not really be necessary. It sounds like some borders will accept a "cadeau" in place of a carnet.

I have only limited experience with western Africa so apologies if this is an obvious question.

I was looking at shipping the bike back rather than riding and wondered whether the absence of a carnet would be more of an issue for shipping.

Thanks in advance.

Matt

Hi Matt,
Don't think you'll be needing a carnet for that route. Certainly not for Marocco, Mauri, Mali - they all issue temporary import docs at the border (laissez passer).
I'm sure someone will correct me if i'm wrong, but as long as the bike is less than 5 years old, i'm pretty sure the same applies for Senegal and Gambia.

All the best
Sam

Hi!

I wouldn't try to cross the Senegal without a Carnet. Yes thats right there is a law that you can do it without a Carnet if the vehicle is not older than 5 years. BUT i don't know if that is the same for bikes!!!

On the other side how much worth is a bike after a short dirtride into the next mudhole???
We met guys in Afrika their carnet shows a value of 800 pound for a HJC 60 Landcruiser....

You tell them how much worth the bike is!


Greetings from Perth Werner+Claudia

I was feeling pretty pleased after Sam's post then Werner comes along......

Thanks for the information - I'm not going just yet so I'll wait to see what else turns up. I read elsewhere that Senegal could be done but that it was tricky via one of the common border crossings.

If a carnet is needed then I'll have to figure out a good strategy for a nearly new bike. Could 8000 become 800? There's nothing in it really.

Thanks for the info so far. Hope to hear from anyone else with up to date information.

Matt

In January and February this year I travelled with a 19 year old bike through Morocco, Mauretania, Mali and Senegal.A Carnet was not required anywhere. The Laissez Passez for Senegal was about £2 and as far as I remember was not linked to value (I don't know if car rules are different but suspect that they may,anyway, be open to interpretation locally).At no time was I required to give a cadeau.I crossed into Senegal from Mali at Kidira and found the officials very pleasant and efficient. Enjoy your trip!

ive done pretty much the same trip on a v-strom 650 (no Mali). theres absolutely no need for the carnet or the cadeaux. MOR and RIM dont require one, SEN will issue a temporary permit if the vehicle is less than 5 years old, and yes... it applies to motorcycles as well. the cost of the permit is only a few euros, and it is good for 15 days, if i remember correctly. if you plan to stay for more than 15 days, you need to renew it, and you can do it at any custom office of any of the major cities for free.
I suggest crossing the Senegalese border in Diama rather than in Rosso. here the custom practices are swift and haslsle-free. with your bike, you will have no problem whatsoever.

Aha that's much better news! Just what is needed in fact to make this trip feasible. Good too that there are proper procedures and it's not a question of paying bribes.

Thanks for your help.

Matt

Just to reiterate, the requirement for motorcycles over 5 years old to have a carnet to enter Senegal was not applied to me (19 yr. old bike) in February this year.Maybe I was just lucky (I didn't enter at Rosso).

I just returned from a trip in Africa. Morocco, Mauretania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Senegal. I did not need a carnet for my 2001 Yamaha XT 600.
Please, do not try to bribe border officials. If they accept it from you they will demand it from the next person. If they don't you might be in trouble for bribing an officer. Just stick to the rules, they will too.

Hi Zoltar,

If you didn't have a Carnet, how did you manage to cross the border at Senegal??

I'm updating the http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/tri...t-of-countries with this info.

Thanks.

Went to Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal and the Gambia two years ago and plan to go later this year. No carnet required anywhere for a one year old BMW 1200GS.

I had one
 

We have just been through all those borders and we were asked for the carnets at every one of them, but travelling with a Black wife it may of been made more difficult for us, but we had the paperwork anyway, we are on 2 XT 600s 2003 models, this was in the last 8wks, hope this helps