Entry into Senegal with car older that 5 years
 

We are planning to take a car into Senegal which is older than 5 years. I know that you are not allowed to import an car into Senegal which is older than 5 years, but does this cause problems when visiting?

Would it be useful to have a Carnet de Passage to reduce the problems at the Border or is it not worth it??

Thanks,
Jon

That's why the Senegalese tourist trade has been hit so hard as even visitors with campervans aren't allowed in.

BUT I know a Spanish guy who has his Unimog (23yrs old) there - managed to get in for a year with a CdeP

Kira

From my experience earlier on this year you will not get into Senegal without a Carnet if your vehicle is over 5 years old.
It does not matter whether you want to stay for 1 day or 1 year.

Chalky

Travelling with our Camel Trophy | One Life, Live It

I am doing the same and I have a Peugeot car from '93. I am going to travel via Mali and enter Senegal through there. I hear that the convoi and the restriction is only for the mauritania/senegal border.

No problem entering with a carnet. The Plymouth-Banjul Rally have an arrangement where they are escorted to The Gambia in convoy by a customs official. I doubt this option is available to the average tourist. I have also heard it is easier to enter via Mali, certainly the border guards are more relaxed and less corrupt.
Sean

the option of 'customs escort' is available to other tourists also. You just haggle about the price, thats all.

I heard that a convoy is mandatory if u want to go to the Gambia with a car older then 5 years (only at the Rosso bordercrossing though). i hear its "officially" 225 euro for two cars. the convoy means that u need a customs officer on board until u reach the border with Gambia. but many officials don't bother the long/tiring drive anymore and it depends on your bargain skills how much u pay to pass the border (between 50-200 euro it will still cost for the passavant). This is second hand information I got so please correct if I am wrong here.

Chapati is right :. You can bargain down a passavant for around 50-75-100? Euros for up to 2 weeks (renewable in Dakar) . No need of CDP. everyone does it .

This is better , easily and more ovbiously bargainable in Diama than in Rosso.

any other border (both Gambian's border with Senegal ) they don't give a $hit about the vehicle's age , cpd , etc.

of course , borders with Guinea(s) and Mali do neither .

Cheers.
Javier

Javier

You mention the border with Guinea; the border south of Kedougou (Pays Bassari) has a little 'Hitler' on the gate ... I went through hell there whilst as the only 'toubab' passenger (& female). I'm sure the soldiers that were there in january would have a field day with a foreign registered car ... being asked to show my SIDA certificate (having seen my passport, YFever, driving licence - although I wasn't driving) he was determined to get 10,000CFA out of me!

Kira (who didn't pass up a centime!)

in to senagal
 

hi
if its any use to you , i've been through twice this year(2007) IN jan i went from mali, through to gambia, in a 1986 RHD shogan. no problems. i even reversed in to a lamp post outside the custom post no one bothered!!. and in april i took the wife down to gambia, (atlantic route) in a 1985 merc lhd this time
and crossed in to senegal ,over the barrage. (dieama) luckly the car was an inport in to uk, so the reg paper(v5) had two dates on ,manfacture and first reg in uk. just put my finger over first date and he read later date(2004) and of we went. just avoid rosso,i cross at rosso in 2003 with a carnet, and i still got shafted. ask me why was it not stamped in mauri ? that cost me. you pays your money and takes your chance.
good luck chris

In
 

In Feb 2007 we go to Senegal from Mauritania. We have 6 cars and we pay 50 € per car on the border.
But if you want go to Senegal by oldtimer car (5 and more years), you can't go to Senegal by Rosso.

Hi.
Was it you I met on my way to Senegal on my Triumph Bonneville this april?

I had to use my Carnet to enter Senegal because the motorcycle was older than 5 years.

Terje, Norway

terje l. r.
 

hi
yes thats was me, morroc- mauri boarder,we was wondering what happened to you, did you go to rosso!!!. see you around
regards chris

Do we need it??
 

Hi everybody!
I'm planning to go to Senegal this October with a friend of mine.
Our bikes are 2004 KTM 950 ADV and 2003 BMW 1150 GS.
Is it safe not to take at all with as CarneDp

passavants = laissez-passer?
 

Anybody: by 'passavants' do you mean laissez-passer - the local 'carnet' which is valid across Francophone West Africa )or was in my day) - or is passavants just a Senegal-only temp-import transit pass?

thanks

Ch

Hi Chris
In my experience the terms passavants and laissez-passer are used synonymously. In any case, the document issued by Senegalese custom is only valid in Senegal. At least that was the case when I entered Senegal one year ago .

Hans

HI ..

while most people actually use both terms , , apparently there is a difference .

a Lazzer passe is actually a temporary import permit , valid for only a country . I.e. ,a LazzesPasse from Senegal allows you to drive in Senegal for a given period of time . This is the typical for West Africa

Whereas a Passavant -more in central Africa- is kind of "Passport of the vehicle" .For example : You get a Passavant from Cameroon , they stamp it out , ... and then you enter Gabon with the very same passavant , they stamp it in .. etc...


In my case , A passavant issued in Niger , was valid also in Chad (they simply stamp it as if it were a passport ) and to Cameroon.

3 months later , a new passavant (issued in Cameroon , as I lost the previous) was used in Cameroon , Gabon , Congo and Zaire .

Have a nice day
javier

Thanks for the clarification.

Actually what I always understood to be a LP: a cheap 'regional carnet' that was valid across the CFA (west or east) zone of West Africa is what Javier now calls a passavant.
Not surprised to hear they are used for eachother; I presume JC is right.

Ch

Hard work
 

Travelling with a 21 year old Land Rover 110 and being acompagnied by friends with a 9 year old Mitshubishi Pejaro we got to the border at Diama (avoiding Rosso at all costs) around 8pm last month. It took us 5 hours and most of our patienence and will power to get the cars in.
Luckily for us our car is first registered in 2003 and the doane simply overlooked the manufactering date on the bottom of the page (it was dark) and we were let in without any costs. Our friends however were told to rake out 250 euros for a permit, an another 150 euro for the manadatory policeman who would ensure we would drive on to Gambia within 24 hours (we were also told to feed this chap). 5 Hours later and many a discussion we paid 160 euros for a 10 days permit ( ok and a tshirt) and no policman.
So yes it is possible (supposedly simpel) but be prepared for a lot of discussing and dont give in!!!

Hi, again. Sorry for the late reply.

How did you do? Did it all go well, did you get to Gambia?

Yes I did go to Rosso, broke. I had to borrow money there to by the ferry ticket and pay for all the paper work, both in Mauritania and for entering Senegal. But that was no problem and costed me only a few bucks. The whole trip was going just so well. I was back in Norway the 28th of April. After that I've been going around on the Bonnie. Last tour was to The Ace Cafe reunion run in London in sept. Then the Brighton Burn Up the day after:) I'll go back to Africa as soon as I can.

Here is a few pictures: Mefo til Afrika

If you like you can email me at terjelr69@yahoo.no for more pictures and more of the story

Morning All,

just reviving this old thread from Bamako so forgive me for not looking for more recent info on here (limited access :().

Does anybody have more recent info on this? We will be entering from Mali in a 2000 Toyota LC. We dont mind giving it a go, but our only worry is our single entry visa for Mali will have been stamped and I dont want to live in no-mans land!

Any info appreciated, we are off to the Senegalese Embassy now (with limited French) to see what we can find out.

Cheers,

G

From our experience in Dec 2010 and from what I've read from others crossing into Senegal:

- Entry with a carnet is no issue, regardless of age of vehicle.
- Entry with a car under 5 years of age and no carnet *should* be no problem. You get a pass-avant at the border. But you may just have to deal with hassles for bribes.
- Entry with a car over 5 years and no carnet is where it gets murky. I have no idea what the rules really say. Some pay a bribe and get a pass-avant, others get a three day transit permit, others get turned back. I think it depends which official you meet, how much you are willing to pay, and the alignment of the planets.

Ben

Thanks Ben,

Bit of an update, we visited the embassy here in Bamako and they said there no problem from us with a Carnet. We will enter from Mali in about a weeks time, see how that goes.

Thanks for your reply.

G

I drove my '88 LandCruiser into Senegal at Rosso without a cdp, paid 5000 Francs CFA for a passavant. Then you can get 15 day extension in Dakar 3 times, so max 45 days. Could be that I was treated well because I'm a girl. But they are definitely able to do a 48-hour passavant. Good luck!

We also got our 3 day passeavants extended in Dakar, but that involved going to see the absolute chief of customs and paying handsomely.

Again I think it may be one of those situations where it depends entirely on who you talk to on which day...

Crossing Senegal from Maroc to Gambia
 

i did the crossing mid March 2011 in an 25 year old Toyota Hiace. Entered in Diema and had to pay 150 Euro for the "passage" (48 hours). It costs 380 Euro´s to be escorted, could not be hassled down! But the customs allways prefere to be bribed instead, thats your chance! And the reason I paid "only" 150 Euro.
But they started asking me if I had a "carnet de Passage", and for them I luckely had to deny.
jacob