Air-shipping from Dakar to Zuerich - HowTo

[tshguatt]

First of all, dont be in a rush for the whole shipping process, calculate enough spare time. It took me almost 10 days, nevertheless money can speed up everything of course.

You can ask different freight handler for their prices/kg to compare first. They are all located in the freight section at the airport. If you do it with a freight handler they will probably charge you around 50-100usd for theyr paperwork. I dont know if that includes the hustle with the customs (which is the worst part of all) to get your bike out of the country, despite your documents are completly in order. So if your short on money or adventureous, do it directly with a airline company. If I remember well, air france, lufthansa, KLM and Qatar do cargo there.

So for Lufthansa, call Mister Niang on 77 450 29 77 or Mister Sane on 77 637 41 32 first to make shure someone is in the office when you get there. He may talk a bit of english, but french will generally be the way to go.

The Lufthansa Cargo Office is in the freight section of the airport, located on the left hand side of the main building. You will see a sign when passing the big roundabout/intersection in front of the airport towards nord. After 50 meters take the small road to the right and follow the sign "freight" to get around the fenced pick-up parking space. Dont pay attention to anyone wanting to help you or offering anything. Follow this road and when you get to the airport building, park you bike just in front, on the right you got some car parking lots. (14°44'44.4"N 17°29'22.8"W)

Take the stairs up to the first floor, turn right and walk straight all the hallway to its end, where you will find the door of lufthansa cargo office.

There they will announce you to Samba (french speaking only), the asthmatic guardian of the lufthansa-warehouse where you can crate your bike.



Its further back in the freight section, pass the empty x-ray shelter, second road to the left at the end, there is a lufthansa sign. Lots of touts will approach you on the way. (14°44'49.0"N 17°29'15.7"W)

If you dont want to build your crate yourself, i am not shure if they can organise competent people to do it for you. But for shure you will be ripped of by their pricing. But by then, you should be already used to it while having stayed in senegal )

Doing it yourself will envolve quite some efforts and nerves.

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How to Ship Your Bike | Horizons Unlimited

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You get some used EU-pallets by following the "route de l'airport" the way up north, watch out on your right for the piles of pallets before you pass stadium leopold. if i remember well, they charged me after negotiating, around 4500cfa for one.

Nails, screws, rope and straps you can buy in a western-style hardware and tool shop on the route de l'airport in Ngor around this cordinates, not shure anymore where exactly. Its on your left when coming from the airport, you will see Bosh and Makita signs in the shop window. 14°44'49.0"N 17°29'15.7"W

A nice guy called Gabriel, who owns a pad saw and accu drill and speaks german too, you may reach on 77 978 89 95 or Marc Walter Automobiles, 10 quartier RIPP.BP 18 Dakar Fann, Ouakam, 33 860 04 98 can give you his contact. 14°43'13.1"N 17°29'22.4"W Cant really remember what i gave him for his work. Probably something around 30usd.


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So you have to drain the oil and petrol of your bike, and leave the battery there. As your bike is crated it will be weighted and measured. Be there when they do it to check! I think as long as the weight of your bike does not exceed the volumeric weight, you will be charged upon the volumeric weight. the volumeric weight will be calculated by (length*height*width)/6000

My package was 205 gross weight. My dimensions 203*85*110cm divided by 6000 = 316kg vol. weight.









I got priced like following. If your bike weights more, you may get a lower price/kg fee but not shure about that.

Price per Kg: 1450 cfa/Kg: 316*1450= 458'200cfa

Tax per Kg: 260 cfa/Kg: 316*260= 82'160cfa

Another Tax per Kg: 15cfa/Kg: 316*15= 4'740cfa

Some fixed Fee: 6000cfa

so total: 551'100cfa

another 1% tax for currency conversion rate on that amount, so finaly 556'611cfa Total equivalent to appr. 950usd



After paying they will be able to tell you what day your bike will leave. I think for Dakar to Zuerich (via Frankfurt) they got flights on monday and thursday. Not shure.

You will need another document for the customs (another scam), cant tell what exactly it was, kind of airway-export-form, before your passavant will be stampet for leaving. I think i payed finally around 25usd to a tout, the prices that for vary up to 70usd. You may ask the warehouse guy Samba to sort it out for you, which still doesnt guarantee that you dont have to pay the customs bribes again. Watch out to keep the exit-stamped original passavant or at least a copy of it for you, in case the immigration police will check your passport and see you got in with a bike, when you leave for your flight back.


make shure the red "E" stamp is on your passavant and on your air waybill.

I bought my flight the day after my bike left, just to get shure it wont stay (for whatever reason) there while i was already gone.
The Bike arrived in Zuerich a few days later. The arrival fee and handling fee for direct pick up I paid to CargoLogic at ZRH-Airport were 47 chf, so roughly 50usd.

[Stoep]

Thanks for the detailed writeup. Did you have a carnet? I am trying to ship TO dakar and I hear it is not required but reccomended.

[dooby]

Originally Posted by tshguatt

First of all, dont be in a rush for the whole shipping process, calculate enough spare time. It took me almost 10 days, nevertheless money can speed up everything of course.

Great write up, immense info for the community, thanks a lot for the contribution

Cheers
Dooby

[tshguatt]

Originally Posted by Stoep

Thanks for the detailed writeup. Did you have a carnet? I am trying to ship TO dakar and I hear it is not required but reccomended.

Yes, basically you dont need a carnet (at that time i was there), though things change there really fast so its expectable that today things are completly different.

You should apply for a passavant when entering. I got mine at the bordercrossing Dagana comming from Mauretania. As we pisst of a "civilian touroperator" who is in fact the boss and controlling "his private" (the official borderpost) Dagana, i got just a 3 days passavant (what they have to issue). Costs 2500 cfa for stamping. You should get a insurance slip for your bike too, costs around 5000 cfa for one month. Available at every insurance office in town.

Within these 3 (working) days, weekend does not count, you get to the customs head office in dakar (see the picture below, the entrance is marked red), head up to the 5th (i am not shure, maybe its the 6th) floor in the morning. Expect it to be crowded. Get a ticket and wait until its your turn to go to the chefs office. Of course you can "buy" a shortcut for your turn, if you dont want to wait half the day. In the office you will ask him to "prolongé" your passavant. Keep cool, french is crucial. Try to negotiate a 30 days, i got just 15 days regardless i had a short audience with the "big boss" in his office on the same floor where he is watching TV in his couch. You will hand out your passport and the passavant, being told that you can come pick it up around 4 o clock, before they close their office. Doing that "prolongation" honestly, will set you back another 2500 cfa.
Around 4, a guy will come out of the office to the waiting hall and shouting peoples names of the bunch of passports he's got. The cenery reminded me very much of a teacher, distributing the exams to his class



You should be able to get a new or a extension of your passavant at every (exept Dagana) bordercrossing too. I am not shure anymore if you can extend your passavant twice. If yes, i think you wont get another 14 days, maybe just a week or a few days...but hey, its africa so basically everything is possible...


My fellows with their trucks had carnets.



Dagana officals did not want to process the carnets in Dagana, so they had to stamp it in dakar, in the customs office at the port. Cant tell you what that costs..