From Dakar, Senegal to Zurich, Switzerland - March, 2016

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.

Read first

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/get-ready/shipping-the-bike

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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 kg on the wage but 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.

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.

On:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/trip-transport/air-shipping-dakar-...

is a copy of that shipment instruction with some pictures.