UK to The Gambia and back....quick debrief!

[major moto]

A few weeks ago I returned from a motorcycle trip to The Gambia. I travelled on a BMW F650 completing the 8800mile journey in 5 weeks.

This was my first big trip and at the planning stage I used this site extensively to research all the information that I needed plugging the gaps with other sources. I felt it would be handy to offer up a few snippets of information which I would have found handy before I went.

1. Security – I never had a problem with security in any of the countries that I went through even though I was travelling by myself for much of the time.

2. Morocco/Mauritania border – The route through the minefield is easy to follow. There are a number of tracks but you will not have a problem...as long as you stick on the track!

3. Mauritania/Senegal border – The Diama Dam/barrage crossing is still the crossing point of choice! I crossed via Rosso on the way down and lived to tell the tale! The scope for bribes/extortion does seem greater at Rosso however it would appear that the folks at Diama are starting to get greedy and are “upping” their prices as the crossing gets more popular. The piste running to Diama is beautiful, however I had problems finding the start of the piste and consequently got hoodwinked by locals who persuaded that the piste was flooded! For the benefit of others here are the coords for the beginning of the piste: N16˚ 30.739 W015˚ 48.742.

4. Carnet etc! I had a carnet for the trip this was my experience:

Morocco – No carnet required. You will get a number stamped in your passport and a form which you get signed when you take the bike out of Morocco. Cost – zero.

Mauritania – No carnet required. You will get a form which gets handed in to customs when you leave the country Cost – 10 euros. Having said that, on the way back they used my carnet rather than giving me a form!

Senegal – With a carnet they still charged me about 3 euros for the privilege of stamping it! If your vehicle is less than 5 years old it would appear that it is true that you do not need a carnet. In this instance you pay about 20 euros for a temporary import document (laissez passer, I think it is called) which is valid for up to 10 days, single trip. If your vehicle is over 5 years old you have to have a carnet or you can take your chances on someone accepting a big bribe (and I believe they are big!).

Gambia – They stamped my carnet for free. I get the impression that Gambia may apply the same rules as Senegal (after all you can’t get to Gambia without going through Senegal).

5. Insurance –

Morocco – Green card from UK insurers. You will be asked for it before they allow the vehicle in.

Mauritania – I bought insurance from a caravan at the border. You can buy it in Nouadhibou but beware there are Police checkpoints between the border and Nouadhibou where they will ask for insurance paperwork.

Senegal/Gambia – I bought insurance at Rosso which covered me for both countries, but probably got ripped off!

A note on these insurances worth bearing in mind: they really don’t cover much! If you demolish a house with your bike (possible, trust me on that!) or kill a cow you will have to pay for it. What it does do is prevent Policemen from fining you for not having it!

6. Camping – I camped pretty much every night, which was a surprise to me! Even in Mauritania there were Auberges where you can pitch your tent for next to nothing.

7. Fuel – With one exception availabilty of fuel is not a problem, but quality is! There is no unleaded past Laayoune (Western Sahara), and what is available is at best 91 RON. My bike ran OK but suffered a bit of pinking under acceleration. Fuel economy did suffer by about 20% though on bad batches!
There can be fuel shortages is Western Sahara so try to avoid the “I’ll have enough to get to the next fuel station” scenario, as there may not be any petrol when you get there!!

The one bad stretch which has been talked about recently is the 450km from Nouadhibou – Nouakchott on the new desert highway (not on any maps). There are no fuel stations at all, but there are people selling stuff pretending to be petrol on the roadside. Take it at your own risk, it would not be a nice place to get stuck!

There are a million other things I could pass on, but that would take the fun away from the experience!! However, if there is anything specific that someone would like to know then ask away. In the meantime those in the planning/thinking stage may like to check out my online diary at hitthegrit.blogspot.com where you can also find some pictures.

Sorry about the length, hope someone finds it useful!

Safe travels. Stop making excuses and just do it!!

[discoveryv8]

Hi There, just a quick question about you route through Morocco. I'm traveling to Morocco with friends in March but the Landrover i'm taking has catalytic converters on them which don't like leaded fuel. if you could give me a brief idea of your route that may help

Regards

Graham

[major moto]

Graham,

My route through Morocco was: in via Cueta then south via Meknes, Fes, Midelt to Merzouga. From there an attempt was made at Piste M6 from Chris Scott's book, but this was not possible due to flooding (read more about that in my blog!). From there I escaped to the road through the Atlas via Errachida and Ouarzazate, on to Agadir and south.

On the way back I stuck pretty much to the Atlantic road with a diversion inland from Tan Tan to do piste M12 Tan Tan - Assa.

Getting unleaded fuel on the main routes is not a problem at all. Most of the big fuel stations sell "sans plomb". Once you get off the main roads it takes a bit more searching out. For instance in Merzouga you won't find unleaded at all, but in Rissani after visits to three stations I finally found some!

There is a fuel station in Assa but I can't be sure if it sells unleaded, as by that stage my bike was running on leaded fuel. I had given up after Laayoune and accepted the fact that the cat was going to be destroyed! Not a problem for bikes as we don't get emission tested at our MOTs (just my green consience to deal with!).

Hope this helps.

Whilst we are on fuel the following might be handy (although you probably know it):

Fuel prices are expensive in France, cheaper in Spain, tax free in Cueta (if you are crossing there) and about the same as Spain in Morocco (if I remember correctly on that last one!). Would make a big difference with your gas guzzler! And watch out for friendly garage assistants filling you up with "gasoil", I reckon they will make the assumption that you run on diesel!

Cheers, have fun! Morocco is fantastic. Definately on my list to revisit soon!

[discoveryv8]

The Info is Great thankyou just what's required

Cheers

Graham

[Chris Scott]

Thanks for the useful updated MM - as well as other recent updaters (Matt R, Jav C, etc). Keep them coming.

Chris S

[nectardefrutas]

Ty. Major Moto, very helpfull information. The pist betw. Marocco & RIM is Ok for a 2wd Van?


Sorry for my broken English.

[major moto]

The piste/tracks from the Moroccan border at Fort Guergarat to the Mauritanian customs/border is possible in 2wd. I saw some quite ordinary 2wd cars succeeding. The only difficulties I would imagine are:

1. Ground clearance: If your vehicle is low to the ground you will have to take it slowly and pick your route carefully, making sure of course that you do not leave the track (due to the very real danger from mines!).

2. There were one or two bits of shallow sand which once again you may have to work around (or take at speed with lowered tyre pressures!).

Having said that it is only 5 or so km and is possible, so go ahead and have fun!!

The piste to the Diama Dam is slightly different. It is still possible to do in a 2wd, and I know for a fact that it has been done many times in things like VW vans, but it is just a longer piste (about 100km). The problems would be the same as the Morocco/Mauritania track but at least you do not have the issue with mines!!! I did it when it was dry but I saw some rather deep muddy ruts and I would imagine that in the wet it would be quite a challenge!!

[Jimmy D]

There I am looking for information that might help me on my planned trip down towards the Gambia and back, wondering if anybody else might be interested in such a journey and you've just done it in a similar time frame I was considering. Not only that but your from Kent and are well aware that no plan survives contact with the enemy, a theory I'm currently testing in Iraq. If you get the urge for another such trip within a similar time frame, destination flexible and fancy company it would be good to discuss. ETD June/July/august time.

[moggy 1968]

we did gambia in a little under three weeks, including pleanty of piste action, but we were killing the mileage.
A carnet is only necessary for Gambia if you are in a right hand drive.
for senegal if you don't fancy forking out a huge wonga for a carnet we got a laissez passez for 2x landcruisers of about 16 years old for 80 euros. no great difficulty and cheaper than a carnet, although I believe this doesn't work in gambia, if RHD will need a carnet. I gather some people have had difficulty with this in the past but we had no problems. coming back the laissez passez was only about 6 euros!!
Unfortunately people paying out big money without negotiating are causing those of us with less cash a lot of headaches!!

this was as of april 06 after my tony blair sponsored holiday at SLB, keep your head down!!

[major moto]

Jimmy D. I'd love to go travelling again this year, but work commitments mean that my tyres will have to stay firmly embedded on UK soil this year! Shame.

If you want to pick my rather limited brains at any stage then feel free.
Stay safe in Iraq! (managed to avoid that place during my time on the dark side!)

MM