Recent Mauritanian and Senegalese Border Experiences

[mattpope]

Just returned from a month riding down to Dakar and wanted to post some information on the borders, particularly the Diama crossing from Mauritania into Senegal. I had expected this one to be straightforward compared to the busier Rosso alternative but it proved a right hassle.

Entering Mauritania was straightforward: 20€ for the visa, 10€ for the passavant (customs) paperwork and approx 10€ for the insurance for the minimum 2 weeks.

Leaving a country should NOT require further payment unless something is not in order. The guys at Diama wanted 10€ to stamp the passport, 10€ to take the passavant and some other character wanted a €7 community tax. This is all just corruption. I suspect that the various charity rallies have made this crossing more difficult simply handing out euros as an earlier traveller once dished out pens or sweets at will. I'm not sure what can be done officially but my normal practice is to say I am a policeman and normally this keeps officials honest. For the two bikes we got away with a total of 10€ but it involved an unpleasant situation that I won't go into here.....

Entering Senegal was pretty costly too. For UK passport holders the visa should be free. We were charged 10€ each (but at subsequent crossings into and out of the gambia and then Guinea Bissau it was free). A further €20 went on the passavant (at subsequent crossings the correct 2500CFA was paid and a receipt issued). I did not know the correct price at the time so hence was more vunerable to this fraud. Finally the insurance was €20 (legitimate for one month in a number of West African countries).

The police around St Louis just to the south of the border are really corrupt - watch out for the main point just south of town heading to the Zebrabar. The first couple of stops before St Louis were ok - just checking for license, passport, bike papers and insurance. In town we were stopped by a cop asking for the normal paperwork and on finding out that was ok for a "gilete" - apparantly a high-vis vest. That was to be a €10 fine each but after insisting we go to the policestation and having a full on row with the guy during which I took his photo he changed his tune to being hungry.

With the blood boiling I was then stopped at the main check point south of town. This place is famous for fining riders who don't indicate when they are asked to pull over and seemingly folk just pay up. I had been spotted overtaking a truck and the guy was keen to extract what he could. He checked my papers and then just kept hold of them asking for a €30 fine. I had to physically remove them from the guy's pocket in a bit of a struggle after exhausting the normal diplomatic options. Hopefully he will think carefully next time before trying this stunt. It is 100% corruption.

Elsewhere Senegal was great and the cops/border officials were above board. It seems to be just a few bad apples between the St Louis area and the border - no coincidence the Plymouth-Dakar/Banjul runs come through this way. Given the few privateers we met on route it seems to be part of the "game" doing this run.

Never crossed at Rosso so can't compare but Diama is definitely not a good border.

Hope this helps someone. Good luck!

Matt

[palace15]

Hope they don't wonder why people start to choose other destinations, looks like the 'Dakar' rally won't be returning for awhile, well at least I hope so, believe me Matt, Rosso is the 'A' ole of the world with piles, and I hope the corrupt scumbags can now wallow in thier own shite.

[Tim Cullis]

Well done Matt, you did pretty well. And Rosso is even worse, so you did well to reenter Mauri via Diama.

These arseholes can't see past their own greed the damage they do to the international reputation of their country. I won't be going back to Senegal for a long while but that's partly because I wasn't that enamoured with the scenery after such a long ride and it's quite expensive compared to Morocco.

Tim

[mattpope]

Tim, we shipped back from Dakar - couldn't face going to Diama again. As for Rosso I can only guess how bad it is.

Strangely enough there were a few travellers we met in Mauritania that were avoiding Senegal completely. The rumours of the hassle had simply put them off. I'm not sure how this problem can best be addressed - the south of the country works well. I will send an e-mail to the Embassy in London to register my annoyance.

The Mauritanian exit was just as bad though.... I ended up locking the passport guy in his office after I paid the 10€ and trying to make a break for it with the keys. Got rumbled and dragged away just before I could get the engine started. Hopefully his colleagues are still giving him grief though.

Good luck to anyone going that way in the near future.

[Birdy]

Rosso was a mistake. In Dakar now.

I got buggered big time, and could do nothing about it! I ended up spending nearly 100 Euros in bribes and fees just to get the paperwork done, and it still took 9 hours. I got my fuel stolen (which i didnt find out about until it came to time to refuel 50k away from the damned place,} someone tried to steal my luggage while I was in one of the offices, but got piqued when they found it was all locked to the bike, so bent my brake lever and mirrors down and smashed the glass in them. And that was with a guard!

The police in St Louis are absolute Charlie Uniform November Tangos. Regards the indicator thing. I did indicate and pulled over when he waved me in, no probs there. He then told me to get off the bike, I got off, and left the engine running and indicator on, as it was on the side of the road. He then pointed to it and said he had to fine me for leaving the indicator on!

The fine started at 95 Euro! When I said I wouldnt pay it he said we could discuss it later in the police station. He only had my fake docs, so I could have buggered off, but thought I would wait it out to see what happened. So I sat around a while and fixed the bike up, had a fag and he came back having reduced the fine to a tenner. I said I still hadnt got the money; so he reduced it to 2 Euros and he let me go.

I now dont want to come back through ST Louis and the Rosso crossing. It is a pity it has soured my experience of Senegal because most of the people have been charming. I would be spending more time here if I had better experiences with the police and custoims (and if they hadnt skanked me out of the cash i could spend in country at the border!}

Mauri was wonderful, no hassles anywhere, except the border. the police could not have been more friendly and less hassle in the interior.

Birdy

[mattpope]

Hi Birdy,

Sorry to hear of your experiences - what a shocker!. Hope you never went that way as a result of my mail. It's terrible what is happening up there - I mailed the embassy in the UK to report my findings but more out of frustration than in expectation.

As for the St Louis police I noticed they did not carry guns nor radios so doing a runner should be fine if you've handed over some dodgy documents! I'm not sure what the best approach is with hindsight. Taking a photo of one of them who wanted the high vis vest did the trick and insisting on going to the police station sorted out one of them. The worst one is the control booth on the left hand side of the road just on the exit of the town. The copper there just put my documents in his pocket and they had to be retrieved physically! Best just not to stop!

Enjoy the rest of the trip!

Matt