Hi everybody!

I've looked at these great forums for a while, but this is my first posting.

I'm planning a trip at the end of December/early January and was wondering if anyone has any insights on the issue below.

I run an NGO that has an office in Ghana. Some friends and I plan to buy an old Mercedes in Spain and drive it to Ghana and deliver it to our office there as our new office vehicle.

The particular issue that I'm confused about is the carnet. Because we are an NGO in Ghana, we can import the car into Ghana, no problem. The issue is the carnet and, I believe, Senegal.

It seems to me that we can't get a carnet even if we wanted to, because we won't be returning the car to it's home country. Besides, I don't thnk we can afford a carnet. From looking at the boards, it appears to me that the only country on the route (Spain -- Morocco --> Senegal --> Mali --> Burkina --> Ghana) that we would need a carnet for anyway is Senegal. The car will be way more than 5 years old.

As I look at the boards, I see that people definitely recommend crossing into Senegal at Diama, not Rosso. But is seems that sometimes people need a carnet, and sometimes they don't. Apparently, both the legal and practical situation there regarding the carnet is ever-changing. Some say you will definitely get turned away without a carnet, others that it's possible to get a passavant at the border.

So if anyone has any insight into how we should handle this, I would be very appreciative indeed!

Any and all other thoughts on the route would be very appreciated as well.

Thanks to all for the always vital and informative posts!

- Jeffrey

hello
as far as i know you can just buy a passavant (2500cfa) at the border. but we entry from mali and gambia but i think entering from mauritanie should be the same. the ''5yearsoldrule'' isn't working anymore. so you will have no problems with your old car. good luck!

Thanks a lot, Brend. I know that some folks say that Senegal require a carnet at the northern border, but not the others... hopefully that is just out-of-date info. Thanks again!

Hey Jeffrey. In fall 2008 my bud secured a passavant at Rosso. It was good for 10 days. So it was possible a year ago ...

And yeah Diama is preferable to Rosso. I crossed into Senegal at Diama with little hassle other than a few dollars here and there. Overall relatively easy. Good luck.

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