Hi Rob ..

well , my point is not that you can use the carnet in Africa . OBviously you can use it , probbably in Europe aswell . My point is that you can cross Africa exactly the same , without a carnet.

A carnet cost 200UKP ,but you need to upfront a indemnity of the value of your vehicle . If you lose -either the vehicle or the carnet or both- , damage it or have it stolen , you lose your total indemnity , which deppending on your vehicle can be from 1000 UKP to 20-30K for newer 4wd or 100K for a good 4x4 truck.

Does IT really compensate ? I think no way .

ok . It may save you time while getting the ´passavants (neligible ammount of time compared to say -visas- or insurance ) . but ..speaking about time .. how many days you waste at home arranging the carnet ? It took me 4 days , 200 Euros , 1500 Euros of warranty for a dodgy Samurai , and I was dissapointed , infuriated , when I saw people without that pointless expensive piece of paper crossing the borders exactly the same way as I did with my "carnet"

Never again .

From a money point of view It makes even less sense


even without thinking on the indemnity ... 200UKP is more than enough to buy passavants , lazze passe for all the route to Capetown ,

Basicly , if you weight the pros

("quicker entry trhought customs" )
("not to pay lassepasse (<5UKP per country )

and that is ... against the cons

risking astronomical ammounts of cash if you lose the carnet
hassle to get it done , bank procedures , fees
the cost of the carnet itself
being vulnerable to extorsion from bad cops taking the carnet
being constantly worried about the whereabouts of the carnet


in my oppinion the choice is clear.

but I insist :you can Use the carnet in All Africa -if you want-. BUT YOU CAN CROSS THE SAME COUNTRIES WITHOUT IT for far less money than the cost of the carnet . so the list on the top , is grossly grossly wrong .

do you know how many people are automaticly turned off to do a trans-african when they just learn about the cost of the carnet (>5000UKP for a decent Defender/LC) ?

if anyone wants to spend all this cash , and donate the money to the Swiss RAC , their local Banks , that´s ok ... but at least we should be clear that you can do exactly the same without a carnet.

have a nice day

Javier