Border Mauritania-Senegal and other Senegal Transportation Tips

'Mode': TO
Category: Ship/Boat
Getting TO/AROUND: This is well known to be the worst place to enter Senegal. From all border passages, the border here in Rosso is quite messy and full of currupt police officers in both sides, Mauritania and Senegal.

Coming from Mauritanian Rosso, you have to make all your documents signed from the head cheef police, and remember not to give your passport to the wrong guy, it can just disapear. give your passport when 2 people police men are with you, foloow them even if they say you can't pass, this way you can always follow them and when someone blocks your entry say lowdly they have your passports to stamp! this way everyone will know reducing the probabilities of getting your pasport robbed and being ripped of for it to appear again.

after Mauritanian formalities you have to get a boat to Senegalese Rosso which will cost you 1500UM for a veicule and plus 500UM for each passanger.

On the Senegalese side things get worst eve. If you heard people talking about currupt police force but never saw them in action, here is the perfect place to meet them face to face. open your eyes and open your hears baby, cos you're going to give money away...

for entrance policeman that stamps your passport will ask you for money...doenst exists in other entrances to Senegal like in Diamba or south in the gambian border.

Police will tell you how the customs are closed and you have to stay there 2 days without passing unless you give double to costum staff. Don't give your passsport away to the men that are in the border telling you they will take care f everything for you just for an exchange of money, you can do it by yourself.

IF YOU COME WITH A VEICULE OLDER THAN 4 YEARS YOU WILL NOT PASS INTO SENEGAL! you need carnet de passage...

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'Mode': TO
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: IF YOU COME WITH A VEICULE OLDER THAN 4 YEARS YOU WILL NOT PASS INTO SENEGAL! you need carnet de passage...

The Carnet de Passages en Douane is an internationally recognised customs document that, if accepted in a country, entitles the holder to temporarily import a vehicle without the need to pay the appropriate customs duties and taxes. A Carnet is required for most transcontinental journeys and you must obtained one in advance of the journey.

this is a document that prevent people of selling their older cars in poor countries where after a few years what they only have on their roads are pices of junk cars making roads even more dangerous. Senegal, since 2001 has a law that everycar older than 4 years will need this document that veen embassies around the world dont know it actually exists, so make sure you have it if you have a car older than 4 years. unless you want to stay on the border. theres another solution about this which consists on paying for poice escort border to border, like senagal-gambia, senegal-mali, senegal-guine, for this you have to pay around 450euros for each veicule to pass and you have 2 days to pass the country with a police on your back the whole way.

I got myself stuck in Diamba border in December 2003 with a Nissan Patrol 4WD and had to come back... I went again with a 4 year old Opel Corsa which already passed without a problem.

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'Mode': TO
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: This is a choice you have, passing by foot your actually getting yourself inside the long hours train from Dakar. The train will also pass here, the border city of Kidira. You can get out in this city Kidira and walk to the Senegalese officers get a stamp and head the bridge that separates both countries. The first city on the Mali side is Diboli and just a couple of hundred metres before you have the Mali costumes officers and to get a stamp you have to go to the police station in the city after. You dont get the stamp on the border exaclty but have to go and look for the police station after when you get to the nearby town.

Again if you're coming with a car, make sure you have a less then 4 years old car or the carnet de passage.

The Carnet de Passages en Douane is an internationally recognised customs document that, if accepted in a country, entitles the holder to temporarily import a vehicle without the need to pay the appropriate customs duties and taxes. A Carnet is required for most transcontinental journeys and you must obtained one in advance of the journey.

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'Mode': TO,AROUND
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: This is the borde with Gambia south in Casamance after Velingara town. Here things run pretty smooth and people are wuite relaxed about tourist due to the few nummber of them actually passing countries here.
If you come with car you will need carnet de passage en douane, unless you can make the head police understand the document is only for cars older then 4 years (which is not, but he doesnt know the law), so you just saw you pay the duane for the car and you want to enter. Its nice to have some pencils and t-shirts which they will love if you say you will give them that after you have the duane for your car made of course.

coming by foot, you have transportation in Velingara going to Georgetown, or you can just hitching which I think will be ok since I havent seen much dangerous things in the country...

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Car/Motor Home
Getting TO/AROUND: Yes, 4WD cars are the best to drive in Senegal. West African roads are not in good shape. Roads in Senegal are BAD on the way from the Border Rosso north, to Saint Louis, you have +-100km of roadds full of craters. The road heading North aside the Senegal River all the way to Ouro Sogui and Matam is in really bad shape, better to go off the road than actually going on the few asfalt left on the track. After Ouro Sogui near Matam aand going all the way to Kidira and Tambacounda the road is very ok, no problem with this one. Going south o Niokolo Koba (except on the Park itself where you need a 4wd to make many trajects) is ok. The road to Velingara from Tambacounda is ok. From Velingara to the border with Gambia no road just tracks full of holes and red sand and dirt.
From the gambian border to kaolack road is not good, expect many hours to make just a few kms. From Kaolack to Thies is ok and then to Dakar is good. Dakar to Saint Louis is more or less ok.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: Inside cities you have an excelent bus system. You can go everywhere inside towns and cities with this kind of buses you can see on the picture. This should be an easy way for shorter journeys and youl have a great opportunity to see local people interacting.
For bigger trips you should choose bush taxi or taxi brousse.

You pay nothing for this buses, dont worry about it.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Ship/Boat
Getting TO/AROUND: In the north part of the country you have the big Senegal river which will have to be passed thru if you want to get to little villages and towns on the other side. You pay around 500CFA or 1000CFA to pass yourself or a car on these boats. The majority of these boats are human force powered and you should participate on the ritual, BE CAREFUL with you hands not to cut yourself on the iron wire that holds the boat. You can get a bad cut on your hand pulling the boat. You should grab the wire pull and get it loose, grab it pull loose, not sliding your hand on it! rmember this as it will make you free from cuts like my friend did, he got a huge cut on his hand. West Africa is not the place for you to cut yourself in a place where maybe other people also cut themselves right?

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: This is the most used working power in the country. Many horses exist in Senegal as they have a typical horse from here which is called the Fouta Horse. This picture was taken in Saint Louis and horse help to carry the fish out of the small fishing boats parked on the river bank.

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'Mode': TO
Category: Ship/Boat
Getting TO/AROUND: You have to take a boat from Mauriania to Senegal. This is a very thriling trip has you are actually passing your way from the Arab/Moor influenced countries to the real "Black Africa" This is the first black people country on west africa coming from north: morocco, western sahara and mauritania. The boat takes 10 minutes to pass.

The boat cost 500UM for each person and 1500UM for each car.

Be careful with your things, from now on things in terms of robbering get worst, the situation in Mauritanian border city Rosso is the worst in Mauritania by the way...

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: Most public trasnport in Senegal is by bush taxi or taxi brousse in french. You have different veicules making themselves as buses or little buses. They are: Peugeot 504, a van with 7 seats; normal cars usually white like old mercedes minibus or Saviem; a camion (truck like the one on the picture) that carry dozens of people on the back cargo part. You will travel faster and more confortable in the Peugeot 504. Minibuses are better for shorter journeys and give you the change of getting to know the people. You will get to know people on longer journeys.

Autogares or gares routieres are well organized and you cant miss the bus no way. any way you should always ask to many different people as the normal senegalese person wil not tell you he doesnt know, prefereing giving you the wrong direction.

Big Buses 40 sits operate between bigger cities but they are hard to et. Dakar has great bus system.

From the norther border with Rosso you have taxis to Saint Louis.

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