countdown

hello
set the ball rolling today,booked the ferry,plymouth-santander on the sunday 28 oct afternoon sailing, now its to carnet or not to carnet, is it nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outragous custom officers,or bite the bullet get a carnet,and get stiffed up front,the joys of overlanding.
regards chris

Decisions decisions. I've forgotten, where are you off to?

hello
gambia for christmas, moroc- mauri-mali-senegal-south senegal,or miss mali if its still in revolt,adapt to servive,stay low move fast. regards chris

There is always Guinea of course, which I've visited, and Guinea-Bissau, which I haven't and know nothing about whatsoever!

Better swat up on your French then, for apart from Gambia it's Franglais all the way. I would have thought a carnet is essential as they love their bureaucracy (the French taught them about red tape and they've taken to it with great relish and enthusiasm), but then again it's a long time since I've been in that part of the world.

hi
its hard to say ,with or without carnet. have done this trip before ,first time in 03 with a carnet and got shafted in ROSSO(the arm pit of west africa) the only place i showed it. did a trip to Mali in 06/07 and then on to gambia,without a carnet,never got ask for one,again in 07 down the atlantic route to gambia without carnet, got reamed at the barrage crossing in to senegal,they ask for a carnet,just payed up and went on my way.in 09 went to gambia and back on atlantic route,got reamed again at the barrage going but not coming home ?. i do'nt know ,a carnet is not cheap,and i've never been stopped form crossing anywhere without one.
have things change alot in the last few years?.
As for french, in the last 10 years have got,beer,bread,cheese off pat, limited diet ,but i seem manage,chap who i went to timbuktu with ,spoke in a loud scots accent,seemed to work(most of the time telling people he is not english,ECOSSE seemed to wind him up for some reason.
regards chris

Sounds as if you will know a lot more about carnets that the rest of us put together - especially in NW Africa.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always thought a carnet really came into its own if you couldn't take your vehicle back out of the country due to sort type of disaster - written off by fire, accident or whatever? Basically in this scenario it would work in your favour as you wouldn't have to fork out import tax, simply scrap the vehicle instead. Yes I know it's also about customs declarations such as equipment on board - one Hi-Lift Jack in, one Hi-Lift Jack back out - but this is small fry compared to the vehicle itself. Yes/no, I'm not 100% sure myself.

hi
thats about right as far as i know,its just to stop you selling your motor on the blackmarket,its a pasport for the car ,they stamp you in and stamp you out,if the car go'es awol inbetween,the duty is claimed back of the carnet insurance which is based on the value of the car, the document that is issued at the boarder do'es the same thing at a fraction of the price. ,the contents of the vehicle don't have any bearing on the carnet,i think, going to get shot down in flames, but what the heck. The carnet or lack of one is used as a means of extracting money by the customs men. if i get one its just for peace of mind,one day were going to run in to a honest offical(what was that,a flying pig!)
regards chris

Hello Chris, I just picked up on this and realise you are not actually leaving until October..........so I am not too late to chip in with some comments.
I was born in Nigeria and have done business in West Africa for over 30 years............
My Company has offices in Ghana and Nigeria, we supply our services to all surrounding West Coast countries. We often send gear and vehicles between the two countries passing through Togo and Republic of Benin........or West to Ivory Coast; basically the borders are fairly straightforward to negotiate. Even if you have all the right documentation you will always be asked "what do you have for me"? So a simple gift of water, a can of coke or some small local currency is very well appreciated. If you always smile and respect the uniformed officers, they are fine.

Border crossings in Africa are subject to the mood of the people on duty at the time you arrive and meet them.

My advice is to carry all the necessary documentation, which can be used if necessary.

We would welcome you and any other overlanders coming through Ghana and Nigeria.....let us know when you are coming through and we will help you to get couple of days relaxation at a good local geusthouse, with excellent food and local
beer.
You can contact me via this forum and we can share private contact details.......

hi lanedriver
thanks for your comments,nice to know we have contacts out there,will keep what you say in mind.
regards chris

Nice one lanedriver, it's input like this I love about this forum!

lanedriver wrote:

We would welcome you and any other overlanders coming through Ghana and Nigeria.....let us know when you are coming through and we will help you to get couple of days relaxation at a good local geusthouse, with excellent food and local
beer.
You can contact me via this forum and we can share private contact details.......

Hi lanedriver!
That is so very kind of you. We are heading all the way through West Africa. While I know there will be lots of smiling friendly faces, it will also be great to have a welcoming "friend" along the way too!

I'll drop you a PM.

kind regards
African GirlChild

You are all most welcome...........If you require any spare parts sending out we have good relationships with the freight forwarders from the UK.....Should you need a good local mechanic and a service or repairs in Ghana be sure to let me have your requirements. If you fancy a drive on some of the bush roads up to the gold mines or a week-end in a chalet on the beach in Ghana, we can recommend........... lots more when you send me a PM.............