to gambia,end, part one

hello
at last free wi-fi,if i remember correctly we were in Nouakchott,the run down to the boarder was pretty straight forward, except for the last 15 to 20 miles of tar before Rosso, was a nightmare!!!The last police check before Rosso pulls you over, & phones his friend to watch out for you at the Diama turn off, the catch being that he is selling Insurance for Senegal, & also that he can get you through Rosso with no problems, when that does not work he tells you that you can not go passed that point without Insurance for Senegal we all have a good shout at each other, then he take us to the Police check on the Diama piste, they tell us we can't go on without Insurance after a few harsh words I tell them we are still in mauritania & Insurance is valid & we can go where we like, the police man just smiled said something to the Insurance man & send us on our way, the next trick is that the track is flooded, ( in their words has water) & they get the locals to tell us the same thing, that we have to go through Rosso,needless to say.......the track was bone dry all the way & of little difficulty except self inflicted, we got on the wrong side of the levy, when the track disapeared into the reeds & a warthog ran out with a startled expression we thought maybe it is time to rethink, it was either reverse back to the man with the donkey cart who said it was ok, or try to climb the old Patrol over the levy, with a bit of buttock clenching we went over the levy at the second attempt....There ia a lot of bird life along the Diama path, it looks like they have had a lot of rain & the wildfowl & waders are abundant.
Mauritanian Police & Customs straight forward(the customs office was full of confiscated wine & beer,SO be warned) On to the Senegal side, things started to get fraught, without a Carnet no chance for a passavant, we waited him out for 4hours,or he kept us waiting for 4 hours we finally gave in & accepted a escourt through Senegal with a 246 euro fee & the pleasure of a customs officer's company.(we arrived at 12.30 & got away at 5pm) But we did manage to get one consession , instead of driving through the night he very kindly allowed us to sleep in the car on a dissused scrap yard, in St Louis.(The issue of a carnet or not is debatable, it was going to cost me £750 for a carnet, if i got away with 250 euros then I supose we are better off,except for the agro, but we did not have any problems with officials through Senegal.
The trip was straight forward through Senegal with our guide/customs official, except for last 20k of road before farrafenni was a nightmare. Through the police & customs quickly because of the escourt,& into Gambia, the usual iffing & butting with the Gambians but all very pleasant,then onto Georgetown, to Janjanburreh bird camp for two nights rest,cross the river at Georgetown & down the South bank to the coast(which is tar all the way bar for 29 miles which is dirt but graded.
We are now sat in Binnis drinking cold draught Julbrew & listening to a Malcome Allison look alike singing Frank Sinatra, life does not get much better!!!!.
That is half of our trip now all we have to do IS drive back after Christmas!!!
Regards
Chrissue

<sigh>

Thanks for the update. Keep 'em coming.

Can't say I'm ecstatic about crossing the borders ...

African GirlChild

Got all excited for a few seconds and was about to ask - where are the photos? Then I realised what you'd actually said:-

"We are now sat in Binnis drinking cold draught Julbrew"

Damn, I gather we won't be seeing Sue sat in a bikini drinking cold draught Julbrew then?

Yep, borders with all their bureaucracy (left over from the French colonial days and accepted with relish by the locals), oil drum police checks in every town looking for whatever they can confiscate from you – booze and alcohol being the favourites, 'local taxes', 'mythical on-the-spot fines', that part of the world can be a real pain.

hello
thanks for reply,you will be ok at rosso or diama with a carnet,every thing is possible,we were taking a chance not having one,it did not come off,the drive along the barrage piste is well worth doing,the the birdlife is great.good luck with the trip,when you get to gambia,if you have time,drop in to see us, chris & sue at kerrserign villas were in the senagambia district. regards chrissue

Hey guys

We'll definitely keep in touch and hopefully we can meet up!

rgds
African GirlChild