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I avoided the dreaded Rosso crossing by taking the piste to Diama. All kinds of rumors, lies and tricks are used at the Rosso border crossing. You can never trust any information that does not come directly from a traveler that has recently been through it and even then it should be filtered through your own experience as many travelers do believe what they are told or just pay and go. I would not even trust the staff at the Auberge du Sahara in Nouakchott. A Swiss couple with a car used a "guide" that they contracted at the Sahara (Not from the staff but they would know. Otherwise no complaints against Auberge du Sahara or its staff.) for getting them through the border. It was just another scammer and they ended up paying 100 € ++.
40 km before Rosso a car with two youngsters waived and flashed their lights, passing me and slowing down, wanting me to stop. I passed them and continued at an unaltered speed. The procedure was repeated once before they turned around.
(It should be said that crossing the Rosso border on foot without a vehicle can be very easy.)
The piste to Diama is said to be impassable during the wet season which I understood when driving it. It was also said that the Diama border had been closed shortly before I passed but you never know what is really true. At this time, the piste was in very good condition and it was no problem navigating it with a big bike (even small cars drove it). However, the piste was much longer than I had expected (95 km). I started from Nouakchott 06:00, passed Rosso at 09:00 and didn't get to the border until 11:30 after driving as fast as my skill allowed me. When I crossed, the Diama border was only open between 9-12 in the morning (confirmed by the embassy).
The entrance to the piste in Rosso, just when the river comes into view, was not obvious as it went between rows of simple buildings but after that you just follow on or at the side of a raised bank. There was one junction after about 52 km, keep left and keep following the bank.
On the Open Street Map there is shown a shortcut that would exit here. At the other end, 50 km before Rosso it started as a paved road but I didn't try it. I have no idea if it is driveable as there are a lot of swamps in this area. It looks like a nice shortcut though.
During the second half of the piste there were three police checkpoints with uniformed police each wanting a fiche and nothing else. (Un-uniformed people wanted me to stop at one point but I ignored them.) At the last checkpoint (85 km after Rosso) there was also a uniformed man with a national park badge. He charged me a "Taxe de Visite" of 2000 UM (5:50 €) for which I received an official receipt. I contested it as I had read that the piste is not included in the NP but he stood his ground and I was late for the border. This may or may not have been a legitimate fee.
Passport, driving license, vehicle registration document.
The consisted of four points of interaction.
1.) . In the first building your passport information was noted down in a ledger. The officer wanted 10 € for the trouble but dropped it within a minute after I requested a receipt.
2.)
In the second building, Douane (), the TIP-stamp in my passport got an exit stamp. For this they wanted 10 €. I requested a receipt as usual but first they didn't want to give me one. After a while they wrote me a receipt from a receipt book for 4000 UM (10 €) which I paid even if I suspected it to be fake. Then a strange thing happened. I was given back the 4000 UM and they took back the receipt and I could leave. Perhaps they only wanted Euros which seems odd. I don't know. There should definitely not be a charge here.
3.) Outside on the street there was an un-uniformed man with a receipt-book. He charged a "Taxe sur les Voitures" (vehicle tax) of 500 UM (1 €). According to my research this is a valid charge so I paid without fuzz. The sum was pre-printed on the receipt.
4.)
In the third building marked "Police" was the that put an exit stamp in my passport. Guess what? Also here they wanted 10 € which they again dropped a few minutes after I requested a receipt. I usually just stand quiet and wait until they give me back my documents.
The consisted of three stops. It
started immediately after crossing the Diama dam.
1.) At the first barrier an un-uniformed man in a small building charged an un-named tax, probably a vehicle tax again, of 4000 CFA (6:50 €). According to my research the tax is valid but I'm unsure about the actual amount. The amount was not pre-printed on the receipt. The man wrote it by hand. The receipt was stamped and signed by the man.
2.)
The second building marked "Police" housed the which stamped my passport and wanted 10 €. I requested receipt, waited a few minutes and then got my documents back without paying.
3.) The third building was Douane (). This was the only place I was not asked to pay the 10 € but then it was staffed by a young officer who was new at his post and not yet corrupted. He filled out the TIP document which cost 5000 CFA (8 €) and was valid for only 5 days.
He explained that I had to extend it at the "Direcction Regional de Douane" in Saint Louis (can also be done in Dakar or other cities with a douane office). Motorcycles 8 years and newer get 10 days, he said. I heard later that sometimes only 2 days are given (for a car). Apparently, it is important that the TIP is extended.
There was only one "fixer" in the whole border area. He was quite harmless and followed me through all the way. He changed Ouguyia to CFA at an extremely low rate but that was a choice I made.
Overall, this was not an aggressive border to cross and I didn't have to work too hard to avoid paying uncalled for charges. Based on the Rosso horror stories I've heard from other travelers and read on the Internet, Diama seems like a much better option.
5 days, 5 000 CFA (8 €) Not asked for 500 UM (1 €) / 9000 CFA (14:50 €)
2 hours
I tried for two days to extend the TIP in St Louis but the "boss" was on a work trip to Rosso. I sensed that I would have to fork out some money here as it was a middle man named Zergan involved in the discussions. I managed to piss him off and my TIP was running out so I continued to Dakar where I got and no fuzz.
In the Direction Generale des Douanes is at a backyard of a building at the very northern tip of the Saint Louis island (N 16'02.274 W16'30.149).
In the place where they extend the TIP is not at the central Douanes bulding on Ave Allés Delmas but very close on the fourth floor of a big white building on the east side of the Pl de l'Indépendance (in the very center of Dakar) on the right hand side of AXA Senegal (N 14'40.128 W 17'25.894)
Immediately outside the border post was a cafe building where a woman sold insurance named CGA (Compagnie Generale D'assurances). I had no idea if the insurance was real or not but there were no options. The people at the Zebrabar told me later that the insurance should be valid. The insurance document was accepted by police and border officials throughout West Africa. I only wished I had bought a 6 month insurance for just a few thousand CFA more.
The insurance cost 15 000 / 17 000 / 18 000 CFA (25 / 28 / 30 €) for 1 / 2 / 3 months. Insurance for up to a year could be purchased. This insurance was said to be valid for all CFA countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, CAR, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Mali, Senegal, Niger, Togo as well as traversing of The Gambia. All countries were named on the insurance document.
There are police checkpoints in Senegal but they mostly seem to be interested in big trucks. I was never stopped.
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