Riding my Motorcycle into Senegal
Update 77 (December 2024)
Mauritania to Senegal
In the last update, I had exited Mauritania and was approaching the Senegal border. I had been told by the Senegal Consulate in Casablanca that I could get a visa at the border.
I handed over my passport to Immigration. The response was, “where is your visa?”. It turns out I could not get a visa at the border and definitely needed one. I wasn’t getting into Senegal today. No amount of pleading was helping. I had to go to the Embassy of Senegal, back in Nouakchott, Mauritania.
Of course I was now in No Man’s Land, between countries. This is the first time this has happened to me, which I suppose I should take some comfort from. It was almost 4pm. My only option was to ride back to Nouakchott tonight. It was only 235 kms but it would take me 6 hours. It’s dark about 6:30pm.
So I turned around and rode back across the Barrage de Diama. At least the Senegal officials did not charge me to cross the Barrage again. Unfortunately, my Mauritania visa was a single entry only. Fortunately, I could get a new one “on arrival” at the border, for another 55 Euro.
I managed to cover the 50km dirt road section before it was dark. It was actually a nice ride back through the national park as the sun set, but I pushed along faster than the ride in. There were a lot of big warthogs on the road, not the prettiest of animals but interesting.
Goats, camels, potholes, finding petrol, pedestrians in the middle of nowhere and poorly lit vehicles were problems until I was back to the main highway. At first all the police checkpoints were annoying, but as it got late their presence did give me some personal safety comfort. I never had any evidence to be concerned, but someone must have thought they were needed.
The next morning I rode to the Senegal Embassy and applied for a visa. I did the application (no fees) and was told to come back tomorrow. Tomorrow was Friday which is the start of the weekend with a short day for most businesses in Mauritania, with the embassy closing at 1pm. Luckily my visa was ready at noon. I decided to play it safe and not leave for the border until Sunday when the weekend was over.
I was now riding back through Diawling National Park and spotted a lone flamingo. The last time I had seen one was in Argentina in this update – Riding Argentina’s Southern Coastline
At one point there was a massive swarming squadron of pelicans.
I again met some foreigners along this stretch of road. It is a quiet road with few locals but it must be on the overland traveller itinerary. This time it was a young German man and a lovely lady from Argentina. They were travelling on a 35 year old tandem bicycle, that was made in East Germany. Quite the sight.
On this ride through Diawling National Park I spotted many West Africa Crocodiles. They were only small, ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 metres.
I was now coming up to my second attempt at crossing into Senegal. How bad would it be if I didn’t get in again?
Most of the people at the Mauritania border recognised me. The Customs chief even organised a nice cold homemade drink for me while we did the paperwork. It was a sweet mango yoghurt drink, similar to lassi.
As it turned out there was a problem, this time with my Mauritania motorcycle paperwork from when I re-entered the country. I won’t go into the detail but it was resolved after a while and I was on my way again to Senegal.
The Senegal entry went fine, although they weren’t a very friendly bunch.
I did the motorcycle Temporary Import Permit for 5,000 West African francs (8 USD). The only problem is that they only give 5 days, even though my visa was 30 days. I had to go to the Douane (customs) Department in Dakar to extend it.
I bought third party insurance at the border also. For 19,000 francs I got 90 days cover in a long list of African countries (brown card). It is done electronically and seemed to be through AXA. At first I was a little sceptical about it, but a local from Mauritania came and bought some and convinced me it was legitimate.
I rode onto the nearby town of St Louis. I had trouble finding my hotel and a kind man rang the hotel for me and then guided me there with his car. The next day I found an ATM for more cash and an Orange SIM card, and was on my way to Dakar.
A Baobab tree. It looks dead but I don’t think it was. They often have little or no leaves, or just a large fruit or seed pods hanging down.
It is melon season.
There was a small market behind these people, selling goats and a few sheep.
Every moderate size village has stalls selling something along the roadside.
The city of Dakar was a day’s ride from St Louis. Through Senegal I have just been finding hotels on Google Maps as I arrive in my destination. Planning ahead is too hard and normally the prices for just turning up and paying direct are better than the Booking app (which is not always the case, especially in countries where Booking is more entrenched). My hotel invited me to park the bike inside without me needing to ask.
The next day I set out for the Customs Office to extend my motorcycle Temporary Import Permit. It took me three tries around Dakar to find the correct office. It is on the 4th floor of this building in Independence Square in the centre of the city. I paid another 5,000 francs, for 15 days this time. I tried to get the same length as my visa but that didn’t seem to be possible. I would have to find a Customs Office and extend it again if needed.
A quick photo with my phone as I wait for the Dakar city traffic to move on.
My next job was to get some maintenance on my motorcycle. I got a tip from a Spanish biker about Mad Bikes. That’s their workshop behind the gates, I was a little early. They did a good job with a service, front fork service with new oil seals (45,000km since the last one in Japan), and new handle grips (the old heated grips had worn through to the heating wire and were falling apart).
I left the motorbike with Mad Bikes overnight and walked the 4kms back to my hotel. There was a large fire nearby, so the city was blanketed with smoke and falling ash. I did find a KFC in Dakar to eat a couple of times. It can be hard to find food sometimes, so I took the opportunity.
I spent four days in Dakar and then moved on. I decided to go around the country of The Gambia which is land locked by Senegal. I have a problem with running out of pages in my passport and didn’t want to use up another page going through The Gambia. And if I went into Gambia I have to get another visa for Senegal, which would be a pain and use up another page. So I rode east to skirt around The Gambia. The border is just beyond those trees at this point.
This is the typical housing style for the villages and small towns, with one or two town wells. While in the larger town of Tambacounda I met two young people who were in Senegal volunteering with the Peace Corps. They had each just started their 2 year term. They were in different villages and spend the two years with a host family and work on projects with the local village. It is very much about living and integrating as a local. It was a brave effort and would certainly take some adjustment after growing up in the US.
Crossing over Ananbe River (I think).
I also stayed in the town of Kolda.
The countryside was changing as I rode south west back towards the coastline. I had entered the Malaria red zone as of Mauritania and will be for the next few months now. It is the dry season now in the Northern Hemisphere, so the risk is low, but I am still taking precautions. As a prevention I take a daily pill of doxycycline and have a test kit I was given. I have also picked up a medication that cures malaria if I do get it. It is one pill per day for three days and that is supposed to do the job. But I would get some medical aid if available.
Right now I am in the town of Ziguinchor, near the border with Guinea Bissau. Christmas Day tomorrow. My administration challenges with visas are continuing. I have a visa for the next country, Guinea Bissau but I am getting nowhere with applying for a Guinea visa. You must get an eVisa, but I cannot get their website to process my payment, and no one answers their “support” emails. Oh the joy….
There are occasional acknowledgements for Christmas.
Western Sahara to Mauritania
Update 76 (December 2024)
Guinea Bissau to Guinea Conakry
Update 78 (January 2025)