Border Rosso Mauretanie to Senegal | Customs and Immigration

crossed on foot from Mauritania to Senegal.

showed up and instantly got approached by about a billion guys all saying stuff to me in French. I don't really speak french and I feel like it's a good thing as it made it a lot easier to ignore them.

Just keep walking till someone in a uniform tells you to show him your passport. he then gave our passport to some other random guy who took us to a window where we got stamped out of Mauritania.
The guy that just took our passports then asked for money. We asked him why and he said we should give him money because everything else here was free, the visa is free, the boat is free, so we might as well give him some money. We told him no and he got angry, but eventually gave up.

just before getting on the boat I finally agreed to exchange my remaining 550 ouguiya. managed to get 7500 CFA for it (official exchange rate 8400 CFA)
first offers we received were as low as 3000 CFA.

they will also tell you it's impossible to exchange your money on the other side of the river, which simply isn't true.

We then tried to get on the ferry, but some guy stopped us and tried to sell us a ticket for the ferry.
The ferry is free, so we just laughed at him and got on anyways. He yelled something at us in french, no idea what he said, but don't think it was very friendly.

On the Senegalse side we got off the ferry and someone in uniform was waiting to collect everyone's passports. We then had to go to another building where he eventually brought everyone's passports to and we got stamped into Senegal.

Then walked for a bit, away from all the taxis, and then from there managed to hitchhike to Saint Louis

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Passed by foot Mauritania to Senegal. did not pay anything on either side. much easier than I expected. only let your passport or copies out of you hand for real police. People showing ID cards is meaningless. real police = Uniform which also includes police hat, smart shoes/boots and shoulder rank. walk through green gate showing only the police officer your passport. go left around the corner of the building and go to the window of the part the sticks out kiosk style to get stamp. wait for ferry. very aggressive "police officer" stopping people from boarding and shouting. get past him. on the other side there is a real police officer (not police assistant) who will take your passport from you. leave it with him and join the queue section at the building ahead of you and to the left (might be hidden behind trucks waiting (it's a building connected to the gate.) get your stamp at the window (the police office with your passport brings it there through the back door). they tried to make us pay, but we didn't. it's a 10 or 15 minute walk down the street to the bus station on the right hand side where you can take a share car to Dakar or Saint-Louis. Don't stress too much for the border, just be sure of yourself and firm.

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UK citizen crossed with bicycle on ferry for free.

Very hostile people will try and get money from you. I didn't have a passport copy, but this was no problem. I only spoke to people in police uniforms. I ignored everyone else, except for shouting at a guy touching my bike. Not fun!

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Got almost scammed in Mauretania. The harassment is heavy. Haven’t seen this before in Africa anywhere.

In total we paid around 280€ + Pringles for Senegal and Mauritania (included card de brun) they show you ID cards and everything. The police didn’t helped us because I killed one of there chair with my 34er tyre when we entered the gate.

I think you can handle it without one of these bastards, but you need a really big skin. The environment there is really rough and it looks like it can escalate really quickly.

But the problem was almost only on the mauretaniaside. The Senegalguy was alright, of cause he negotiates long but on a really friendly way.

Furthermore the costs of the Senegal side are quite higher now.
We had to pay in total around 44k cfa in Senegal. The parking is more expensive now (around 10000 cfa) i will update a list later.

On our return we will go to diama. Hopefully it workes in end of October.

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Update Rosso:

Crossing Mauritania to Senegal with a Bicycle - I had an early start today and got to the border at 08:45. I advise everyone to get there as early as possible. Diama was impossible for me because of rain the days before

The hassle started 4km before already with a motorcycle following me. Once I got close to the gate the hassle really became massiv. I tried to ignore everyone. People with some kind of badge etc try to harass you, and they want the passport. Go directly to the green entry gate. There hand a Passport COPY to the guy in green uniform. People shout at you and continiously harass you. Ignore them. I acted like I did not know any language and talked to them in Swiss German. Once he lets you pass, many more people try to get your money. They come with receipt machines etc. Be patient. wait even if they grab you (did with me) and somehow an official will wave you through and you can leave.

Go directly left, and enter the first building on the left ( walk around the corner after entering the green gate) In there you will get the stamp. The guys in there were friendly and told me don‘t pay for the boat etc. One guy in traditional Mauritanian clothing who knows english and french was very much trying getting underneeth my skin.
After I got the stamp ( waited 5 min) the officer said I should wait right by the office building with him (leave also your bicycle right in front). I did, had a nice talk and once he gave me the go for the ferry I just walked straight over. At the ferry entry, there is one Police officer sitting there. I went back, got the guy from the stamp office and he called the police man off. I was able to pass and take the ferry.

Senegal side: an officer came onto the boat, asking for the passport. Hand him the passport and walk to the office to wait in line. He will bring your passport through the backdoor to the official and it will be stamped quickly.

I admit, maybe I was lucky, by 09:45 I was all set and ready to go! Took me only an hour to cross both border points.

Total Money Paid for the crossing with a Bicycle: 0€!!! Don’t pay anything!!!

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Les plus grands escros du l afrique de l ouest !! A eviter absolument cela m a coute 3000 um pour le bateau 5000 pour les douanes et 500 pour la commune soir un tital de presque 220 euros sans le vuda et sans recu. J ai essaye de ne oas paye sauf les 55 euris du visa et ils m ont emoeche de sirtir. Meme les chefs sont corrompus. Il faut passer par diama meme si la piste est dure avec 3 h ca le fait meme avec un van qui n est oas 4x43000

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La pire douane avec une corruption généralisée du bas en haut de l échelle Ils m ont obligé à prendre un transitaire en douane ou refusait de me laisser partir durée de1s contrôles arrivée 9h30 sortie de l enceinte a 13h après avoir été obligé de sortir accompagné d une personne pour aller retirer du liquide dans une banque . Coût prohibitif 5000um pour le passavant 3000 un pour le bateau 500 un pour la taxe locale soit un total d environ 220 euros pour le passage plus 55 euros pour le visa. A part le visa tout est illégal mais pas possible d y échapper sinon ils ne vous laissent pas sortir de l enceinte. En plus ils sont tous très désagréables

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We were only two people without car going to Senegal, we were expecting a lot of chaos but was easier than we thought.
we had to give passport photocopies at the entrance and then wait somewhere else to get the stamp.
we didn't have to pay for anything else, the ferry for people is free, only cars pay.

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Came with a minibus from Nouakchott. I knew about the dodginess of the border so I decided to respond to any unofficial person in Finnish to confuse them. It worked for a while. If you speak any other language than Arabic, French or English, try to confuse them and make them believe that you in no way can speak to them. I was busted when I simply had to respond to an officer that I didn't carry drugs. You will need a photocopy of your passport info page, have it ready. The ferry runs pretty infrequently, so you might take a pirogue (a small fishing boat) like I did. Get stamped out from Mauritania. The same guys who try to take advantage of you will try to make you take your own pirogue for around 500 ouguiyas. They then raised the price to 1000 ouguiyas. Keep in mind that it might be more dangerous to take a boat just for yourself as you never know what the guys come up with. I wouldn't want to get mugged in the middle of the river. I just told them to f*ck off in Finnish and went to the other pirogues with other (local) people. Paid around 50 ouguiyas to get to Senegal. Will write another check-in when going the other direction.

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because of rainfall we (2 people and a 4x4) were forced to cross the border at rosso (so NOT try Diama when it's rained one or two days ago!) and did not find the nightmare many describe so we would like to give an update:
1) keep your wits about you. don't pay anything without a receipt, even from the officials.
2) on the Mauretanien side there are lots of gendarmerie present. they are helpful when you ask about the process.

now where to go and what to pay:
only stop right at the entrance gate and only talk to the gendarmerie guy there, give him the copies of passports and passavant and Carter grose
drive through the gates and park in the line for the ferries
go back to the entrance gate. on its right you find the ferry tickets -> 500 ou
stick to the right side and walk until you find the hut that says 'communite de rosso' -> 100 ou (depending on vehicle)
go to the other side to the yellowish building. downstairs and in the outside on the left you have to go for your car. hand over the driver's passport and the carte grise. invent a phone number when asked and take care to take the small white snippet they fill out for you with you (number plate on it) -> did not cost anything
same room next window is passport control -> again no cost
then go upstairs to Duane and show them the passavant,which they keep. only pay after you got the stamp, which serves as a receipt here, from the boss in your driver's passport! -> 400 ou
go to your car and show your ticket and the community tax receipt to the gendarme (!) who also collects the white snippet with the number plate
ready to go!
Senegalese official in uniform collects passports and carte grise on the boat(strange but we got them back...)

senegal:
park car
change money
go to building on the left and stand in the first queue to pay for your car and get back carte grise-> 3000cfa
go around the building for immigration -> free
go to the building on the opposite, whose entrance is on the side where the ferry lands, on the second floor. ask for the boss, explain him how a carnet de passage is stamped and get your stamp without going to Dakar. -> free
leave the building, go to the right of the exit gate and buy insurance -> 12000 CFA for hilux for 1 month (carte brune)
go to guy directly right of exit gate and pay community tax -> 2000cfa
ready to leave!
beware two police controls within 1km of the border

all in all appr. 35 euros and the carnet stamp-> if there is or was rain, rosso is definitely a better option than diama

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Whene you want to drive from Rosso to Diama along the river. Then at the end of Rosso a police officer will ask for your Insurance for Senegal, because the road will not be on Senegal after 30 km, he told us? So he did not let us thrue!
So we crossed the border in Rosso.
We use a Carnet with 25 year old car. So other way I do not know.
We paid CAF 55000 Insurance for our 4x4 valid for multiple countries for 1 month.
Then we paid:
500 ug for boat ticket.
400 ug stamp customs.
150 ug police stamp.
100 ug community tax.
On Senegal side we paid:
3000 CFA police stamp
5000 CFA customs
2000 CFA community tax
So in general you have to pay a lot. (€50) We strongly advice to take the Diama border.
We will cross that border when we travel back next month. We will give an update at that border.

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