Stranded at the border
Hi BoBers,
The Mauritania/Senegal border at Rosso is notorious, even in West Africa, and they’ve grown quite sophisticated with their scams. Because tourists ask for receipts to avoid bribes, men now sit, right next to the police, with receipt machines selling tickets for the free ferry. I was even followed 10km to the border by a man on a motorbike from “customs” who tried to force me to pay some money for the ferry. Feeling quite clever after avoiding both of those scams, I arrived at the Senegalese side and was promptly rejected - I didn’t have a visa.
It’s a long story, but unlike many countries (EU, US, Canada even India), Australian citizens need a visa for Senegal. Visa on arrival is possible but only at the Dakar airport. Information online is sparse and often contradictory. I originally planned to use my UK passport, which expired before I arrived. I have many excuses but the truth is that I wasn’t properly prepared. So I needed to return to Nouakchott.
What followed was one of the most frustrating experiences of my life. At first Mauritanian immigration said annulling my exit stamp (i.e. letting me back into the country) would be no problem. Then the big boss, a big-bearded-and-bellied man who sat imperiously hunched on an office chair while everyone else ate dinner comfortably on the ground, just told me to leave the border without changing anything - effectively to enter his country illegally. I didn’t want to. Either way, the police, who controlled the gate, then told me I couldn’t leave because it would be illegal.
For three days I was trapped at this border, eating stale bread and pasta from the store. Camping in no-mans-land, visiting the toilet multiple times per day with quite bad diarrhea. For three days I ping-ponged between the immigration, who insisted that I enter their country illegally and the police at the border who refused me entry. All of this with my terrible french. I made friends with money changers and migrants deported from Mauritania. I saw rampant and unabashed corruption. Eventually, got a new e-visa on Friday evening, with the help of a Swiss trucker’s contacts, and was able to leave.
Borderline experienced,
J&BoB
