Thursday in Freetown: with ambassador in State House

I left the guesthouse around 11am, went to Jeska Mac, had something called boil soup with rice. It was a stew, with both meat (beef I’d say) and fish pieces. Not too bad, 20,000le. I wanted to dress up for the interview: long trousers and shirt. I tried the African patent of not showing sweat […]

Tuesday in Freetown: struggle will be real

There was power in SLARI guesthouse till the morning. I had the fan set up so close to bed that I woke up dry and not too hot. Things are possible. I filled up Nigerian visa form – all six pages of it – got the email from Amyn with the invitation and her passport […]

Monday in Freetown: the two embassies

I woke up all sweaty in my $17 apartment. Not good. Mornings are cool and I should be fresh and crispy and here I am, melting at 6am. At least there were no mosquitoes and in the room there was no mosquito net and the carpeted floor makes burning a coil risky. The plan for […]

Visa no. 8: Liberia in Freetown

Liberian visa is fairly straightforward. I took a 3,000le moto to the embassy. It’s an unmarked gate on Spur Road. The building quite a nice villa, a flag hanging (but invisible from outside, the walls are high and the ground steep). Inside I waited to be announced and I was led to the consul/ambassador’s office. […]

Visa no. 7: Sierra Leone online

I applied online, via a travel agency, at visitsierraleone.org, the cost is $120. They say it’s 1-2 business days, then they say it’s 2-3 days, then they say I should apply 10 days before travelling to the country. We’ll see. It’s called landing permit and the name kinda suggests it’s an airport arrival permit but […]

Visa no. 6: Guinea in Bissau

The bus came at 3:02am. The previous day I spoke to someone who looked like a driver of a very good-looking blue van. What appeared in front of me didn’t look anything like it. Only one front light was on, there were no rear lights. I was packed into the front seat with one other […]

Visa no. 5: Guinea-Bissau in Ziguinchor

A day in Ziguinchor was spent lazily, like a sort of “me day”. There is a Guinea-Bissau consulate in town that gives visas without hassle. I went there. But things first things: coffee. My Rough Guide to Senegal mentions a bakery Ble d’Or and says they do espresso. It’s right in the centre of town […]

Visa no. 4: The Gambia on the border

It’s dingy and seedy and sleazy and dark. The bar in Farafenni, my first town in Gambia. It also feels very West African, the beer finally doesn’t cost a fortune, there is Guinness but not yet the West African style but the foreign stout style with yellow labels that you can buy at home. It’s […]

Friday in Dakar: four embassies & a scam

Today was a visa run day. Spoiler: I failed at all 4 embassies.It’s Friday so any visa processing time longer than “pick up the next day” (Monday) is too long. I don’t wanna sit in Dakar for so long.Bissau visa I hope to get in Bissau consulate in Ziguinchor in Casamance in South Senegal. Guinean […]

From Nouakchott via Otherworld to Senegal

Many years ago I read a book called “Otherworld” by Tad Williams. I picked it up at an airport and I got hooked. It is a four-volume long novel that takes place mainly online in a system that’s used to take over the world. Towards the end of the novel action takes place in the […]