West African Admin

I spent the first two days of this week trying to do three things:

get my passport back from the British Embassy
get a visa to Sierra Leone
get a flight to Sierra Leone

The visa I can understand would be difficult. Countries make it hard to get visas and the fact that I, as a British passport holder (ha!), can get into pretty much any country I like without any trouble whereas a person with a name like Ibrahim won't be given so much as the passport application form, makes me feel that I should suffer for a visa at some point.

The Sierra Leone high commission in London politely informed me I would need an invitation letter from the Sierra Leoneon government. Knowing full well that it would be virtually impossible to get a) a phone line through to Sierra Leone and b) to talk to someone who would have the authority to invite me to their country and c) get them to send me a letter, I asked the man how I did that. He informed me, less politely, that he had given me all the information he was obliged to give me and it wasn't his job to make it happen for me. In other words, 'we don't want you in our country, thankyou very much'.

Next I try to find out what's happened to my passport. I had given it in at the British Embassy, along with £200, to apply for a second passport. The idea was that they LOOKED at it, but didn't sent it away anywhere to have its corner cut off (because it still has pages left in it), and gave it right back.

They said they would need to keep it and would call me when I could come and get it. They didn't call. The British Embassy in Dakar, like the Sierra Leone government, does not want you to be able to reach them. They make it virtually impossible to telephone, and when you do get through you are told, "Didn't we tell you we would call you when you can have it back?" as if there is something wrong with you for feeling a little nervous that you have to take a plane in 2 weeks, have to get a visa for somewhere else, have no ID in a country where you are asked for it even to get your letters from the post box, and someone is holding your passport for a reason which is never explained to you. So far I have: no visa, and no passport.

Next I tried to find a flight to Sierra Leone, arriving on a Wednesday. I rang two different travel agents, and they both gave me the same advice: travel on a Friday. The two airlines which fly from Dakar to Freetown leave on a Friday. I explained that since the elections were on a Saturday, I couldn't possibly fly on a Friday and could they, since they have computers infront of them which tell them about all the flights all over the world, find me a way of getting there, perhaps via another country, via Europe if I have to, on a Wednesday. The answer from both of them: travel on a Friday.

So I lied. I told them I wanted to go to Gambia on a Tuesday. I told them I would also relish the idea of staying in Banjul for the night and then taking the SN Brussels flight to Freetown the next day. "Ah!" said one of the agents, "you could go via gambia". "You have to go via Brussels" said the other.

So now I have: no visa, no passport, but I will get to spend two nights (one each way) in the Gambia. What more could I want?