Africa by MotorcycleBorder crossings and visa applications
After saying goodbye to Amy amd the boys at Cardiff, the flights were uneventful. It was nice flying over Spain and Africa and seeing the same scenery I had seen at ground level. When i get home i want to do a side by side gallery of shots i have from both air and ground.
First off.. I am in the UK and have been planning this for the last two weeks. Don’t worry I fly back to Ghana next Friday to continue my journey.
Why? I hear you ask? …
As you will have guessed from my posts over the last few days, I have been wrestling with a choice between continuing East then South to Cape Town and fly home, or to go West then South to Sierra Leone and then North back through Europe. It was not an easy choice to make but I am now 100% confident I have made the right one. I am going to Sierra Leone.
Nothing has really changed apart from my route. My final destination has always been to get home safely. Cape Town in South Africa was just part of the route. The journey and meeting people’s was always the real goal. The number of kilometers travelled will be similar because I am at the halfway point.
Changing the route has the following advantages:
I miss the trouble spots of Nigeria and Boko Haram. The border between Nigeria and Cameroon is still officially closed, although some people are getting through.
I miss the physically difficult stages of the Congos where there is little tarmac and lots of deep rutted roads. I am 51 years old. 😆
I get to go visit the Street Child projects in Sierra Leone.
I save myself about £2,500 in air fares and shipping to get me and the bike back to the UK.
The downsides of changing the route were:
Missing the wildlife reserves in Southern Africa – but I have walked with lions; plus they have some reserves here in Ghana that i plan to visit next week.
Letting other people down. This was especially brought home to me by the look on Hussains face when I told him my decision yesterday. He looked crushed and he explained that he wanted me to achieve my goal of getting to South Africa. We have had long discussions about it since then and I hope he now accepts that reaching South Africa was never my goal. My goal was to travel by motorbike to see the world and meet people. I will continue to do that, just by a different route.
With the new route in mind, I needed o get a few more visas.
Burkino Faso was first on my list this morning so dropped off my passport there and completed the forms. I was asked to return at 3pm to collect it so next went to Cote D’Ivoire, Guinea and Sierra Leone embassies to find out what was needed for them.
Meeting the lady at the Cote D’Ivoire embassy was a strange experience. I still don’t know if she was taking the piss out of me, or we misunderstood each other, or what it was. Anyway it would take 3 days and they were unclear as to whether I could get Laisee Passee for the bike. I decided to go around that country not through it.
Guinea was a totally different experience. It turned out the guy that opened the main gate and let me in was not your usual security guard. He was the deputy consol. He explain what I needed, he even wrote it down for me and said it usually took 5 days. He gave me his personal number before i left and said to call him any time. I definitely want to visit Guinea.
Next was Sierra Leone, again a friendly reception, explained what I needed to do and told me the process takes 3 days. I also need a letter of introduction from Street Child Sierra Leone. I will be emailing them later to ask for this.
At just after 3pm i had my passport back and was on my way to the Guinea embassy again. I expected to drop off my application and go back next week to collect it. No! Our friendly deputy consol greeted us (Hussain was with me this time) and he did it all there and then. I walked out with my passport complete with a multiple entry visa (it was expensive though $200).
Time for the beach Ôÿ║ we spent the rest of the day swimming and lounging around on a private beach managed by those great guys at CPS Security. Tomorrow i have been invited to a music record launch party at the same beach.
A great day was completed by Hussains wife cooking me another great meal.
OK I will get it back as it is a deposit on a temporary import permit for the bike but it does mean a change in plan (again). I have to exit Ghana by the same border I entered to get my money back.
On a brighter note I changed the chain on my bike this morning with the help of a few friendly locals. What a difference, a much quieter and smoother ride.
Distance: 540Km
Actually its Bobo Dioulasso, a town just inside the border between Mali and Burkino Faso. I am stopping here in a cheap hotel for the night ready to cross the border into Ghana tomorrow.
I picked up my passport with a Burkina Faso visa in it today. There was a mild panic from the guy behind the counter when he could not find my passport. The lady who received it yesterday had put it between the pages of a book.
After two days of needing to stay near the small room and feeling tired, I was not looking forward to going out on the bike to collect my passport (and hopefully visa) from the Ghana embassy today. Especially after being told by several people and reading on the Internet that they only normally issue them here to residents of Mali.
My first camp in the true African bush went well. I had all my limbs in the morning and I slept soundly. That is after I put earplugs in, before that every rustle of the wind woke me up.
The ride today was pretty much as the rest of Senegal; hot and dusty. There has been a gradual change from salt production and green trees near the coast to charcoal production and more arid conditions inland.
Just letting everyone know all is OK – I will be doing blogs for these days tomorrow – Teasers: – I nearly met the president of Senegal, I slept near some lions and went for a walk with them this morning – as in walking alongside them like you would a dog, I crossed into Gambia, met some Scouts, had my own personal concert from the national Scout band, met the incoming chief commissioner for Gambian Scouts… And there’s more!!!
John
This will be a long post but bear with me, it involves a scam, an arrest and me being separated from my passport and bike by the Senegal river.
I left Steve early yesterday morning (thanks again for your hospitality) for the Senegal border and Rosso. Described by other travels in endearing terms such as the armpit of Africa and the most corrupt border in Africa. I have been dreading this day since early in my planning and on the ride down I felt like a lamb going to slaughter.
