February 22 :: Sukuta, Gambia
February 22 :: Sukuta, Gambia :: 40km / 3225km total
Up early, at the Sierra Leone High Commision at 8:30 a.m. with all paperwork ready to go, cash in hand. But this is Africa, and the man responsible for issuing visas decided not to come to work in the morning. So I waited. For 3 hours. At 11:30 he strolled casually in, completely unconcerned, took one look at myself and the Africans waiting, mumbled something about 'lunchtime', turned around, and walked back out the door. Out he went to get some food. 30 minutes later I was in his office, trying hard to suppress my disdain for this man - after all, I have $1000 in paid flights that hinge on his issuing me a visa to Sierra Leone. It took him all of 5 minutes to copy the information I had written on the application form onto the visa, relieve me of $100US, and paste the visa into my passport. Something a well-trained 10 year old could do, much less any of the other 5 embassy staff. But he was the power man, hierarchy firmly in place, and only he could do this delicate task. Forget whining about Western agricultural policies undermining African countries, moaning about trade debts, etc... with idiotic bureacracy like this African countries shoot themselves in the foot, no matter what foreign countries do or don't do.
I ran back to my hotel, sneaking out after the noon deadline for paying for a new day, and headed to the coast. I was dismayed to find that the holiday strip was completely overdeveloped with hotels seamlessly blocking off the beach and grossly overinflated prices for everything. Not to mention the usual tout hassle that comes with such areas. Well, only one place to go, a place that had been advertizing itself all through the Sahara - Sukuta Camping, an overlanders mecca. A nice room, $10CDN, all good, and I re-met an English couple that I had initially met in Zebrabar, Senegal.
Tomorrow I'll resolve the logistics of boxing the bike for flight and getting both of us to the airport, only about 10km from here. Between now and my March 6 flight I'll probably dip down into the Casamance region of Senegal, I've heard some positive things about some seaside towns just across the border.
Up early, at the Sierra Leone High Commision at 8:30 a.m. with all paperwork ready to go, cash in hand. But this is Africa, and the man responsible for issuing visas decided not to come to work in the morning. So I waited. For 3 hours. At 11:30 he strolled casually in, completely unconcerned, took one look at myself and the Africans waiting, mumbled something about 'lunchtime', turned around, and walked back out the door. Out he went to get some food. 30 minutes later I was in his office, trying hard to suppress my disdain for this man - after all, I have $1000 in paid flights that hinge on his issuing me a visa to Sierra Leone. It took him all of 5 minutes to copy the information I had written on the application form onto the visa, relieve me of $100US, and paste the visa into my passport. Something a well-trained 10 year old could do, much less any of the other 5 embassy staff. But he was the power man, hierarchy firmly in place, and only he could do this delicate task. Forget whining about Western agricultural policies undermining African countries, moaning about trade debts, etc... with idiotic bureacracy like this African countries shoot themselves in the foot, no matter what foreign countries do or don't do.
I ran back to my hotel, sneaking out after the noon deadline for paying for a new day, and headed to the coast. I was dismayed to find that the holiday strip was completely overdeveloped with hotels seamlessly blocking off the beach and grossly overinflated prices for everything. Not to mention the usual tout hassle that comes with such areas. Well, only one place to go, a place that had been advertizing itself all through the Sahara - Sukuta Camping, an overlanders mecca. A nice room, $10CDN, all good, and I re-met an English couple that I had initially met in Zebrabar, Senegal.
Tomorrow I'll resolve the logistics of boxing the bike for flight and getting both of us to the airport, only about 10km from here. Between now and my March 6 flight I'll probably dip down into the Casamance region of Senegal, I've heard some positive things about some seaside towns just across the border.
posted by Graham Durrant at 12:01 PM
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