Senegal: Dakar traffic & visa fun

We drove back along the N1 toll road into hectic Dakar from our more tranquil village to see if we could get visas for Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria.

At the Ghanaian embassy we didn’t receive too warm a welcome, we were just told that it was impossible to get a visa there unless we were residents of Senegal and to apply at the border between Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, which we knew would be problematic.

But yet again, an unfriendly experience was swiftly followed by a very friendly one. We were stood in the shade checking directions to the Nigerian embassy when an older gentleman (Felix) asked if we needed help. He proceeded to walk us to the Nigerian embassy, including without warning jumping into an open-backed bus, paying the fare for us, but then saving our embarrassment because the police stopped the bus to question the driver, Felix jumped off and demanded his fare back from the ticket guy who by now was fed up and sat waiting by the side of the road.

Although it was a short interrupted ride, it was a great experience for us to ride the bus which we probably wouldn’t have done by ourselves.

The guard at the Nigerian embassy also dismissed us quickly, saying we’d need to return in the morning and that Rob should wear long trousers and a shirt to have any chance of getting a visa.

At the Ivory Coast embassy he was also denied entry due to his sloppy dress code and I had to enter alone through strict security and a plush reception and office to be told the application requirements.

We’d need to return the next morning with copies of passports, photos, vaccinations, car documents, letters, itinerary, hotel reservations and a payment of 85,000 CFA each (about £110, ouch!).

We returned the next morning with the documents and were told we could collect our visas the following day after 2pm, which we did, so we are now able to travel at least as far as Cote D’Ivoire and we can try for the Ghanaian visa at the border.

The next morning we tried the Nigerian embassy (we couldn’t do this on the same day since the Cote D’Ivoire embassy needed to hold our passports to process the visa).

We were kind of dreading the reception at the Nigerian embassy when we turned up in our smartest, cleanest clothes, and our anxieties seemed confirmed when we were immediately asked to hand over our mobiles for them to be locked away in a locker behind the reception desk.

After waiting for a while in a plush lounge with expensive leather sofas and flattering photos of the Presidents of Nigeria and Senegal, a young guy in an immaculately crisp lilac/grey suit with embroidery and tiny buttons down the front asked how he could help. The suit was finer than this (I would’ve asked if I could take a photo of his suit, but of course our phones were safely locked away).

We ended up having a really useful and interesting conversation for at least half an hour, but we could have spent the rest of the day chatting if other applicants hadn’t arrived.

He advised us our best chance was to apply for the visa in Cotonou, capital of Benin, neighbour to Nigeria and close to Lagos, once we had our visa for Cameroon (Nigeria’s neighbour to the south), so we could demonstrate we were tourists travelling through to our next destination.

He told us he was from Kanu in central Nigeria and that Lagos was a great city, but very busy and hectic. Most cities have a ‘Welcome To …’ sign, but in Lagos there’s only a ‘This is Lagos’ sign. He’d asked his friend from Lagos why this is and his friend said, “they were welcome before, now they’re here!”

Driving in Dakar is very interesting indeed. Major roundabouts and junctions are gridlocked, traffic lights and lane discipline ignored, taxis and buses are hailed and pull over across lanes at any time and rusty old trucks break down, blocking lanes until roadside repairs are successful and scooters, cycles and pedestrians weave their way through all this chaos. You can taste the pollution as you sit in the traffic jams. It must be completely exhausting trying to go about your day-to-day business in this city.

Senegalese people are very good-looking and stylish and go about the place very cool and serene (although after a few days walking around in 38C heat we’re also learning to go slow).

People seem to love sport and fitness, many runners and hard core fitness sessions in the sand. We’ve seen a couple of football games on the beach and the skills are impressive. Of course no matter how young the players, I get a running commentary and detailed critique of each player’s abilities, so I focus on catching up on the latest Senegalese news instead.