2020 a year to watch

2020

The beginning of a third decade in the new millennium

The elections are due to be held across Africa during 2020 in:

Burkina Faso
Burundi

Cabo Verde
Cote d'Ivoire
Ghana
Guinea
Togo

That's a lot across West Africa

I've been talking to Ivorian friends about the situation locally for the next elections as that is where I'm most concerned.  After the municipal elections in early October 2018 that caused chaos in some regions of the country,  as there was one declared death (Lakota) and a lot of post-election dramas.
I asked the question; as I usually do!

The last Presidential elections in Cote d'Ivoire passed peacefully in general but that's because the Gbagboists refused to vote.

So where does that leave 2020 in the sub-region of West Africa, particularly Cote d'Ivoire?

A lot of friends are already talking about leaving the country to watch the elections pass from afar.  Personally this worries me as it hints at something more ominous.  Currently there's no clear leader to take over from Alassane Ouattara.

Having said this, over the last few years, Burkina Faso has had an de-facto government when Compaore was exiled, Burundi has seen a lot of turmoil, another country I love and was shocked to hear a hand grenade go off within an hour of my arrival a few years ago.  Burundi is in chaos and I hope it stops soon!  Ghana has a President that wants to leave his religious mark with a building resembling the Yamoussoukro Basilica despite not having schools nor regular electrical supplies, so dumsor makes today's headlines.  Guinea's fortunes change daily, I'm not going to comment on that or Togo's possible perilous future ...

2020 is a year to watch ... I hope I'll be more optimistic soon!

Answering endless requests about the region

It's been a while now that I've been online on various travel forums under my pseudonym 'Kira' ... the name came from Kira-cho, a town in Aichi-ken, Japan where I spent 15 months living and working there for my degree.

I digress ... but on several occasions I've met people and talked to them over the years of travelling around the sub-region and then been asked 'Are you Kira?' ...

So I've set up a group on Facebook to cover all things West African related to travelling, without any touts hopefully!  The group can help and advise others who are in the region.  It's open to all heading that way or who are already there!

Join us by clicking here: West Africa Travellers on Facebook

18,366 Kilometres by Road

If you're afraid of flying, getting home to see Mum in Nigeria when you live in the UK, can't be easy!

A year ago I was contacted by Chinedu for help and advice about a trip to Nigeria from the East Midlands, UK.  I was a bit confused by the situation, here I was telling a Nigerian how to get home, but he'd never been home or attempted a long overland journey!  There were so many questions, particularly in regards to being fearful of completing the trip; however many times I promised him he would love it, he was convinced he was about to travel to hell.



He made the trip, had some wonderful experiences, met a lot of people, travelled many thousands of kilometres and finally made it home, taking scrupulous notes along the way!

The result is a wonderful book of his experiences, the reality of obtaining visas, dealing with transport and having the time of his life.  He didn't just go to Nigeria by road but he returned by road too!

I've never plugged a product on this blog, but Chinedu deserves as many sales as he can get, it's on Kindle as well as a beautiful paperback copy that's sitting proudly in front of me!

https://www.amazon.com/18-366-Kilometres-Road-Adventure-ebook/dp/B01M8MB3J9

Proud to have been able to help him, hoping to see him on a trip south soon!

Chance encounters

Having slept off a horrendous headache, I got up to find something to eat.  The young guy running the hotel on the edge of town told me that the nearest place was back where I'd unceremoniously arrived from, about 3km the other end of town.  Without any transport or the back of a bike to ride on, I wasn't too keen walking there in the dark as the heavens had opened during the afternoon and there were large puddles all over.  However he kindly offered to go and find something for me, I sent him off with some money and he returned with a whole chicken and a bottle of beer.  Two problems to deal with now, I had a whole chicken that I wouldn't possibly be able to eat and a bottle of beer without a bottle opener.  My new friend took half the chicken to eat and gave me his knife to open the beer ... it was some knife, I was glad we were on talking terms!!!

The knife - bottle top opener

The following morning I was up and ready for the Ouagadougou bus to pick me up from outside the hotel.  Due to leave the bus station at 8am, it was running late but I finally boarded pleased to be en route once more, aiming for a few days of rest in Banfora.  We headed for the border on a fairly rough road, the bus driver did incredibly well in the conditions and finally got us to the Ivorian border, Saturday 13th August I was sadly leaving Cote d'Ivoire once more via the Koguienou border!

Stunning countryside, tough road conditions from Doropo

Probably the third or fourth person to descend from the bus, I heard a massive shriek of my name from about 200m away ... it was the Anti-Drugs gendarme from the border at Tatiekro thrilled to see me again.  I went to get my passport stamped out of the country, the police surprised to see 'une blanche' at this little-used border who knew a senior officer were in a bit of a state by my presence! Consequently they stamped me 'IN' and gave me back my passport, I pointed their mistake out to them & within 30seconds I got an exit stamp and lots of signatures all over it!  I returned to talk to my favourite anti-drugs gendarme whilst waiting for the other passengers to clear immigration.

Bus to Ouagadougou at Koguienou

We set off again for the 4km or so to the Burkinabe border post, en route we picked up a young guy of 20 or so who got on & sat the other side of the aisle from me, staring at me intently.  He had been smoking quite a bit of weed I'd imagine, it was only 9am but I've never smelt so much marijuana from one person.  Descending at the border in Galgouli, I took my bags with me, I seriously didn't want anything planted on me at a border crossing.  On entering the police station where I'd be stamped into Burkina Faso, I saw an Ivorian car parked outside and two men inside who I presumed were in this car.  On entering I heard my name once more, it turned out one of them was a neighbour in Abengourou who knew me from a maquis where I often have an evening meal!  Within an hour I manage to meet two people who I've met before in a very remote part of West Africa.

Only transport out of Kampti

The other passengers were incredibly friendly and one man helped me when I asked where I should get off the bus to continue my journey to Banfora.  Kampti they all said!  30 minutes after the border I descended in Kampti where I was assured I'd find transport to Banfora.  I found the only transport in town which would take me as far as Loropeni, with 12 women sitting in the back of the pick up, I was offered a front seat with the driver in surprisingly comfortable conditions.

Finally heading for Burkina Faso

So we headed out of Bouna, the taxi was full, 4 of us with the driver.  The road was good, it didn't have tarmac but was well graded for the first 50km or so.

The rest of the journey wasn't too bad at all, the road wound through villages and the red earth new with the morning dew sped up at us.  A few large puddles we continued on, until I heard a noise; looking into my front passenger wing mirror I realised the rear bumper had detatched!

We helped fix the bumper back on and set off again for Doropo.  Passing more villages.

Finally arriving in Doropo, I met a Burkinabe who told me that after Friday prayers in a few minutes, he'd be ready to take me to the border in a gleaming silver BMW.  I told him I'd be waiting after he exited the mosque and that in the meantime I'd wait in a nearby maquis.  However, for the second time on this trip my bags were firmly locked inside the vehicle, a crowbar was set to action!

I waited and waited, ate lunch, removed my bags from his BMW, waited and then did some more waiting but it became clear he wasn't wanting to leave soon.  I headed to the end of the road having been the centre of attention for all in Doropo who hadn't seen 'une blanche' for years it seemed and joined a Mauritanian family nursing a splitting headache!  After a while the Mauritanians became annoyed that nothing had moved despite my protestations to the Burkinabe who had promised to get going after Friday noon prayers at the mosque, they went to see what the problem was on my behalf.

Centre of attention in Doropo

It was clear he wasn't going to leave soon,  The family found a moto-tricycle to get me to the other end of town with my luggage, I sat in the back.  This has to be one of my worst experiences, being driven through the centre of town, the market where all & sundry had a good laugh at 'la blanche' seated in the back of the moto-trike going through town.  If my headache hadn't been so bad I would have been more alert but at that moment I just wanted to find a bed and sleep.  We finally arrived at the only hotel in town.  At 6pm I was awoken by the BMW's side-kick, he had been told to find me, he'd been given my hotel room number by the watchman and I was fast asleep.  When I opened the door and he told me that we were now leaving for the border (that closed in 30m) I wasn't amused but neither was he as he had lost a paid seat in his vehicle!  I went back to bed for another forty winks!

Return to my Koulango family

Sheep waiting with us at the northern Bondoukou police barrier

After a long six hours in the massa, trouble with the police for some of my fellow passengers south of Bondoukou followed by further problems with the anti-drug gendarmes at the northern Bondoukou police barrier, we rolled into Bouna.  It's a lovely drive, Tanda is a pretty town, stunning valley after Bondoukou then driving alongside the National Comoe Park sometimes spotting monkeys on the road.



Thrilled to see the hills of the Boukani region as we sped ever northwards after Bondoukou, I was looking forward to seeing my friend's family in Bouna.  Previously met the extended family in early April 2016 towards the end of the fatal conflict that occurred between the Peulh (Fulani) and Lobi people; where an estimated 70+ people lost their lives (official figures put it at just over 30 but it was indeed far more!).

Photo taken whilst in Bouna in early April 2016 after the conflict

Arriving at the bus station, the town had a different atmosphere to my last visit.  People were going about their business, the refugees had dispersed and returned home after almost three months in camps and there was a positive, calm air.  Greeted by my Koulango friend's younger brother as my friend was in Abidjan having had lunch together the day before in Abengourou.  We walked back to the house, part of a 'cour' behind closed gates, the extended members of the family all live in separate dwellings around a rectangular courtyard.

One of the three refugee camps in April 2016 in Bouna, housing 3,200 refugees in town

A wonderful welcome as I came through the gates, the different members of the family came out to meet me and then scurried around to get his house ready for me.  No one was aware that I was arriving!  Totally spoilt, I walked into the sitting room, air-conditioned with a television showing the 2016 Olympics from Rio.  I felt as if I was in total luxury, we don't have much at the centre for CREER not even tiled floors!  After a much-needed shower to rid myself of the dust, I headed five minutes away to an excellent restaurant where I'd eaten in April to be greeted by the staff there.

An early start, I needed to have my meetings finished by 9am to have any chance of getting transport to Doropo and onto Burkina Faso.  Firstly with the head of social services, he was thrilled to see me back waiting on his office doorstep since before 8am, unaware I'd come back to town and we had an interesting meeting, he was keen to listen to our ideas to assist trafficked children that found themselves in the Boukani region.  As Ghana and Burkina Faso are both under 100km away, it's an area that can find traffickers with children crossing the border.  Next was the police, again it all went well but unfortunately the officer I'd met in April who agreed to be CREER's representative for the region was on holiday in Abidjan.

As I left the police station, my friend's brother was outside on a motorbike talking to a friend of his, I hopped on the back of the friend's bike who drove me back to the house whilst a seat in a taxi was being organised for Doropo.  Quickly packed up my things much to the sadness of the family particularly the children, the youngest of which told me he was coming with me!  The taxi arrived within minutes, I said my goodbyes and left ... to be driven around town looking for other passengers for the 2,000CFA 1.5 hour journey north to Doropo, the nearest town to the border.

My taxi north to Doropo

Long road south

After a relatively normal trip back to Abengourou in April this year via my usual Accra route, I found that summer airline ticket prices were astronomical for July to both Accra and Abidjan.  However prices to Ouagadougou were somewhat more reasonable and as a follow up needed to be done for a repatriated child, it made sense to fly Air Algerie south via Algers (an airline that I've always preferred over Royal Air Maroc).

Landing in Ouagadougou close to midnight it was sad to see the lack of tourists, clearly demonstrated by the lack of taxi's available.  Amadou seemed to be the only one around so after some easy negotiation for a price to the St Leon area of town, we shot off on the 5m journey.  As with every trip to Ouagadougou I stay in a small cheap auberge behind the cathedral and as with every arrival, they were all asleep!  Finally waking Alidou the watchman, I paid Amadou, took his number and found my small room.  I then spent an hour in the courtyard talking to Alidou over a Brakina and discovered the horror of what the January attacks had done to the tourism business.  I was the first non-African to stay there since January, a place I've known for 10 years and always busy with budget travellers but only 3 rooms full that night, 2 Burkinabes and myself; I was stunned and upset how bad it had become.

After making several calls about the repatriated girl, it became clear I wasn't going to be able to see her.  She had vanished, unknown if that she was in Ouagadougou or had been trafficked again!  Sadly I walked with my luggage through the hot, dusty streets to the Rakieta bus station for Po and then the Ghanaian border.  Unusually the bus was late, due to a lack of fuel before Ouaga, over an hour after it's scheduled time we finally boarded with the inside temperature showing 45°!  I was sad to be going this route south, hoped to have gone east first to the girls village but it wasn't meant to be.

Just prior to a bridge where I'd had problems before with the police, the drivers mate told us all to turn our phones off.  When I enquired it was made clear that the area has had problems with bandits on the road.  We made it into Po without a hitch, I was happy to think I could make the border before it's closure at 6pm.  With a Burkinabe lady headed for Accra, we scoured around for a taxi to get us to Dakola, the Burkinabe border.  Soon enough we made it to the border village but go find it blocked by trucks waiting to clear customs, I'd never seen it so busy and our driver was unamused at not being able to find a route through! 

The clock was ticking and I really wasn't filled with joy at spending a night this side of the border, eventually we made it through, I raced into the immigration building where one lady officer remembered me and ran out again to find an argument ensuing between the police and our driver.  I begged them to let us continue the 1km in the taxi to the Ghana side ... heads shook, I tried everything to persuade them.  It was only when one of them heard I was due to sleep in Tenkodougo (a small town near the girls village to the east of Ouaga) and what had happened to her, that they let us go!

Ghana was the usual gruff immigration post, TV blaring, officers sitting around ... eventually i was stamped in!  I trudged off to another known bed, 300m from the border post is a small, clean lodge that isn't bad value for money in the small tourist town of Paga, better known for sacred crocodiles than accommodation!  Unfortunately their brilliant kitchen had been closed a while ago, so I sent out the boy in charge to find some jollof rice and chicken.  Wonderful jollof rice but a chicken thigh I could have bounced against the wall!!! 

The following day, I was at the station by 5.45am, in a taxi by 6am and south in Bolgatanga before 8am.  Here I ran into trouble, the driver left me at a trotro station with air-conditioned vehicles.  I paid for my ticket and was bluntly told I was paying the same for my luggage, knowing these typically Ghanaian antics for the 'Obruni' travelling public, I ignored him, ready to negotiate just before departure.  To my horror another 'Obruni' showed up, young girl from Germany or Sweden and immediately handed over the requested amount while I was saying No to her when they quoted what they wanted.  An argument ensued, I handed back my ticket and walked off, very annoyed.  Luckily arriving in the taxi station I spied Emmanuel who'd driven me in the shared taxi from Paga, negotiating a price for him to drive me directly to Tamale, we set off!

Tamale is my favourite place for Chinese food in the region!  However I was going to try to get onto Sunyani or at least Techiman today.  I just missed a trotro for Techiman pulling out so headed to Ghana's government bus company, Metro Mass Transit's station to find a bus boarding for Sunyani!!!  Chinese looked to be off the menu until I talked to the driver who had sold every seat.  I waited to see if there was anything spare, watched it pull out and walked off to find a tuk-tuk to have lunch, at the Chinese!   The hotel I usually stay at has seriously gone downhill, one lady was really sullen, so I headed next door to Hamdallah Hotel to find a lovely room that was cheaper!

Back at the trotro station by 0530 the next morning I had to wait almost 3h for the Techiman trotro to fill.  Yet again, two Obruni's showed up.  Yet again totally ignored me; maybe I'm getting old but before there was a spirit between travellers however it doesn't seem to be the case in Ghana or else I look so worn out from travelling, they stay away?!?!?  These two missed asking to get off at Kintampo Falls so when we stopped at the last stop in town the driver asked me to ask them to get off! 

Almost 6h after leaving Tamale we arrived in Techiman where I found a shared taxi for Sunyani, another hour away, this driver definitely had F1 aspirations but he was a safe driver so I didn't squawk as I would normally!  Dormaa Ahenkro is the town just before the border east of Agnibilekro, I hadn't had any money since Tamale, luckily found a convenient cash machine in Techiman. So on arrival in Sunyani, I agreed to pay for 2 seats for myself to Dormaa if the driver would wait whilst I found food; 2 hard-boiled eggs, a handful of groundnuts and a small packet of biscuits all guzzled at 4.30pm ...

Hypocrite

I finally got to Abidjan, I turned up at 1am in a bedraggled taxi from Adjame with Brice who'd travelled with me since Ouaga; an Ivorian studying environmental engineering in Ouagadougou.

I had almost 48hrs in Ouaga, enough time to get my visa put into my passport for a fraction of the cost of an Ivorian visa in Europe, have a lovely lunch with old Burkinabe friends and their 4 kids.

The bus left Ouaga at 11pm, as usual it was perfectly on time with 4 gendarmes on board armed with kalashnikovs in case of bandits on the road; we were the lead bus of 4 TCV vehicles.

Burkinabe transport still amazes me - it is so well organised compared to the rest of W.Africa, large, clean, air conditioned, comfortable new TCV bus headed out on the road to Bobo Dialausso to arrive at 4am where I would have a wait of 3hrs before catching the connecting bus to Bouake, CI. What ensued was unimaginable ...

I fell asleep, at 12.10 in the morning the brakes were jammed on, what had been a great ride and a lovely sleep was broken. A few of the guys got off with the gendarmes and came back to say there was an accident. We all started getting off for a leg stretch when things became clearer and there was a bus 2 vehicles in front of us that had gone head first into a truck; possibly due to the age of the bus and the pot hole a few meters beforehand. Whilst on the side of the road a tall Burkinabe guy came up to me and asked me to help; turns out he is one of the heads of the gendarmerie from Bobo called Francis - passenger on the bus behind mine. I explained I wasnt medically qualified but I'd go and do what I could.

Arriving on the scene we found most of the passengers sitting on the side of the road in shock but no injuries to speak of apart from one or two scratches. The truck driver had died and the bus driver was being freed by a few guys from my bus along with a girl sitting behind him. Someone had called the ambulance which was on its way from Ouaga along with the firemen to cut the wreckage. The bus driver had a fractured leg and I said it needed a splint and straightening, it was an open fracture and even in the early hours it was warm but I couldnt do anything for him. The girl had a broken foot I think and dirty cuts to the base of her foot, I offered to go and get my bandages and disinfectant etc and try to clean her up; she was about 14. The traffic was going through the field to one side of the road as the accident had completely blocked the road.

I walked back to my bus with Francis and asked around for my bus driver so that I could access my pack and medical stuff, couldnt find him, just the other driver of the bus behind us who had bought me a coffee just prior to leaving Ouaga. Suddenly the gendarmes starting screaming at us all to get back on the buses, at the same time someone said 'they're firing' and I ran down the slope into the bush in the pitch dark with Francis not far behind me. The noise did sound as if bullets were being fired but then it changed and got louder and nearer but I couldn't see anything until this 10 wheeled truck pulled up narrowly missing the front of our bus.

What transpired was that the truck, Togolais, with 3 guys clandestine goods (TVs and DVDs) on board had driven at full speed right through the accident, so the noise was of the metal being hit by the truck. Someone ran up screaming at us saying 'theyve all been killed' - they had driven over all the passengers from the first accident. I'm not going to go into details, but you can imagine what had happened. It turned out later via Francis the gendarme who has been in constant touch, that 7 died, there were a few walking wounded, a few stretchered and one or two very lucky ones who miraculously survived two accidents in one night without a scratch!

We left the scene via an alternative route to Bobo having buried the dead with the gendarmes + pompiers helping out once they had freed the 2 men found in the back of the original truck - I have to say they were very professional in their job and thanked the gendarmes several times - we had all been through a lot and they were excellent and caring!


It's part of the reason I've not been able to write this blog for so long, it's taken a long time to get this out of my head. Dealing with the situation afterwards was far harder than being there on the scene, something I never want to go through again or wish others to experience.

So we continued on, changing buses at Bobo for Bouake there were about 10 of us who had come from Ouaga; we stuck together as a strong group, they really looked after me. We had arrived in Bobo 2.5hrs late which is unusual for Burkinabe transport but they had held our bus back.



We got to the Ivorian border around 1pm and the rebels were there, very much in charge and I had fun and games again. Firstly they wanted 200CFA from each passenger, I went back into 'dont speak French mode' and they gave up with me, took my passport off and I went over to the medical formalities for Yellow Fever, one of the rebels came and got me and told me to go to another hut to get my passport. This guy stamped my passport and demanded 1000CFA, I said in English; no - I paid for the visa yesterday you arent getting any more out of me, he held my passport back and purposely put it out of my reach - I demanded it back and got my phone out saying I was going to ring the Embassy (likely chance getting the number for the nearest one in Abuja, Nigeria whilst in the bush near Ouangolodougou - remembering a text when an Irish friend had arrived there after his stint in Bouake's prison as a spy!!!)


So he gave me my passport and I said; 'ok I go now', he yelled at me '1000CFA now', I couldnt go, I then noticed the hand he had been using to stamp passports now had a gun in it, handgun that looked a little old but 'useful' to frighten some blanche tourist. I told him that he still wasnt going to get the 1000CFA and he could put the gun away again which annoyed him that he hadn't frightened me. Finally 2 Burkinabe diplomats turned up heading to Abidjan and tried to help me with my non-existant French and got me off the hook. 200m away from the hut I spoke to them in French and they doubled up laughing at me that I'd managed to fool the rebels and get away with it!!!

We got to Bouake around 5.30pm and Brice and I got the same minibus to Abidjan, 'Operation Christmas' was in full swing there, checkpoints all over. Money wanted and harrassment by the customs guys to the point of which one in Yamoussoukro told me CI was still at war - I had a real go at him saying that he's killing any chance of tourism for the country.


We finally pulled into Abidjan around 12.30am after losing my temper with the military at a roadblock outside Youpougon who had decided the curfew had started at 11.45pm. The driver came back to the minibus and said it was fruitless trying to get through without giving over something, we'd have to wait till 6am After the journey Brice & I had had, I wasn't standing for it and possibly the horror of seeing a filthy dirty blanche lose her temper the barrage was opened without any money changing hands. Worse still a kilometre up the road I saw a baboon chained to a street lamp, not sure which had me more angry!

The driver dropped us all in Adjame, the worst district of Abidjan. Brice was a saint and told me that he'd find a taxi and make sure I got to my friend's place in one piece. Not having visited my friend's new place, I had our taxi going around in circles, around prostitutes and my phone battery was getting weaker whilst trying to find the address. Finally we arrived at 1am and my friend dragged me out to Alpha Blondy's 'Cafe de Versailles' bar till 3am trying to calm my nerves after a 25hr trip from hell

So, moral of the story is that I will continue to say, dont travel at night and I will respect my own rules - life is precious and I was very lucky!! I admit to being a complete hypocrite!

First leg ...

I got into Ouagadoudou at 3am in the morning; after a whirlwind few days in Tripoli!

My Libyan host gave me an excellent driver who spoke very little English but did remarkably well and taught me bits of arabic - mainly involved swearing at drivers and had me laughing a lot about the antics of crazy Libyan drivers - you'd have to know Tripoli to understand!!!

Libya was incredible; mainly due to a very good friend of mine - who introduced me to another friend who is Libyan. He totally looked after me, saying a million 'shukrans' wasnt quite enough.
Tripoli was great, although I was constantly worried about not being 'dressed' covered up as much as possible but must remember to buy blouses that can touch my knees!!! The town is so different to what I expected but I dont know exactly what I expected, but did enjoy it. The place is booming, construction going on all over, top western brands moving into flash showrooms, new cars and fast food joints selling 'fried viagra' !!! Its aiming to be the Dubai of the med!

So I got into Ouaga; the airport is a disaster ... so little infrastructure. Got a bit of a shock last night when arriving at the check-in counter, they had bumped me off as it was full and the flight was going to Bamako before Ouaga ... but managed to get myself back on it at the last minute & raced through immigration to be last at the gate.

We landed an hour late at 3am which wasnt bad. I found a friendly honest taxi driver, fought off a few phonecard touts + bounced down the dimly lit city streets into the 'village' of Ouaga or thats how it felt; weirdly enough I was missing Tripoli and wanting to be back there! I think I woke most of the auberge that Danika, Maddy and I stayed in 2years ago whilst trying to wake the guardien to let me in and see if they had a room, did the usual trick of no booking prior to arriving but it all worked out fine. Sadly the auberge has gone downhill a little, chairs broken, plaster peeling off but still has the same charm and very quiet in the centre of town with a few French staying there.

My first morning in Ouaga I was up and at 'Service des Passeports' on the Bobo road out of Ouaga for the Burkina Immigration authorities having a VTE visa (5 countries) so that I could enter Cote d'Ivoire on it. I immediately got another taxi across town to purchase a bus ticket (breaking all my own rules) for 11pm the following night to Bouake in CI arriving around 4pm day after, so an overnight journey which is usually a no-no for me but needs must + the ticket selling lady let me choose a place, crossing my fingers we wouldn't meet with an elephant at Boromo in the middle of the night!

So, for the second day running I was waiting to get my passport back; I'd applied two days previously for my Burkina visa in Tripoli and got it back 4pm the day of departing Tripoli after a bit of a battle with embassy staff.