YESTERDAY – I managed to renew my Passavant (temporary import permit) for the bike yesterday, but only just as it required some financial persuasion. Finding the Douane in the city centre was easy, but finding somewhere to park wasn’t so I parked it on the pavement outside the AXA building. I only had to wait around 30 minutes before it was my turn but as soon as I went in the office the man got up and closed the door. Always an ominous sign…
The man in the Douane said there was something wrong with my paperwork and I had to pay a fine. Yes, we’re going to have to play the game – only this time he didn’t seem like he was in the mood to ‘dance’. I asked how much and he said 50 eu. I was going to say 20 eu but he seemed very angry – so I relented and paid the ‘fine’ and got my paperwork stamped for another 15 days. Call it a gut feeling but sometimes you just know when someone is ‘pulling your chain’ but with this guy, I knew he wasn’t going to mess around – and I needed my stamp…!
Feeling quite angry, but happy that I had my paperwork I got back on the bike and headed over to the Sierra Leone Consulate to get a visa. I waited for about an hour before I was called through, and again, he got up and closed the door. Oh, oh – here we go again. You just know that something’s not right when they close the door… I gave him my passport and asked for a visa. “No problem” he said, in pretty good English. “$120 US”. No I said, it is $100 US on your website. He then said the cost had just gone up and they hadn’t changed the website yet. I thought I would give him the benefit of the doubt so said “Fine”, but then he said “Do you have a letter of invitation”. No, I said. I do not have a letter of invitation because it doesn’t say this on your website. Silent and a long pause, and then he said “It is s new rule but I can give you a letter of invitation for $100 US”. No I said and walked out. He called after me but I gave him the finger. I’d had enough for one day.
I am heading south and my next port of call will be Conakry in Guinea so there was no way I was going to play his game. I didn’t mind the $20 but to try and fleece me for another $100 – he can get lost – and if I can’t get a visa in Conakry, then I’ll just head home.
Yes, I can understand how the policeman will ask for a ‘gift’ because they probably get paid next to nothing, if they even get paid at all, but I hate the fact that officials inside an official building will try to scam you just because you are a foreigner. And yet these countries want to encourage tourism. Madness.
I spent the afternoon riding around Dakar, dodging the traffic and doing some shopping. I found a modern shopping centre which was air-conditioned, and seeing it was around 45 degrees outside it was pure bliss. The most surreal part was seeing Christmas decorations, yes it was so sunny and hot outside. With food for the next few days bought, it was back to the hotel to edit some video and lie-down in a cool dark room to let my anger at the officials go away.
THE PLAN FOR TODAY – was to head south along the coast to a town called Somone. I left the hotel around 9 this morning and surprisingly the traffic wasn’t too bad exiting the city. It was still busy in places, but not as busy as the inbound traffic. The worst part is the choking exhaust fumes. Many of the vehicles are old and they pour out thick plumes of black smoke. It was horrible. That, together with the heat and an oncoming dust storm made it pretty uncomfortable. I felt I couldn’t breathe at one stage and by the time I was clear of the city I had to stop at a garage to buy a couple of cold drinks as my mouth felt like sandpaper.
After getting away from Dakar it was quite a simple and relatively short ride to Somone, which is on the coast around 50 miles south of Dakar. For a brief spell I decided to use their new motorway – which is a toll road – but it was almost empty. Probably because it IS a toll road. A shame really, because it’s a good road. The short stretch cost me 500 francs, which is about 50p.
I have come to Somone because I want to visit a local wildlife reserve and looking on Booking.com I found this lovely auberge. I have my own en-suite room and compared to the baking heat of Dakar, it’s a cool 35 degrees. There’s a lovely patio where I’ve been spending the late afternoon just lying in the shade and enjoying the cool breeze. Its only costing around £22 and the host is superb. Very welcoming. The town is small but very busy, and besides shops there are lots of eateries. Pizza tonight methinks…
I’m here because I am visiting the Bandia Nature Reserve tomorrow. There is no camping nearby so staying somewhere I can leave my kit was my only option. Also, as I can’t use my bike to go through the reserve I have to use a local driver, so I’m being picked up at 6am to get to the reserve early. It’s going to be an early start – which I didn’t foresee – but hopefully tomorrow I’ll get to see some animals in their habitat – something I’ve been looking forwards to. Knowing my luck it’ll be an old goat, a couple of donkeys and maybe a Guinea pig so fingers crossed.
The bike did good today, escaping Dakar. Yesterday I did a little TLC on the bike and had to unblock the nozzle on my chain oiler as it had become blocked with dust and dirt. For the past week I’ve been manually putting oil on my chain so now the Scottoiler is working again. This morning I wondered why my front tyre felt strange, so when I stopped for a drink I checked the pressure and it was down to 5psi. I had deflated it two days ago to go over some sandy tracks and had forgotten to put the air back in. The Motoz Tyres can run flat because if their super stiff sidewalks, but it did cheer me up afterwards as during my escape from Dakar I really did think that I had maybe caught a puncture.
Anyway, that’s me, taking it easy. An early start tomorrow and then hopefully some touristy stuff…
