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Journal of African trips

Africa, spring 1999 part III

Agelasto
2004-05-21 18:12:22

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/>of foreigners) who wants to take the time to unravel your syntax and decipher your
accent. Of course, more is needed if you want intellectual discussions. Fortunately, my
listening ability exceeds my speaking ability, and I can more or less get the gist of what
French speakers say.

My first glimpse of Guinea a week before I enter the country was not a pleasant one. As
with most countries I, a USA passport holder, need a tourist visa. Since I had a day
layover in Bamako, Mali (the city where I failed to cash my Euros), I went to the Guinean
embassy there, filled out the forms, and paid my US $20 for a visa. By the way, visa
purchase is the fifth largest expenditure I have on my West Africa trip after, in order:
international travel, accommodation, local travel, food, and tourism-related activities. The
Guinean embassy official was a helpful facilitator. He gave me the forms and took my
money, told me to come back in an hour. When I returned, my passport, with visa
without receipt, awaited me, as did the facilitator with his hand out for compensation for
his ?doing business? with me. He got exceedingly upset with me when I refused to pay
him a bribe (I already had the passport securely in my possession and I refused to give it to
him when he asked for it back to examine). The guide books mention that the price for Guinea visas varies from embassy to embassy according to unknown criteria. Well, I
know the criteria. It?s how much the facilitator thinks he can get out of you. He figured
me (a backpacking teacher) good for US $20. He had asked me whether I was a
businessman. I now assume he was trying to figure if I was worth more. Since there was
never a receipt given, I am not sure of the official charge for a Guinea visa. The facilitator
may have pocketed most of my money and then reached deep into his soul to find the
chutzpah to get more. ...