IM OFF TO THE SIERRA LEONE HIGH COMMISSION

I can see the light at the end of the visa tunnel.  The Sierra Leone visa is the last visa that I can/have to get for my West Africa trip.  After the debacle of the Ivory Coast High Commission having moved and nothing (bar their Facebook page) having their new address, I didn’t want to make the same mistake again as it is a waste of time sitting in traffic and it also costs me more money as I have to pay Steve for travel and time waiting.  In saying that I didn’t have time to call Sierra Leone and I did just check the internet again, but Sierra Leone have their own website (and not a third party one) so I was 99% confident that the consulate was where is said it was going to be-hopefully. 

The Sierra Leone High Commission is located on the very VERY busy Mombasa Road that leads out to the airport and the visa application submissions are between 9am and 12 noon each day.  To make sure that we weren’t going to get in some traffic snarl, Steven and I both agreed that is always better to get somewhere early than panic or even get there late, so we decided a 7am pickup was in order to give us the extra time if needed and if we didn’t need it then we would just arrive early and wait in the car until the Consulate opened.  As the unpredictable traffic was nice to us this Monday morning it only took us 1 hour and 5 minutes to drive, find and locate (asking one shopping centre guard for directions) we made it just after 8am.  We had an hour to wait, which is fine with me as I now bring a book and also my travel modem so the hour passes quickly and at 9am with Steve wishing me luck, I found the entrance to the Panesar’s Centre and headed to the 1^st floor in search of the consulate.

After walking up two flights of stairs I found myself in a very long hallway and I just kept walking, passing closed office doors of companies until half way down I found the large wooden door with the Consulate plaque on the outside.  I checked the hours were the same as I had and they were and with a knock and a push of the door I found myself in a small waiting room.  I have to say out of all the West Africa consulates I have been too (except Ghana which was new and massive) it was the nicest one I had been in.  There were large maps of Sierra Leone on the wall, a leather couch, plush (old) carpet and a young man sitting behind a large mahogany counter.  I asked if I could apply for a visa and I was handed a form and asked a few questions, to make sure that I qualified and had all the correct documentation for the visa (this is always nerve wracking) and after having everything that I needed I was offered a seat to complete the form.   They are never too complicated the forms and after a few minutes I handed the form back, paid my 100USD, gave 2 passport photos and was told that my visa could be ready on Wednesday, which was perfect and with a receipt in my hand for the money and passport I was back in the car within 15 minutes!!!!  Every time I am that quick the first question Steve asks is everything ok? 

So my last travel visa is now in the hands of Sierra Leone and it is always an uplifting feeling when I have submitted a visa with no complications, really, it can be a worrying process.  But as scary as their own websites make them out to be, if you have all the required documentation it is a fairly easy process and I have yet (touchwood) to have a major issue with any of the visas I have applied for.  It is also nice to have some more stamps in the new passport as I think it just adds to your travel cred, especially when applying for visas that other counties have approved travel for you to enter their countries and you just don’t look so inexperienced as a traveller! 

Two days later, Steve and I headed back to the Sierra Leone consulate.  Pick-up hours are between 2pm-4pm, so again to be safe I was collected at 1pm and arrived at 1.45pm.  After waiting 20 minutes I walked up to the 1^st floor again, knocked and entered the room and there was a young lady behind the counter and when I told her I was there to pick up my passport she already had it behind the counter all ready to go.  I didn’t even have to show my receipt.  So I checked the arrival and validity dates to make sure they were right and I was given another receipt and I was back in the car within 5 minutes, no joke.  Steve was as shocked as I was.  So it takes nearly 2 hours for a return trip from my home to the consulate and 5 minutes actually in the damn office.  But if that is the only thing I have to complain about then everything is well in visa-land.  So that concludes the last of my actual travel visas but I so have one more visa to finalise and it is extending my Kenyan tourist visa, which expires next week, but as for West Africa I am completely sweet and with only 3 weeks till I leave, it was perfect timing all round with all my lodgements.

Thanks to all the consulates for their efficient and speedy processing.

Ghana

Senegal

Benin

Ivory Coast

Sierra Leone…….

Many thanks again.