MY GABON VISA-PIECE OF CAKE

Initially I had Gabon on one of my ‘hard’ to get visas.  From my early investigations it seemed that the closest embassy was going to be in Ethiopia.  The thing with visas is you really need to look into embassy locations.  As mentioned I could only find a Gabon Embassy in Ethiopia and in the US, both not bad options.  Ethiopia was just a hop skip and jump and since I was travelling to the USA at the end of the year, I was hoping that my back up option could be to get to the Gabon Embassy in Washington.  I sent them an email in America to see if they would issue an Australian passport a visa and they replied back a few days later, and told me that my closest embassy was in South Africa!!!  Really?  What about Ethiopia?   

I kept on sourcing information and in my research I found a phone number and an email address for a Gabon contact here in Nairobi.  It didn’t look like an official embassy as such and not knowing if it was an official consulate, High Commission or an Ambassador residence, I figured I had nothing to lose by sending them an email to the address that I found asking if they had the facility to issue an Australian passport holder a Gabon visa.  Literally within 2 hours they had replied back with a positive YES they can do it here in Nairobi, for a cost of 230USD, but it can be done.  The fee seems a little excessive, but when you put it into perspective, if I had to get it in Ethiopia I would be up for an airfare, accommodation and transportation costs and I know that those costs would exceed more than the 230USD!!!  This is the frustrating thing about visas you can check with 3 different branches of the same country and get told 3 different things.

I am travelling to 11 countries on this African Overland trip and I need a visa for 9 of them.  I am travelling on an Australian passport and it was interesting to read an article a few months ago that stated the Australian passport remains one of the most welcomed by countries around the world.  As of 2013, Australia passport holders got visa-free access to 167 out of the 219 countries surveyed for the latest Visa Restrictions Index.  Singapore and Greece also ranked sixth internationally alongside Australia for the unrestricted access across the world.  Citizens of Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom held the best passports for global travel last year, with visa-free access to 173 countries.  Coming in at the bottom of the listing of the visa free access was Iraq with a piddly 31 countries and even worse was Afghanistan with access to only 28 countries.  It just happens I am visiting 9 of the countries NOT included on the list.  Typical. 

Oasis have been great in helping facilitate my visas so far.  I am a little ‘special’ from other clients, living in Africa, I have most of the embassies on my door step giving me a lot more access to the embassies than say, what an Australian would back in Oz.  99% of the Oasis clients get all their visas en-route, and some of them have to, due to the total trip being 39 weeks.  Some of the visas, if they got them in advance would expire before reaching the actual country, so this makes sense.  I am joining the trip for 12 weeks and obtaining visas is a bit of a juggling act.  At the start Oasis mentioned that majority of my visas would be obtained in Accra, and this would be a good option for me.  It was a good option, if I couldn’t get them here in Kenya.  If I was to get most of them in Ghana, it would mean I would need to get to Accra 14 days before the tour started, adding additional cost to my trip, and the needless spending of money, if I could get them while I was at home.  This seemed to make sense to them as well and they have been a wealth of information and help to me. 

The BIGGEST thing you need to check when you are applying for visas in advance is if the visa is valid from date of issue or from when you enter the country.  With this information I then could work out which visas I could apply for first, and what order to get the rest of them done, and giving me a visa plan.  I had 6 weeks to get 6 visas in Kenya and it was great to finally get on the visa trail.  It leaves Cameroon for Australia, Angola in the US and Benin for when I returned in December.  I have been dealing with a great agent from Oasis who has been supplying me with the requited letters for embassies before time and she has also been a pleasure to deal with, really, I have been so lucky organising this trip so far, TOUCH WOOD.        

It requires a little bit of organisation, a little bit homework and with all that said, Gabon was going to be the first off the list.  They have been super helpful with all their information, replying back to all my emails and it also happened to be the closest one to home, so I would be able to drive myself there and not have to use Steve’s services of transportation (saving money).  Like any building or residence in Kenya, everything is hidden behind massive walls and gates patrolled by security, so at times it can be a little daunting on which gate you are supposed to go to, for safety and security, they are also not named.  When I drove down the little lane, in what seemed a residential area, I did find a Consulate of Gabon sign, but there were 3 gates that the sign could have belonged to. Hmmmmmmmmmm.  The good thing about the high walls, gates and security, there is always some around to ask for directions and one guard popped his head out and I asked which gate belonged to Gabon and I was pointed in the right direction.  I drove my car to the gate and tooted, waited for it to open and I asked the gardener, who opened the gate, where I should park.  So after parking the car, I got out and then another man came over and asked me to move my car back out of the compound back to the small parking lot I had passed at the end of the drive.  I felt like a bit of a goose, and it wasn’t like I hadn’t checked with someone-oh well, I now knew for when I came back.

I walked back to the gate and got buzzed in and then I was shown to a small building that was a stand-alone to what I assumed to be the Ambassador’s residence, a beautiful looking miniature to the White House.  It was quite, besides the gardener and a driver sitting in a Mercedes, there was no one else around.  I found a little table in the room that had the application forms, so I filled in what was a very basic form and took a seat to wait for someone to come.  I only had to wait about 10 minutes and a lady came in and shook my hand.  I told her I wanted to apply for a visa and she looked a little shocked when I told her it was for travel in February, but when I showed her my itinerary, it seemed to make more sense and after checking the letter from Oasis, my passport, the form and the payment I was told that I could come back tomorrow at any time!  Really.  TOMORROW?  I have always said that obtaining visas always seem scarier from their web sites with all their ‘mist have this’ ‘must have that’ than what they are in actual reality when you are on their ‘soil’. 

I left my phone number in case they needed something else, it all seemed a little too easy but I never received a phone call, so the next day I drove back to the embassy, parked my car in the correct place, was buzzed back into the Ambassador’s residence, entered the small building, waited for 5 minutes, and my friend from yesterday was back with my passport and receipt in hand.  We checked the visa over, she wished me luck on my trip and 10 minutes later I was walking back to my car with my Gabon visa in hand.  I cannot explain the feeling of getting a visa approved.  It is a HUGE sigh of relief, you NEED these stamps to travel and for any reason you don’t get one, it will affect ALL your travel plans.  They are really the most stressful part of any travels.

So thankyou to the Gabon Consul in Nairobi. 

You were helpful, friendly and timely, and I guess for 230USD, you would kind of expect that.  It is the MOST expensive visa I have ever purchased eclipsing Brazil and Russia that have always been the 'expensive' visas!!  

One visa down, 8 more to go. 

Next up Ghana……………..

Last year I had to fly from Nairobi to London to get this one as the Embassy here would not issue me one as I was not a resident.  Well now I am, I have checked with them again, so hopefully there will not be an issue Ghana……..