Advice on West Africa

ADVICE ON TRAVEL IN WEST AFRICA I just returned from two weeks visiting Burkina Faso, Benin and Togo. Here is some advice, based on my experiences, that I’ve just sent to the editor at ITN. When checking into a hotel, immediately check for soap, toilet paper, a towel, and a glass; to be safe, bring some of your own. Carrying such supplies will make your luggage heavier, but you may be very glad you did. On the other hand, you can’t prepare in advance for all contingencies: I was booked into a hotel in Abomey, Benin, with no toilet seats—none anywhere in the hotel! Carrying my own would not have been an option, even if it had occurred to me. Also immediately check on the availability of hot water. Don’t be surprised if there is none. Alternately, the sink may have only cold water, but there may be hot water in the shower if you are patient enough to wait for it. If you have no hot water, shower in the late afternoon after the water has been warmed by the sun; it may be considerably colder in the morning. Take malaria pills. Hotel rooms may have mosquito nets but don’t depend on them. And bring insect repellent, especially for when you’ve having meals outdoors. If you will be traveling in the same minivan or land cruiser, consider buying a box of large bottles of mineral water. You can leave them in the vehicle and take one when you need it. In this way, you don’t have to worry about running out while on the road or trying to buy a bottle when you reach your next hotel. A case of 12 bottles should last one person two weeks. Don’t expect to find bottles of mineral water provided by your hotels. These countries attract fewer visitors than Mali or Senegal, so having some ability to read and communicate in French is very helpful. Haggle when you shop, but don’t make an offer on something unless you’re seriously interested in buying it. Offer maybe 30 percent of the seller’s first price and expect to pay less than half. To convince the seller that you’re not prepared to increase your offer, be willing to walk away. You’ll probably be called back. Haggling can be fun—I’d have mock heart palpitations if I thought a seller’s first price was much too high, and we’d both laugh—but don’t worry about reducing a price by the last franc. That franc means much more to the seller than it does to you. Remember that to virtually everyone you meet, you are rich. If you can afford to come all the way from America just for your own pleasure, then by definition you are rich to them, no matter how much you really don’t think you are. Ask permission before taking photographs of people. Also, greet people—in markets, for example—and admire their babies. Doing so almost always produces a smile. The idea is to convince people that you’re friendly, no matter how little they may understand about where you come from and how you live. I had to pay two bribes to get my visa extended in Benin and another bribe to get to the check-in counter at the Togo airport. However distasteful it may be, paying is easier than enduring the hassles you’re likely to encounter if you don’t. If someone says “Give me money, give me money!”, the cost of standing on principle may be much greater than the cost of a banknote. I was advised to get my Burkina Faso visa in advance and I did so. I also was advised to get my Togo visa at the border with Benin and I did so. Officials of each country had to fill out forms by hand, but that just took some patience. I’d allow perhaps an hour to complete the process. At the Benin border along the coast, my Togo visa cost the equivalent of $30; if I had gotten it in advance, it would have cost $140 or more. The situation for Benin is different. I was advised to get my visa at the northern border crossing from Burkina Faso, which I did. However, I then discovered that the only Benin visas issued at land borders are 48-hour transit visas which have to be extended in Cotonou. That discovery caused considerable inconvenience, some changes in my itinerary, a $50 fine for being in Benin after the 48 hours had expired, the better part of a day hanging around the visa office in Cotonou, and the payment of two bribes for same-day service, without which my itinerary would have been more seriously compromised. If you cross the border from Togo along the coast, you can easily reach Cotonou within the 48-hour deadline, but you still have to endure the delays and officious hostility of the people at the Benin visa office. It’s just not worth it. Although I paid the equivalent of only $44 for my visa ($20 at the border and $22 in Cotonou for the extension, not including the $50 fine), compared with the $140 I would have paid if I’d gotten a 30-day visa in advance, I would happily have spent the additional $100 dollars to avoid the complications and problems I encountered by following bad advice. It was convenient to download and print out the Lonely Planet chapter for each country at the cost of only a few dollars each. For Benin, there also is a dedicated 2010 guidebook called Benin, by E. Kraus and F. Reid, which is available from amazon.com, and which also was worth carrying.