So I finished up a big chunk of research at the archives yesterday, which left me today free to run errands downtown (and surreptitiously take some pictures!). I mailed my ballot - hope it gets there in time; changed some money; bought my plane tickets to Monrovia; had lunch in Crown Bakery and read Newsweek; and then went to the Sierra Leone Museum.
In a city that has very little tourism, where most non-Sierra Leoneans are with NGOs or the like, taking pictures of historic sites attracts an uncomfortable amount of attention. People seem confused when I'm walking around downtown too - I think they expect all white people to drive around in the white official NGO 4x4s. Even in the taxis I rarely see other white people. And apparently no one else does either, because everywhere I go it's "psssss - hey white girl!" It seems strange that there's any surprise at all - when going to Diaspora or Crown Bakery I run into tons of Europeans and Americans - but I suppose that's not what they see. So, in a way, I'm really glad to be staying with a local family, eating their food, learning Krio (very slowly). I think my impression of Monrovia will be really different because I'll be staying in a hotel there.
3 comments:
random question for you: i know you're in the UK, so it's probably different, but do you know how i would go about acquiring a temporary visa to travel to africa? i'm making plans to see drew in togo for next summer, and i want to get a head start on figuring out my visa and vaccinations as well. i don't know the first thing about this stuff... i have never really traveled anywhere before.
In the UK, you show up at the embassy/consulate in London, turn over your passport (and sometimes additional info, like plane ticket receipts, a letter of invitation/hotel reservation, etc - check the Togolese embassy website) and some money. Then usually you come back for it a few days later, or you pay extra for same day turnover. You should find out where the consulate is and make sure it's one that does visas/passports. Vaccination-wise, you'll probably need yellow fever and I'd get rabies if I were you, and then just make sure you're up to date on the normal ones - DPT, Hep A & B, etc. - and get Malarone for the malaria because it has virtually no side effects.
I have 2 W Africa guidebooks and I could definitely lend you one if you want when I'm home at Thanksgiving...
i don't even have a passport yet actually haha. i'm working on getting that right now once i get enough money. but yeah i googled a lot of information on this and one of the sites said to get typhoid, hepatitis a, diphtheria and yellow fever. it also mentioned malarone so i will try and get my hands on that too. i am worried this will cost me a looot of money :-\ thanks for the info! and that would be awesome if i could borrow one of your guidebooks.. i'd really appreciate it.
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