Traveling is a fool's paradise. Our first journeys discover to us the indifference of places. At home I dream that at Naples, at Rome, I can be intoxicated with beauty, and lose my sadness. I pack my trunk, embrace my friends, embark on the sea, and at last wake up in Naples, and there beside me is the stern fact, the sad self, unrelenting, identical, that I fled from. I seek the Vatican, and the palaces. I affect to be intoxicated with sights and suggestions, but I am not intoxicated. My giant goes with me wherever I go. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

8-12 December 2019, Monrovia
Moriah Inn - Airbnb 10,920L$ (R840)

WhatsApp: Visa issues. We had planned four nights in Monrovia, beginning last Saturday. We were at the Sierra Leone embassy Monday, hoping for a Tuesday passport pickup. Only to be told the visa process requires an interview with the ambassador, and he does these Wednesdays and Fridays. So we extended our Airbnb booking, and went back to the embassy this morning. Guess what? The SL president is visiting so the ambassador is not available to endorse the visa. So, we have no choice but to extend our stay yet again. Each visa, by the way, costs a whopping $100, non-refundable should your application fail. On the plus side, we have eaten reasonable Indian and Chinese. Nice for a change.
I am pro a visa-free Africa. I am pro free trade within Africa. Would totally oppose any political unity a la EU.