We got back to Mali very late Friday night/ very early Saturday morning. Thankfully the flights were fine, no problems and no delays. At the airport ALL of our bags came right out on the belt. It couldn’t have gone smoother! We were even prepared for the weather here because it had been around 90 and humid in the states before we left, and that is exactly what we have returned to here. We were really looking forward to getting home to our town and our friends and our house after being away for 3 months. So we were planning on just sleeping a few hours and taking the afternoon bus on Saturday.
But suddenly JP needs a visa to be in Mali. They made him pay an exit visa fee when he flew out of the airport, and now when we returned through the airport, he had to get a visa to be in the country. He has lived in Mali for 8 years and never had a visa before! At the airport they gave him a temporary 4 day visa for $30 and said he needed to go on Monday to get it extended. So on Monday we went downtown to go to the immigration office and get his visa taken care of.
But first we needed to get some money to pay for it, so we went to an ATM. I guess that not too many years ago ATMs were unheard of here, but luckily now there are quite a few. Luckily because we had to visit 7 of them to finally find one that had money in it and would work. So that was pretty frusterating. I have to remind myself that my reaction and attitude makes all the difference in a situation like driving all around town and having 6 ATMs in a row not give me money. Finally we had some money, so off to the visa office.
The visa office is pitiful for a national bureau in a capital city of a country. There were like 15 people crammed into what is basically a hallway, not in any real line or order, just all filling out papers or waiting. At one end is a woman in a uniform at a desk who is processing the paperwork amidst the noise and chaos. There was a piece of paper taped to the wall explaining the different visa fees. For JP to have a 1 year visa it will cost $120. And now he needs to go get a visa every year to be in Mali because if he doesn’t he will have to pay big fines the next time he wants to leave through the airport. Somehow its ok to cross land borders without a visa, but for the airport he has to have a visa. This makes no sense, but I guess it is a kind of tax on the “rich”.
The visa will be ready to pick up on Tuesday afternoon, which means that we won’t be home until Wednesday afternoon because we will have to wait for the Wednesday morning bus. So not as I’d planned is that instead of ½ day in Bamako, we are here for 4 ½ days because they decided that JP needs a visa. And not as I’d planned is that we now have spent $150 for him to get it.
On the brighter side is that we will now return home and be well rested instead of exhausted from traveling from the states. And I am very thankful for the lovely family that has so graciously hosted us during our surprise extra days here.
