After my Sunday attempt to gain the Cote de Ivoire visa I had a great evening in the city drinking beer and chatting to a Belgian cyclist. He drank rather more than me!

The following morning I was up early and off to the embassy, they don’t start working as early as me but eventually I got in and started the process. The application was easy and pretty quick and I was told that I had to wait 48 hours for the process to complete. I don’t really want to do that and asked if he could do it now! After some negotiation he agreed to process the visa the same day but asked ‘as a gentleman’ that I would not advertise that he had done that on social media. He says that many refer to Apps like iOverlander and push them hard when there consular guidelines state 48 hours.

Of course I agreed to that and set off into town to have a look around. The roads in the centre of the city are no better, most junctions surfaces are totally destroyed which does remarkably well to slow down the traffic! The best road surface was around the Presidential Palace, no surprise there..

whilst walking near the palace I was ordered away from the palace, no one is allowed to walk in front and armed guards in observation towers shouted and indicated I should move away, I snapped a quick selfie as I retreated, probably not the best thing to do but I couldn’t resist.

I approached a armoured vehicle and asked if I could take a photo but as I approached the guard held his gun across his chest and waved me away, the military in this area seem a little tense so I headed off to the market, smart move I think!

The market was bustling with activity and I saw many sights as I wandered through. Most of the goods are transported around the market area by wheelbarrow, nice solid wheelbarrows too I noted. It’s amazing how much you can get in one of them, the men transporting goods don’t hang around either and on more than one occasion I had to quickly step out of the way to avoid being run over, now that would have made a good story.

I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised to have seen sellers hawking animal skins and parts, the Belgian also observed a woman preparing a monkey as bushmeat, apparently this was common until recently but still happens, it’s food..

I changed some money in the black market to ensure that I have enough funds, the rate was OK and it was good to have that financial security.

It was blistering hot yet again and I bought litre bottles of wine and juice to quench my thirst. Just wandering around all day was a nice break and although I hate cities I actually enjoyed this one.

I arrived at the Cote de Ivoire consular office an hour early in the hope that I could get things sorted but no one was around so I went off on foot yet again. Many people are sat in the shade hiding from the burning sun and I walk slowly enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of Bissau.

Back at the consular office we process the final parts of the visa and I’m on my way, also get a selfie with the official and we chat about my onward journey. I always have as much respect as I can muster for people and it works well in this circumstance.

Leaving the office I head back to the hostel and spot a really old cannon at the entrance to the military barracks, I’d like a photo of that! I approach the armed guards and ask permission to take a photo, they refuse so I ask them to fetch the commander! I’m surprised when the soldier marches off telling me to wait? What have I done now I wonder.

Anyway the commander comes out about 10 minutes later and leads me inside the barracks, we have a language barrier but communicate easily. What actually happened is that I was given a full tour of the barracks visiting four museum sites, the graves of previous commanders, the language schools and the even unsheeted the commanders car (an old VE Beetle in immaculate condition) for me to view and photograph.

The museums were full of weaponry and I photographed the lot, it was nice as some of the buildings had air con too! I started to feel a bit uneasy, I wasn’t sure if I would ever get out! I met soldiers saw their accommodation blocks and found some more incredibly impressive trees too.

These barracks were blasted to pieces in the 60’s and 70’s but now have been restored to their former glory, it was an impressive fortress that is very much in use today.

Eventually I was let out, I was lead to the main gate, the barrier raised for me and I was off, funny thing about all of this is that all I wanted was a picture of the cannon and guess what? I walked straight past it and never got the picture. I does amaze me what you can do as a tourist when you stick your neck out a little!! Hopefully you keep your head…

its too late to move on today, I wanted to book my flight back home in December but the wine and a couple of beers mean it’s not the beast time to do that, so I stay another night and get some good rest.

Morning arrives and I’m trying to book the flight, I do everything but nothing is as yet confirmed, not sure what to do now so I contact home and ask Annie to look into it for me. It may be because the rubbish internet didn’t complete the transaction, I just don’t know right now. I’m sure it will all be fine, maybe?!

I have just been talking with the hostel owner Nick and he said he was having a fire at the back of the house and didn’t realise there were unspent bullets in the rubbish, they were from an AK47 from the war, needless to say that they were all sent running for cover as the bullets went off sending missiles all over the place!! We do live in an interesting world don’t we? We didn’t have a fire last night which to be honest was probably a good thing!

This is the corner of the fortress, pretty solid construction.

One of the many weapons I was privileged to view in the museum.

The Presidential Palace and the only good bit of tarmac too!

The Hostel owners XT600, check out the front brake disc and calliper!!

Traditional communication equipment for the military, for when the radios break down!!

Hostel owner Nick is a sterling chap, met his whole family during my stay. He’s got some good business ideas and I helped him to design the bunk room.