There's no nice way of putting this. The lady handling visa applications at the embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Cameroon is just a nasty piece of work.
I'm sitting quietly in the embassy's reception area while my travel companions try to negotiate in French. There are four of us now, with Roger, Luke and I heading south on public transport, plus Rob via motorcycle. The DRC visa costs more than any country we've visited so far: 60,000 Central African francs (US$126; Dh463) for the visa and an extortionate "handling fee" of 40,000 francs, for a total of about $210 (Dh772) per person. We'll be in the country for about two hours.
A bit steep, no? "This is what the Americans charge us!" the lady snaps back.
"Apparently this is your fault," Rob says to me, the only US citizen in the room. Touché.
There's a 40-kilometre stretch of DRC coastline blocking the way to Cape Town, and there's no obvious way around it. The country was the site of Africa's largest modern conflict, the Second Congo War or Great War of Africa, which began in 1998 and has yet to fully peter out, and although the coastal area is known to be pretty safe, we're not exactly eager to spend more time there than is necessary.
The lady won't budge. I'm in favour of holding out for another option - I'm thinking boat, or maybe a magic carpet - but I bow to the democratic will and hand over a big stack of bread. "Come back at 3pm," she tell us.
Yaoundé, the Cameroonian capital, is a pleasant city by any standard, especially so by African ones. Lush, hilly and temperate, it has all the energy of a Third World capital minus the nerve-racking chaos. But there's not a lot to do here, and we soon run out of ways to kill time in the city centre.
Roger's reluctant to go back into the embassy too soon. We're hoping to get our passports quickly so we can drop them off at the embassy of the other, smaller Congo, the Republic of Congo, which officially closes at 3pm. An official there says he'll wait for us.
"I don't see any crime in showing up a little early," I tell Roger. "The visas are usually ready a bit earlier than the given time."
We saunter in at 2:40pm, taking our seats on the sofas in the reception area. The woman appears and rudely dispatches us. "I told you to come back at 3pm!" Oops.
Visa shopping consumes a hefty percentage of every traveller's time and budget in west and central Africa, and unless you arrange every visa from your home country ahead of time - which usually entails even more cost and isn't always possible, anyway - one needs to plan one's itinerary around it. It's also a typical way of meeting other travellers.
Sadly, our little group, which came together on the road, is on the verge of falling apart on account of injury and illness. A sudden fever waylays Luke, but after testing negative for both dengue and malaria, he swiftly recovers. Rob, meanwhile, has injured his ankle in a bike spill on Cameroon's Ring Road, in the north. A local doctor there loaded him up on painkillers, allowing him to manage the drive to Yaoundé where an X-ray showed no obvious sign of broken bones.
Now, two weeks after the accident, Rob's leg doesn't seem to be healing properly. A third doctor, a German physician who happens to have worked at the Nürburgring racing circuit, takes a look and gives a graver opinion. An MRI confirms his worst fears: the bone is indeed fractured, and not lightly, either.
"If you were at home, they'd put a pin in it," says the doctor, as related later by Rob. "If you lived here, I'd recommend you put it in a cast for six weeks."
Rob presses him. He's ridden all the way from London and is anxious to finish the route to Cape Town. He's not ready to fly home or sit around in Cameroon for six weeks with a leg encased in plaster. He can still get his foot into his boot and ride the bike. Yes, there's the outlying possibility of deep-vein thrombosis - or, if he falls again, a second breakage in a place with worse facilities, like DRC - but realistically speaking, what are the risks of continuing the journey?
I see the doctor furrowing his German brow. "Well, it's been two weeks already," he says. "You're young, and you seem pretty strong. Chances are you'll be OK."
Visa obtained, doctors consulted, we all head down to Kribi, a secluded coastal town where we rent an apartment near the beach. Rob decides to rest here for two more weeks before ploughing through to South Africa. I'm impressed. Roger thinks he's crazy, but generally speaking, Roger's not half as crazy as the rest of us. I'm still dreaming of that magic carpet, for a start.
Scott MacMillan is blogging about his journey on his website, www.wanderingsavage.com
Test series fixtures
(All matches start at 2pm UAE)
1st Test Lord's, London from Thursday to Monday
2nd Test Nottingham from July 14-18
3rd Test The Oval, London from July 27-31
4th Test Manchester from August 4-8
Financial considerations before buying a property
Buyers should try to pay as much in cash as possible for a property, limiting the mortgage value to as little as they can afford. This means they not only pay less in interest but their monthly costs are also reduced. Ideally, the monthly mortgage payment should not exceed 20 per cent of the purchaser’s total household income, says Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching.
“If it’s a rental property, plan for the property to have periods when it does not have a tenant. Ensure you have enough cash set aside to pay the mortgage and other costs during these periods, ideally at least six months,” she says.
Also, shop around for the best mortgage interest rate. Understand the terms and conditions, especially what happens after any introductory periods, Ms Glynn adds.
Using a good mortgage broker is worth the investment to obtain the best rate available for a buyer’s needs and circumstances. A good mortgage broker will help the buyer understand the terms and conditions of the mortgage and make the purchasing process efficient and easier.
Read more about the coronavirus
Famous left-handers
- Marie Curie
- Jimi Hendrix
- Leonardo Di Vinci
- David Bowie
- Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein
- Jack the Ripper
- Barack Obama
- Helen Keller
- Joan of Arc
NBA Finals so far
(Toronto lead 3-1 in best-of-seven series_
Game 1 Raptors 118 Warriors 109
Game 2 Raptors 104 Warriors 109
Game 3 Warriors 109 Raptors 123
Game 4 Warriors 92 Raptors 105
SANCTIONED
- Kirill Shamalov, Russia's youngest billionaire and previously married to Putin's daughter Katarina
- Petr Fradkov, head of recently sanctioned Promsvyazbank and son of former head of Russian Foreign Intelligence, the FSB.
- Denis Bortnikov, Deputy President of Russia's largest bank VTB. He is the son of Alexander Bortnikov, head of the FSB which was responsible for the poisoning of political activist Alexey Navalny in August 2020 with banned chemical agent novichok.
- Yury Slyusar, director of United Aircraft Corporation, a major aircraft manufacturer for the Russian military.
- Elena Aleksandrovna Georgieva, chair of the board of Novikombank, a state-owned defence conglomerate.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
if you go
The flights
Emirates fly direct from Dubai to Houston, Texas, where United have direct flights to Managua. Alternatively, from October, Iberia will offer connections from Madrid, which can be reached by both Etihad from Abu Dhabi and Emirates from Dubai.
The trip
Geodyssey’s (Geodyssey.co.uk) 15-night Nicaragua Odyssey visits the colonial cities of Leon and Granada, lively country villages, the lake island of Ometepe and a stunning array of landscapes, with wildlife, history, creative crafts and more. From Dh18,500 per person, based on two sharing, including transfers and tours but excluding international flights. For more information, visit visitnicaragua.us.
What is Reform?
Reform is a right-wing, populist party led by Nigel Farage, a former MEP who won a seat in the House of Commons last year at his eighth attempt and a prominent figure in the campaign for the UK to leave the European Union.
It was founded in 2018 and originally called the Brexit Party.
Many of its members previously belonged to UKIP or the mainstream Conservatives.
After Brexit took place, the party focused on the reformation of British democracy.
Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson became its first MP after defecting in March 2024.
The party gained support from Elon Musk, and had hoped the tech billionaire would make a £100m donation. However, Mr Musk changed his mind and called for Mr Farage to step down as leader in a row involving the US tycoon's support for far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson who is in prison for contempt of court.
UAE central contracts
Full time contracts
Rohan Mustafa, Ahmed Raza, Mohammed Usman, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Sultan Ahmed, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid
Part time contracts
Aryan Lakra, Ansh Tandon, Karthik Meiyappan, Rahul Bhatia, Alishan Sharafu, CP Rizwaan, Basil Hameed, Matiullah, Fahad Nawaz, Sanchit Sharma
