Natmandu's photostream  

Kakum National Park, Cape Coast.

When you apply for a visa to go to Ghana, you head along to the Ghanaian High Commission in London, fill in your form, and submit your application. I applied for a one year multiple entry visa costing something around the £100 mark.

Then you get to Ghana and you start paying all over again. Your visa is only good for 60 days on entry according to the stamp you get at the airport, so you have to go back to the local immigration office and get it renewed - at a cost of 80 cedis for another 60 days. Many of the immigration officers are good guys, but some enjoy their authority a bit too much and like to boss you around. One thought his uniform gave him a chance of chatting up my fiancée.

This is pretty much the norm in Ghana - come into contact with the authorities, hand over money. But it made me think of the stress people go through all the time when they come into contact with immigration authorities - in the UK and elsewhere. It's similar to the kind of stress you feel when you don't have a home. Basic, deep, fundamental stuff.

Taken in Dorset.

What a piece`of luck. This was happening just as we drove past Stonehenge.