Second Day in Abidjan / Monrovia tomorrow night

Second day in Abidjan. Modern city and much more organized and comfortable than Accra. Easy to walk around too. The CBD at Plateau is not too big. The city looks safe during the day time but probably not so in the evenings. All the big hotels here have iron bar fences and gates, including Ibis Plateau where we are staying, probably due to the need to defend the hotels from looting that occurs with every riot, coup or attempted coup.

Got a 3 months multiple entry Mali visa within 3 hours for CFA 40,000 (abt Euro 61) plus urgent fees of CFA 15,000 (Euro 23). Also bought air ticket to Monrovia, Liberia tomorrow night, on SN Brussels Airlines at the cut-throat rate of CFA 169,700 (Euro 259) – extremely expensive for a 1 hour 25 min flight, but we have no choice. Still trying desperately to book a hotel that would pick us up at Roberts International Airport 60km from the city centre.