I’ve been in Angola for more than three months now. I know that because I had to leave to renew my visa last month, after my quota of 3 thirty-day tourist visas expired. Angola must be about the hardest country in the world to visit. Almost everyone has horror stories of embassies and long delays waiting for visas, often accompanied by ridiculous excuses for why they are delayed. It is generally believed that the government is deliberately making it hard for NGOs to work here because we don’t bring in much money, unlike the UN or the oil companies. One big, and pleasant, difference from Sierra Leone is the lack of a military presence. (more…)