So did we get our visas for Burkina Faso????

We arrived at the airport in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso on Monday October 23rd at 2:30am and there was a "Visa Section" permanent desk in the airport. So, US citizens can get a visa at the airport in Ouagadougou...BUT, you have to fill out the forms, give two passport sized photographs, and 10,000 CFA (Burkina Faso money). We would have to leave our forms, photos, and our passports at the visa section of the airport when we arrived on Monday and come back and pick up our visas in the afternoon on Tuesday and pay...

First wrinkle:
John and I had photos, Sara did not. So we would have to go and have Sara get her picture taken and then she could apply for a visa.

Second wrinkle:
John's friend, Elizabeth, who works for the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso arrived at the visa section desk and talked to the officer. She mentioned that we were leaving Monday morning at 8am on a bus headed to Koudougou to get to her village of Tenado. She didn't want us to hang around Ouagadougou waiting for our visas. So, she talked to the officer at the visa section and he said that as long as we had our receipts with the official stamp (the officer at the visa section desk gave us officially stamped receipts), we were OK to leave the airport and come back for our visas and passports.

To make a long story short (too late), we travelled around Burkina Faso and returned to Ouagadougou on Friday October 27th. Sara had passport photos taken in Koudougou. So we went straight from the bus station to the airport and dropped off the photos and paid the visa fee. We were told to come back Sunday afternoon on October 29th and the visas would be processed. We still had our officially stamped receipts, so we could still travel around the country.

Sunday morning John and Sara woke up early and ran errands. They were to the airport and the visas were ready to be picked up. They picked up their visas, but becuase they didn't have my receipt they couldn't pick up mine. So they came back to the hotel and told me they had gotten their visas and now we were going to get mine.

When we got to the airport, I walked up to the "Visa Section" desk and handed the woman behind the counter my receipt. She saw John and Sara behind me. The only question she asked me was: "Where were you before?" I said: "Sleeping."

So she handed me my passport with my visa stamped inside (see above).

We finally all received our visas by 10am Sunday October 29th. We were scheduled to leave Burkina Faso at 3:20am Monday October 30th.

Our visas were valid for seven days, from October 23rd. When John tried to leave Burkina Faso, the visa guard told him the visa was expired. John explained that the visa expired at midnight Tuesday October 31st... seven days (if you don't count the 23rd) 23, 24, 25 26, 27, 28, 29...uh 30 (eight days, if you count the 23rd). The guard let John leave the country.

So the answer is YES, US citizens can get visas for Burkina Faso at the Ouagadougou airport, but mostly so that they can leave the country not enter it.