Since we received our visa for Ghana in record time, we were able to start the process for a visa to Nigeria earlier than we thought. As in Ghana, one must apply for, and receive, a travel visa before arriving in the country  The first step is to go to the Nigerian Embassy website for instructions.  Because of the level of corruption in Nigeria, the first thing that greets you on the website is this warning in red letters, all caps: "DEAR VALUED CUSTOMER, PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT SOME CREDIT CARD ISSUING BANKS/INSTITUTIONS (THIS MAY INCLUDE YOUR CREDIT CARD ISSUER) HAVE DECLINED CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS FOR ONLINE VISA AND/OR PASSPORT APPLICATIONS ON THE BASIS THAT THE TRANSACTION IS ASSOCIATED WITH NIGERIA. TO AVOID THIS INCONVENIENCE PLEASE NOTIFY YOUR CREDIT CARD ISSUING BANK/INSTITUTION PRIOR TO USING YOUR CREDIT CARD FOR PAYMENT OF YOUR ONLINE VISA AND/OR PASSPORT APPLICATION."  Apparently there have been so many of us trying to help that Nigerian prince get his million dollars in money out of the country, that all trust has been lost!  ;-)  Sadly, as you attempt to apply for the visa and pay the $180 online application fee, you must work with your credit card company to be sure the transaction goes through. 

The visa application is surprisingly long with many personal questions asked. The typical name, address, phone, purpose and length of stay questions, but also "How much money do you have for this trip?" And, "Have you ever been involved in narcotic activity?" And, "Have you sought to obtain visa by mis-representation or fraud?" (Would anyone ever answer in the positive for those two questions??) I'm happy they did not ask for the name of favorite pet, my mother's maiden name, my father's middle name, my 3-digit credit card security number, or the name of that Nigerian prince I was trying help with his money a few yeas ago!  :)

After completing the questions, I enter my credit card information. My card rejects the first attempt and sends me a text alert of possible fraudulent activity and  asks me to text back '1' if I have made the attempted charge and '2' if I did not. I text back '1' and it informs me to resubmit the charge, which I do. All goes through without a hitch. I should mention that the cost to apply is really only $160 per person. The other $20 is the "processing fee." Once this clears, you print out the application, attached a passport photo, and get another money order for $30 for the second 'processing fee.'  Apparently different people process the online application and the passport handling (Or it goes to that Nigerian prince we spoke about earlier!) You place these document into a FedEx envelope ($23.50) with your passport along with a  prepaid return envelope (another $23.50) and for a cool $257 (plus the cost of the passport photos) your application is in!

We were advised that it may take several weeks to get the visa approval and have the passport returned, but much to our delight, the approved visa (a sticker placed on one page in the passport) and passport were back on our doorstep in a week! I guess trying to help that Nigerian prince paid off after all!  ;-)  So we are all set for our paperwork for the trip.  Now to learn as much as we can about where we will be keeping the Feast.