The Jordanian traveler and content creator, Kasem Hato, known as Ibn Hattuta, spoke to Roya News English about the experience he went through upon his arrival at an airport in Senegal.

Ibn Hattuta said that since Wednesday he has been staying and sleeping in a tiny aisle at the airport.

This screenshot was taken from Ibn Hattuta's Instagram story

According to Ibn Hattuta, when he arrived at Senegal’s land border from Nouakchott, he was told that visas cannot be issued upon arrival through land borders. They told him that in order to issue an upon-arrival visa, he must travel through air. So he did.

He went back to Nouakchott and contacted the Senegalese embassy there. The embassy told him that you can issue an upon-arrival visa if you travel by air, so Ibn Hattuta bought an airplane ticket and traveled again to Senegal but by an airplane this time.

“When I arrived, they said: No, there are no visas issued upon arrival,” he told Roya News English.

“They told me you need to find someone from inside Senegal to issue a visa for you, or just wait until the morning comes and we’ll see what happens,” he continued.

“They didn’t give me enough information.”

Ibn Hattuta added that later on, he understood that he has to find someone who can go to a passport office in Dakar and then wait until his visa is issued.

“This would take a lot of time,” he stressed.

He said that he found a number of individuals from Chile have been waiting for eight days.

“At this point, I decided that this is not going to work, I’m not going to wait for eight days. So I booked a ticket to Turkey,” he said.

He is set to arrive in Turkey tomorrow, Saturday.

He noted that many people have experienced the same issue.

According to him, this happens as official authorities say that travelers can issue a visa upon arrival, but when they get to Senegal, they get told that there are no visas issued upon arrival.

Ibn Hattuta said that according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), travelers can enter Senegal and then issue a visa upon arrival. He said that although this is not true, as of now, the IATA has not updated their information on their official website.

“The IATA and other airlines should not let anyone [leave a country] without having a visa issued to the country they are traveling to,” Ibn Hattuta said.

“But obviously, [IATA’s] database has not been updated regarding this, and apparently they are not interested in updating this information.”

He said that many people arrive in Senegal daily and experience the same thing.

“So we have two problems here, the first one is that official authorities in Senegal have not updated their international traveling information, and the second problem is that how can IATA and other airlines allow people to get on a plane without having a visa issued to countries [that require visas],” Ibn Hattuta said.

Earlier, Ibn Hattuta wrote on Facebook that when he arrived at the Dakar Airport in Senegal, he was told he cannot enter the country without a visa.

This screenshot was taken from Ibn Hattuta's Facebook account

“Of course I contacted the Senegalese embassy yesterday, and the ambassador told us that Jordanians do not need a visa in advance, and that you can issue a visa upon arrival,” Ibn Hattuta said.

Ibn Hattuta added that he had spoken to more than one Jordanian regarding the issuance of a visa, and they told him that they got the visa upon their arrival at the airport.

Ibn Hattuta spoke to an employee about it. The employee replied sarcastically, “This is Africa, my friend. Anyone who doesn’t know anything can become an ambassador.”

Ibn Hattuta continued in a Facebook post, “Yesterday, I went on a 12-hour flight from Nouakchott to the Senegal border, and they also prevented me from entering, claiming that the land border does not have an option to issue a visa upon arrival, and they told me to book a flight to enter without a prior visa.”

“Everyone here at the airport gives me a different answer.”

“I just wanted to share with you what is happening to me.”

Ibn Hattuta is a Jordanian traveler whose goal is to take his viewers on a journey around the globe with very affordable prices.

This photo was taken from Ibn Hattuta's Instagram account

“I noticed that the MENA region was lacking good informative Arabic travel content, especially low-budget rather than luxury! That was the reason I started my blog,” Ibn Hattuta once said.

This photo was taken from Ibn Hattuta's Instagram account

He has over 2.2 million followers on Facebook and around 652,000 on Instagram, in addition to more than 1.1 million subscribers on YouTube.

 These photos were taken from Ibn Hattuta's Instagram account