Story time! Bad decisions lead to bad situations

I've only had one bribe that I was happy to pay, and this was due to a series of bad decisions! 

I was travelling through Senegal and crossing into the Gambia with a local that I had met. Because I was travelling with a local, I don't think I would have been hurt, but I definitely put myself in some pretty sketchy situations as a young woman travelling solo and should have been more cautious. 

My local friend and I had taken ages to get started out on the day. We were travelling through local share taxi car and had gotten caught for hours waiting for someone heading our way. By the time we made it to the Keur Ayip / Kerr Sulay border crossing, it was pitch black and almost midnight. I should have made the call earlier in the day to stop before dark and find a local hotel somewhere, but my friend was sure it would be fine. 

When we got to the border crossing, the police separated me from my friend on the grounds that I was a foreigner. I was taken into a separate building at the checkpoint to my friend, and put in a dark room with a half dozen men holding semi-automatic guns. I handed my passport to the man in the corner at a broken desk - the "official". The singular light bulb was flickering, and the man had to hold my passport up to the lightbulb to see it in between the flickers. We stood there in silence for around 15 minutes while he examined my passport. I tried to strike up conversation with the guards in both French and English, and then in the bits of Wolof that I had learnt, but they were not interested in talking and stood still with the guns pointing to the ground. 

Eventually, the official told me that I did not have the correct paperwork to enter the Gambia. This was a lie, but even speaking in their native tongue had been futile in starting any conversation, and it was very late. I was alone in a dark room with six armed men, my passport was in their hands, and my friend was in another building. I wasn't scared, but every now and then I get the voice in the my back of my head saying "maybe I've made some bad decisions to get here." This was one of those times. 

I told him that I had spoken with the Embassy and been assured that my papers were correct, but that I was happy to cooperate with him. I asked him what he wanted for me to continue on my path. He asked for a bribe of around 10,000 Central African Francs, and I told him I would give him that money once he gave back my passport. A bit of waiting around and a few more words spoken in Wolof. Eventually he handed back the passport and I handed over the cash, and walked outside. I went back to my friend and he asked if I was ok, and apologised for us being separated. We made the border crossing and got dropped off at a hotel in Kerr Sulay where the owner was very confused to have a foreigner rocking up past midnight. We stayed the night and hit the road again early morning. 

Takeaway from this situation - I wasn't in danger, but I also wasn't in control of the situation at all. I was in a dark room with armed men, and it wasn't worth arguing over the bribe. At the end of the day, the bribe was 10,000 XOF ($25AUD), and I would have paid more for my safety. But you've got to pick and choose! This one I was happy to pay, and I learnt my lesson - make sure I've found a hotel before dark, and don't ever let officials separate me from my local friend!