Dar is a city with very little..a staging point for Zanzibar and the southern Tanzanian game parks Selous, Ruaha and Mikumi. I needed time here to get my visas for Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.
But first Rayna to the airport ..reception said first thing in the morning the traffic would be chaos.. Rayna's flight was at 10.00 so she thought ..We set off at 6.45am plenty of time and so it was. The traffic was bad coming into town but nil going out of town and so we got to the airport at 7 ..Rayna discovered her flight was at 10.30 (it turned out that the flight was cancelled) ..I dropped Rayna and joined the traffic on my way to the Ethiopian embassy.
Got there a few minutes before 9 and waited till about 9.15 (staff late).The Ethiopians could not have been more friendly and helpful..filled in the form payed my money ..I was told to come back next afternoon for my passport and visa..and so it was.
Next to the Sudanese embassy.. Here it was a different kettle of fish.. Fill in a form, all sorts of details including my blood group! Just guessed. A+. Submitted the form and was asked when I was going to enter Sudan. I worked out that I still had bits of Tanzania to see, then Kenya, then Ethiopia, so about 25 days time.. But, said the official it would only have 3 days
validity as it is only valid for 28 days from date of issue.. Get it in Nairobi.. so that was that.
17th. I picked up my passport and went to the Egyptian Embassy after a wait the official said he would see what he could do. Come back tomorrow.
18th. Afternoon passport pick up at the Egyptian Embassy. I had time to kill.
About 4 years earlier, 2014 to be exact, I had been invited to do a familiarisation tour with an
operator from Dar. I sent a deposit US$980 .. But the tour was cancelled. I asked for my money back a number of times, but nothing.. Fortunately I had kept all the paper work and strolled down to the Tanzanian Tourist office with the evidence.
They were quite excited to have something to do and the young lass was most helpful.
We tried many times to contact the travel company but there was no response.
They arranged a meeting for me for the next day with a senior executive in the department.
In the afternoon i went to the Egyptian embassy.The Egyptians would not give me a visa as I didn't have a Sudanese visa.. I tried to explain but it was a waste of time.
19th Met with Senior Executive in the Department of Tourism and resources.
He was a no nonsense man.. Mr.Goodluck nDoumi he phoned the person, Leina, and got thru on the second try. She claimed that she was in Zimbabwe..he knew this was not true as his phone wasn't able to make calls outside Tanzania.. Goodluck, by chance, was on the Tanzania Tourist Board Membership audit commitee. It appears Leinas' company only registered last year and had been trading as a tour operator without a license.
To cut a long story short. I got the money back two weeks later.
So 3 and a half days in Dar ..one visa and US$980. I suppose it was ok.
Always nice to have a bit of Goodluck.
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