Intra-Africa Travel

This morning I left my apartment in Kampala at 710 am to head to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.  In total I would spend around two hours and fifteen minutes in the air but I did not arrive at my hotel here until 4pm!!  It was a day of complete frustration with the way things work...or do not work.


Upon arrival at the Entebbe airport I was sent through one security check which just took me to the cafeteria....I wandered around confused wondering where to check in and why the security guard had sent me that way.  It was because he likely new I would purchase some water and a snack!  I then worked my way through a security line into the check-in line.   From the check-in line I moved to the massive immigration line.  Maybe because it was Sunday they only had two staff working for the 300 people waiting.  Phew - I made it through there and had some time to waste.  I wandered through the duty-free stores and realized that each store had its own pricing.  Eventually my flight was announced and we were directed to the gate - where again I stood in a security line just to enter the holding room.  We were kept there for quite some time as the flight was delayed.  The final line was to get onto the plane....that would take me to Nairobi.


Upon arrival in Nairobi I was quite anxious to get off the plane and find my connecting flight - I only had about 40 minutes until departure.  The airport is hot and humid and I had worked up a sweat by the time I got to the security check for the gate.  Again I sat in a holding room and waited to get on the plane.  I was one of the first on the plane - BIG, HUGE mistake.  There was no ventilation.  I had a window seat and ended up with a rather large, sweaty man in the middle next to me.  We were waiting on the plan for close to 45 minutes before takeoff with no air!  I was feeling very claustrophobic.  It turns out some of the seats, including mine had been double booked.  Had I been more patient and got on the plane late I would have ended up in business class!


By 215 I arrived in Dar.  I turned on my phone...and surprise, surprise it did not work.  After my x-mas experience I thought this might happen but a bit of research indicated that Zain, my carrier has one network for East Africa....meaning that it is not roaming to be here.  Needless to say I was unimpressed.  The airport was hot and humid and I got into the immigration line.  The official that I think is just checking our visa forms asked me for the visa fee and I thought he was joking!  I thought I would stand in line at one of the windows and actually pay the person and get the vis.  That is not how it works in Dar.  He took my money and passport and left me in the crowd to wait while it is processed.  At around 3pm I had my visa.  It was $50 and I paid with $100...I was given 2X20 and 1X10 for change.  While this may seem reasonable it is frustrating as you receive a better exchange rate for larger bills.


By 4pm I had made it to the hotel and was able to enjoy the air conditioning:)  I am in Dar for meetings and will return to Kla on Tuesday night.  I tried to cram as much into the two days as my dad was supposed to arrive on Wednesday morning.  Unfortunately due to the BA strike he will now not arrive until Friday....just in time for our weekend safari!


The past week was a busy one.  I was out for Janet's birthday on Tuesday and then farewell for a while drinks for Trude on Thursday.  Saturday we tried the new restaurant near my house, Cayenne and it was great!  Fabulous atmosphere.  I also immersed myself in trying to understand twitter....I have a long way to go but think I may slowly be figuring out somethings.  Using tweetdeck and twitpic I have managed to post shortened links and a photo!  I think I will stick to my new exploration of social media.  


Next post will have some pictures again....I hope.