Sorry for all the delays in posts, but for the past two weeks we have had limited Internet access because of the hike and our safari - so I am going to post a bunch of posts today to sort of catch up on items .... so here we go
Dar Es Salaam ... after an amazing time in Kenya, we were set for Tanzania and everything was looking great and we were feeling way more at ease about being in Africa. Upon arrival in Dar we had to go through immigration to get our visa's and we didn't think much about it (except for the fact that we had left our visa photos in our main bag that was checked - so first little worry of mine). As we get up to the immigration area no one is telling us where to go, what to do and or what we need to do (very typical of African immigration actually haha). So we finally talk to the main guy and he's like fill out the form and then come back and see me, so we did and then he asked for our money and we said that we wanted to pay by Visa (there was a sign indicating that Visa was accepted). But he informed us that the Visa wasn't working and we could only pay cash, US cash. Well we only had $85USD on us at that point so we would need to get more cash - not really a big deal, BUT the ATM's where outside the terminals. So he said its fine, leave the secured area, past baggage claim and get some money. So I was like "umm okay, but I don't have my passport (they had already taken it by that point). So I ducked out of that area and went outside of the airport and perfect, found an ATM. When I got up to it, it was out of order, not good, my stomach dropped a bit, but some guys pointed me to another one. Perfect, I'll use that one - but as I get up to it, it was also out of order, now I'm really getting worried. I tried talking to the currency exchange places to see if I could get money out by Visa, but they said they only take cash. There were no other bank machines at the airport that I could use so I am feeling sick - what are we going to do. So some how I make it back into immigration without showing anything (good security eh) and well I start to cry hahha ... We were short $15 and had no way of getting that money - I was ready to start asking people around us for money. BUT my husband came to my rescue - told me not to stress and he would figure it out. After speaking with the immigration guy for about 15 minutes, it was decided that we could pay for the visa upon our departure - problem solved and it only took us about 45 minutes to do it haha... Definitely, not a good introduction into Tanzania, but that is Africa for you. Lesson learnt - always have USD cash on you for visa's and carry more money.
Thankfully since then, it has been pretty smooth sailing
Love Melissa and Arnold
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