Into Tanzania

Day 8

After our morning drive through Amboseli, we were taken to the border of Kenya and Tanzania.   It's one of those borders where there isn't much order and you first walk to the Kenya immigration to get stamped out and then into the Tanzania border to get your visa.  

Should be quite simple.  Was for me.  But poor Elisha.  

When you enter Kenya, you are supposed to get a 3 month Visa.  They ask how many days you will be in the country and then give you a visa based on this, but it's usually 3 months.  Elisha asked for 88 days.  Well for some reason, they only gave her 1 month.  She didn't notice they had only give her 1 month b/c they write it in strange chicken scratch on the visa.  So when she arrived to be checked out at Kenyan immigration, they guy told her that her visa was expired and that she was technically illegal in the country and could be thrown in jail.  Of course this was all banter (the throw in jail part) since they wouldn't really do this to a mzungu tourist, and it was just a person in power on a bit of a power trip (quite normal in Kenya).  Our driver came over and talked with the guy and eventually he stamped her out, but said she'd have to buy a new visa upon arrival (she didn't as you will find out later).

The funniest part about the border was all the Maasai ladies trying so hard to sell their curio wares to us.  They are so cute with their stretched ears and often toothless grins.  But they are crazy with trying to get you to buy things...even to the point of dropping bracelets or necklaces on to you.

After we had received our visas for Tanzania we hopped into a shuttle to Arusha and were on our way.  In Arusha, we met with the owner of the company we would be going with and then explored Arusha a bit.  We walked to a monument in the city center deemed the center of Africa as it is exactly 1/2 way between the northernmost point and southernmost point of Africa.  For dinner, we ate at a tasty outdoor food stall.  It was run by muslims and as it was ramadan, it was one of the few places open after dark near to our hotel

Maasai Ladies realizing that Elisha likes bracelets

At the "Center of Africa" Monument

Mt. Meru