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As you may recall from my last blog, I was beginning to experience an unusual entry into the land of Zambia. I had collected my Tanzanian exit stamp in the early hours of the morning and joined my mate Anita in order to get our visas from the on board customs officials. Having explained to the officials just what they needed to know, the officers felt the situation might best be dealt with in the privacy of their onboard office. The slight hitch to our situation was that Anita had slept through her Tanzanian exit stamp, and I had mine in the wrong passport. We stepped into the first class 'office' and the door was pulled closed for further privacy. As the window blind was shut as well, I decided to pull the corridor door back open. Sitting on top of a bed in a dark cabin with 2 officials wasn't really how I had envisioned getting my Zambian visa. There really wasn't a problem with any justification, so we battled with the first presented option of getting off of the train at the next stop and making our way overland back to Tanzania for a stamp. "There MUST be an
easier solution officer?" Anita and I were then presented with a $450 option. Having to laugh at the ridiculousness of this offer, I decided to make negotiations easier and pay the higher Visa fee on my British passport. We didn't give in and pay an unnecessary private rate to anybody, just tired of circling the same non issues. I wanted to enter the next round of peanut poker with peace of mind that I wouldn't get kicked off of the train! When we finally pulled into the final stop just 15 hours late, the relief that the adventure was over was overwhelming. We found a bus into Lusaka and slept our worries away.
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Jump of nerves....

Coffeecat
2005-12-24 22:41:37

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As you may recall from my last blog, I was beginning to experience an unusual entry into the land of Zambia. I had collected my Tanzanian exit stamp in the early hours of the morning and joined my mate Anita in order to get our visas from the on board customs officials. Having explained to the officials just what they needed to know, the officers felt the situation might best be dealt with in the privacy of their onboard office. The slight hitch to our situation was that Anita had slept through her Tanzanian exit stamp, and I had mine in the wrong passport. We stepped into the first class 'office' and the door was pulled closed for further privacy. As the window blind was shut as well, I decided to pull the corridor door back open. Sitting on top of a bed in a dark cabin with 2 officials wasn't really how I had envisioned getting my Zambian visa. There really wasn't a problem with any justification, so we battled with the first presented option of getting off of the train at the next stop and making our way overland back to Tanzania for a stamp. "There MUST be an
easier solution officer?" Anita and I were then presented with a $450 option. Having to laugh at the ridiculousness of this offer, I decided to make negotiations easier and pay the higher Visa fee on my British passport. We didn't give in and pay an unnecessary private rate to anybody, just tired of circling the same non issues. I wanted to enter the next round of peanut poker with peace of mind that I wouldn't get kicked off of the train! When we finally pulled into the final stop just 15 hours late, the relief that the adventure was over was overwhelming. We found a bus into Lusaka and slept our worries away.

Arriving into Lusaka at 3am was a slight hinderence. Half of our group planned on boarding the next bus to Livingstone, althought it didn't depart until 6am. The rest us were planning on staying in Lusaka, so we all decided to stay on ...