Tanzania - Part 1

 I blame Google.

It seems unfair to criticise the omnipotent digital knowledge distribution company for occasionally getting something wrong but, in common with a lot of people, we have come to accept its information with little critical evaluation.

We had been warned by several different people that Tanzania was a difficult country. It started in Namibia with statements like "there's no food in Tanzania". General words of warning to be careful the further North we travelled added to a developing foreboding. The most recent tale of woe came from a Malawian Church Minister who couldn't believe that the border officials demanded $400 for him to enter their country.

Therefore we approached the border with a high degree of apprehension. Googling "Tanzanian Visa" had suggested that there should be no problem in being granted one on entry, the cost being $50 each. Malawian banks had refused to exchange their Kwatcha for Tanzanian Shillings (TZS) and instead advised us to use the black market - seriously! Google had already informed us to expect an exchange rate of 4 TZS to one Kwatcha.

The usual warnings that we were nearing a border started to appear. Nothing as prosaic or useful as a sign, rather it was the queue of trucks and the volume of people milling about with no apparent purpose.

Our favourable impression of Malawi was maintained as their officials quickly stamped our passports and, after a short delay, our carnets. No fuss and all done with a friendly attitude.

The short ride to the Tanzanian border post saw us quickly become enveloped in a throng of pushy locals shouting incoherently and plucking at our jackets as we filtered by at 10Kmph. Fortunately the immigration building was separated by fencing creating a relative area of calm where we parked our bikes. The dreaded officials refused to bend to advertising instead being polite, welcoming and helpful. Our visa was upgraded at no cost and without our asking to an East African Tourist version, which meant that we could use it for several countries, saving us future visa payments. Our carnets took some time but were dealt with very professionally and handed back to us with a "Karibu Tanzania" - Welcome to Tanzania in Swahili.

An insurance guy had latched onto us on the Malawian side, accompanying us through the process and occasionally making helpful suggestions. He had been low pressure and as we needed insurance we committed to buy it from him. Thinking he was helping even more he introduced us to the "official" unofficial money changer (only in Africa!). The rate was 3.4 to 1. Confident that the proper (Google) rate was 4 to 1 we declined and, emboldened by our trouble free entry, decided to try the unofficial moneychangers. Andrew had already prepared carefully counted batches of notes to minimise any attempt to bamboozle during the exchange. We moved our bikes towards the exit gate and out of the "safe" zone. I went to buy the insurance following the guy into a busy warren of buildings, a semi-permanent town, just the other side of the border gate.

I completed the transaction and emerging from the "town" looked across to the bikes to see Andrew completely engulfed by a noisy mob. Something had gone wrong with the money exchange and the crowd were shouting angrily at Andrew. The level of intimidation made me quite nervous but I managed to ask Andrew what was going on. I couldn't make out detail only that the moneychanger was trying to cheat us. I tried sounding forceful and angry but that only made things worse. There was no reasoning with them so we got on our bikes and rode away forcing our way through the crowd half expecting them to chase us. A couple of miles up the road and free from any pursuit we stopped to calm down a bit and properly fasten luggage and clothing which had been left undone in our haste to get away.

Later Andrew explained what had happened. He had agreed a rate of 3.9 typing it into his Ipad and showing it to the guy who agreed. They then changed 4 batches of notes, which the guy had already calculated at 4 to 1, Andrew keeping a tally of how much change was due back to the moneychanger. Once the exchange was nearly complete the guy suddenly claimed that he had been confused and that he meant 3.09 not 3.9 - he lied. Andrew had refused to compromise, angry with the guy for lying, and a crowd had quickly developed all supporting "their man". Upon reflection it is probable that they all work together and this type of scam was enacted regularly. However, this time the foreigners were tall, bulky and had transport immediately at hand.

The ironic and slightly satisfying aspect of this scary episode is that we ended up getting our rate of 4 to 1 because in the hullabaloo Andrew did not give the guy his change. So in a way Google was right after all but it has to be said we would much rather have paid the extra £6 that 3.4 to one would have cost.

We had been told several times that unofficial money changers would try to steal from us...we heard it but chose to believe that we wouldn't be caught out. We were too confident but the lesson has been well and truly learned!