Day 44, 2011/06/14 Nairobi

Day 44, 2011/06/14 Nairobi

Up early so I can get this Sudanese visa sorted. One of the very strange requirements for a Sudanese visa is that, you need a letter from your embassy. Yes! You heard that right. And what does the letter need to state? Well not sure really, it just needs to say you are who you say you are. Well that is what my passport was there for? Do not ask stupid question!! You do what ever they want.
So off to South African embassy. Not too far from the others, and boy what a surprise. The most professionally run embassy out of all that I had had to deal with in Nairobi. But then again you would say, I was comparing them to African ones, so that was not really a good benchmark against which to judge things. However, after discussions with some fellow overland travelers, and their experiences with their embassy, was happy and proud to be South African! British foreign nationals told me of stories of arriving in offices where there was no one to assist them, and only after an hour did someone eventually show their face at the teller. Wow, not what I was expecting from the British Foreign office. And not only that,they needed to fork out £45 for the letter! Yes, while the SA embassy issued it for free. As for the American embassy, apparently they refused to issue any letters. So I was told. Anyway, that all sorted it is off to the Sudanese embassy and the submission of the passport together with KSH 4000, or about R360 application fee.
It is amazing how all this running around between government departments can be so tiring, so back to the Jungle Junction for some well deserved R&R!