Kenya & Tanzania July 14, 2018

Delawaretraveler

We have two trips in one link so I'm going ahead and start a new link for the July 14th trip to avoid confusion. Linda
We are John & Linda from Delaware. Walt & Deborah from Virginia are also on this trip m

Virginia Travelers1

Virginia travelers will be arriving on the 13th via KLM airline from Amsterdam. We read the posts about difficulties getting Yellow Fever vaccines so we acted quickly. Only 2 places had 1 vaccine each a week after Christmas so we got them. Now working on getting other vaccines. Anyone else going on this trip?

Sealord

We are Mike and Eloise arriving on KLM 567 from Amsterdam on the 13th. Our second K&T with Tauck. We are from San Anselmo, CA.

Delawaretraveler

Hi All! we are flying Ethiopian Air out of Dulles and arriving early afternoon on the 13th. Linda & John

AlanS

Delawaretraveler wrote:

Hi All! we are flying Ethiopian Air out of Dulles and arriving early afternoon on the 13th. Linda & John

We flew ET to K&T a few years ago and are planning to fly with them again for the Botswana,SA,Zambia tour in 2019. Please stop back by here after your trip and update us on your flights. Thanks.

Virginia Travelers1

Sealord wrote:

We are Mike and Eloise arriving on KLM 567 from Amsterdam on the 13th. Our second K&T with Tauck. We are from San Anselmo, CA.

Hi Sealord. We might be on the same KLM flight out of Amsterdam. We only have a Delta 9349 flight number but it is operated by KLM. We leave Amsterdam at 10:25 AM arrive in Kilimanjaro airport at 7:50 PM. In any case we are probably on the same tour. This is our second TAUCK tour and first time to Africa. We left last February for the Australian trip and it was fabulous.

AlanS

Virginia Travelers wrote:

Hi Sealord. We might be on the same KLM flight out of Amsterdam. We only have a Delta 9349 flight number but it is operated by KLM. We leave Amsterdam at 10:25 AM arrive in Kilimanjaro airport at 7:50 PM. In any case we are probably on the same tour. This is our second TAUCK tour and first time to Africa. We left last February for the Australian trip and it was fabulous.

Delta 9349 is the same as KLM 567.

Virginia Travelers1

AlanS wrote:

Delta 9349 is the same as KLM 567.

Thanks Alan S. I tried to verify myself but could not.

Virginia Travelers1

Sealord wrote:

We are Mike and Eloise arriving on KLM 567 from Amsterdam on the 13th. Our second K&T with Tauck. We are from San Anselmo, CA.

It looks like we Virginia Travelers will be on the same flight as you leaving from Amsterdam.

Virginia Travelers1

Sealord wrote:

We are Mike and Eloise arriving on KLM 567 from Amsterdam on the 13th. Our second K&T with Tauck. We are from San Anselmo, CA.

Since this is your second K&T with Tauck, can you suggest the best method to obtain the required visas? Is it easiest to use Visa Central?

AlanS

Virginia Travelers wrote:

Since this is your second K&T with Tauck, can you suggest the best method to obtain the required visas? Is it easiest to use Visa Central?

There are a number of posts about this in the K&T forum archives. If I remember, the reviews of Visa Central were mixed- for some the process was ok, for others it was a really big pain. One hassle was having their photos rejected numerous times. You must provide all the info and fill out the form, so someone who used VC will need to tell me what is the advantage of using them. VC wasn't/isn't cheap.

In 2015 we did it ourselves. We downloaded the forms from the Kenya and Tanzanian embassy websites, completed them, had photos taken at CVS then submitted everything plus fees via registered mail, one at a time, to the Embassies in DC. (regardless of how you do it, your passport is sent to each embassy). Turnaround was short, we got them back via FEDEX/UPS (?) each time in maybe 10 days.

To complete the form you will need contact info for Tauck's in-country rep. We got it from the visa service website, but probably could have gotten it by calling Tauck.

British

The visa process is tricky for India and China, but that is not just from Visa Central, it is the process those countries have. If you use Visa Central for other countries, it is fine, expensive, but for us it saves a lot of hassle, we hate being without our passports so this is the quickest way for us. If you travel out of the country a lot like we do, getting visas takes careful planning. You can’t apply for some too early and you have to be sure it doesn’t prevent you traveling elsewhere during the visa process.

Sealord

Virginia Travelers wrote:

Since this is your second K&T with Tauck, can you suggest the best method to obtain the required visas? Is it easiest to use Visa Central?

We got the visas on our own the last time. It was not difficult. Just download the forms, fill them out, provide the docs they want and pictures, and send it off in secure mail with return envelopes. No problem. I looked at visa central thinking it might be easier, but it looks no easier, and costs a lot more.

Karibu

Many countries have started issuing evisas. Kenya is doing this, be sure you book through their website, https://immigration.ecitizen.go.ke. You can do Tanzania old school, through their website and mailing them your passport unless they set up evisas in time for your trip.

Sealord

Virginia Travelers wrote:

Since this is your second K&T with Tauck, can you suggest the best method to obtain the required visas? Is it easiest to use Visa Central?

Since I answered with the reader’s digest version of the AlanS response, which is what I did also, I have tried the eVisa route for Kenya. It may happen that I complete the process, but I will probably go back to the paper method which asks about ten questions, and copies of paper work. The eVisa system asks a ton of questions, the site is very glichy, and the info needed is not accurately described before you begin the process. It took three tries to get as far as the passport photo upload, then I saw in the fine print that the photo can’t be the same one as on your passport. I just renewed my passport as I had extra pictures and had just uploaded one when I saw the fine print. I may persever after getting a new set of photos, but I would recommend using the ‘paper’ system.

You need to call Tauck to get the proper answers to some of the questions, in either case, more-so for the eVisa.

Sealord

Well I actually succeeded in completing the eVisa applicatiion on the fourth try. (Kenya) We will see if it works. I don’t feel real warm and fuzzy about the document “upload”, as I uploaded a number of ‘documents’ and it only showed the last one on the print out. The passport upload and photo upload seemed to work OK. I’ll do my wifes in a day or two then send in the apps for the Tanzania visas, and wait to see how the Kenya thing works out.

Sealord

After suffering a very steep learning curve with my own eVisa, and learning what they really want, which is not clearly specified on the website, I gathered all the required info for my wife’s visa before making any ‘online’ overtures.
You need to pre-scan and upload the ‘title’ page of your passports to your computer in a place where you can find them.
The same with the passport pictures, and the documents such as your Tauck trip contract, airline schedule and itinerary, and I included the part of the Tauck itinerary in Kenya. You need to know the date of arrival and departure. You need to know the names of your parents, easy for you, but if you are doing it for your spouse maybe not so easy. If you’ve been to Kenya before you need to know the dates. You need all of the passport info of course. The contacts are the hotel address, phone number, and email, and you need to know you are entering Kenya at Namanga, Kenya via road.

If you have all of that info sitting by your desk, my second visa request took about 25 minutes. If it all works, probably worth it versus all the mailing involved in getting two visas the old fashioned way. Getting ready to mail off the Tanzania package.

Derek

Regarding Visa(s) for my Tauck Back to Back June 16, 2018 Kenya & Tanzania: A Classic Safari and June 30, 2018 Botswana, South Africa and Zambia Journey, I used the Tauck Visa Central link.

I recommend any novice traveler take advantage of Tauck Visa Central.

Using the Tauck Travelers link I received Tanzania and Kenya Visa applications via email, and added my Malawi Visa application request by telephone.

Although confusing at first, I called Visa Central and they walked me through each visa application.

I did have all of the items listed on the document checklists when I called Visa Central.

I submitted my Visa Applications on March 22, 2018 using the FedEx Overnight shipping label provided by Visa Central. Visa Central responded on March 23rd confirming that my documents were received and provided the time table for processing.

Right on time today my credit card was charged.

When I checked my order status via the Visa Central website it showed my order was being shipped by UPS Next Day Air.

Checking the UPS Tracking website it showed my order had been picked up and will be delivered tomorrow April 27, 2018.

I am now ready to depart my home on Saturday May 26, 2018 for a mission trip to Malawi, Africa, followed by the Tauck Back to Back journey. and returning home on Thursday July 12, 2018. My 48 day epic archetypal heroic quest.

Sealord

I’m sure Visa Central is the right way to go for some folks. I found the Kenya eVisa system a bit challenging, and we will see how it works out. That’s why I started it 90 days out. But, I have done the visas to Africa myself before using paper, and it was not that difficult. I gave the eVisa a go because I don’t like ‘mailing’ the passports if I don’t have to. This reduced one mailing. There’s a bit of paperwork involved, but I think you need to send Visa Central the same information. I have read accounts from some people who had a terrible time with Visa Central over the size and format of the ‘passport pictures. So to each ‘their’ own. I will soon report how the eVisa and paper ‘do it yourself’ program works out. We should have all the visas in about ten days, if I did it correctly. If not, we start over.

In the mean time we got our “Docs” for K&T today. That’s always an exciting event. Getting closer!

Sealord

Got the first of our Kenya eVisas today. I discovered that I could not download and print it using iOS (iPad). I had to use my PC, which worked fine. It took about two days to get issued. My wife’s app was sent in a day or two later cuz she didn’t have pictures yet. Her’s is still ‘pending’.

Delawaretraveler

Sealord wrote:

Got the first of our Kenya eVisas today. I discovered that I could not download and print it using iOS (iPad). I had to use my PC, which worked fine. It took about two days to get issued. My wife’s app was sent in a day or two later cuz she didn’t have pictures yet. Her’s is still ‘pending’.

I looked at the Kenya e-Visa but it appears to be for single entry only. We need a multi entry since we are flying in and out of Nairobi. Even Visacentral indicated that their "Tauck" Visa was single Entry and we would have to use their regular website for multi entry. Anyone have input on this?

Sealord

Delawaretraveler wrote:

I looked at the Kenya e-Visa but it appears to be for single entry only. We need a multi entry since we are flying in and out of Nairobi. Even Visacentral indicated that their "Tauck" Visa was single Entry and we would have to use their regular website for multi entry. Anyone have input on this?

I can testify that the eVisa is single entry ... I have it in my hand, and it states so on their website. It costs $50 and change. The multiple entry visa is available, but acccording to their website you must (or Visa Central) must do it the manual way ... on paper, and it costs $100.

We did the ‘manual’ way last time. The form is certainly a lot shorter. Secure trackable transport of your passports, application, and documents (which do not come back), and payment with a prepaid addressed return envelope of the same kind. In a week to ten days or so your passports will show up with the visa taking one entire previously blank page. Check with your postman, but I think what we use is called Express Mail, it is secure, trackable, and I think it is two day service. Our ‘manual’ Tanzania visa apps and passports should have arrived there today.

Delawaretraveler

Sealord wrote:

I can testify that the eVisa is single entry ... I have it in my hand, and it states so on their website. It costs $50 and change. The multiple entry visa is available, but acccording to their website you must (or Visa Central) must do it the manual way ... on paper, and it costs $100.

We did the ‘manual’ way last time. The form is certainly a lot shorter. Secure trackable transport of your passports, application, and documents (which do not come back), and payment with a prepaid addressed return envelope of the same kind. In a week to ten days or so your passports will show up with the visa taking one entire previously blank page. Check with your postman, but I think what we use is called Express Mail, it is secure, trackable, and I think it is two day service. Our ‘manual’ Tanzania visa apps and passports should have arrived there today.

Thank you for the information. I'm a little embarrassed to say that after I posted the request I checked our air res and realized we are flying into Tanzania so the single entry will be ok.

joycesw

Glad to hear you no longer need to be concerned about the single-entry Visa, so this info is for those who might be reading this and will be flying into Nairobi first, as we did on this trip 5 years ago. If. You wade through all of the visa particulars on the embassy website, you will see a caveat that states that those re-entering Kenya from certain countries ( Tanzania is one of them) only need a single entry visa. At the time we went I had gotten the single entry and then realized we would be re-entering Kenya. I called Tauck and they didn’t know if I needed to get the multiple entry ( by the way, new fee...the $50 could not be applied to the new visa if needed) and referred me to the visa “expert” at the company they were using at the time who did not know either! Got an answer from someone on Trip Advisor and went ahead with the single entry which worked just fine when we re-entered. I do admit to a few nervous moments at the crossing, however! So, your single entry would have been fine.

Sealord

Delawaretraveler wrote:

Thank you for the information. I'm a little embarrassed to say that after I posted the request I checked our air res and realized we are flying into Tanzania so the single entry will be ok.

We were looking at going through Nairobi in order to use miles to fly business class. I decided it wasn’t worth it. We would have to spend the night in Nairobi and then fly out the next day, requiring an additional day of travel and the layover in Nairobi. Been there ... Nairobi is not an easy place to get around. By the way, I did the tracking on our passports using Express Mail. We mailed them Wednesday, and they were delivered to the Tanzania Embassy on Friday.

British

Thanks for the info, we will be going to Kenya for the second time next year so it is good to know we need to provide the dates we were there last time. Getting our visas will be very time sensitive since we will be doing an overseas trip just a few weeks before the Kenya one so can’t start the visa process until we get back for that trip. Visa Central says we need fifteen business days. So we will just have enough time. We will have to be very careful about the quality of our photos, we dont want to find they are deemed not suitable.

Sealord

I think Derek posted above that he also needed a Malawi visa, but the dates posted indicate that Visa Central took more than a month. Using eVisa I got my Kenya visa in three business days, and with any luck I expect to have the Tanzania visa in less than ten. They say it is a ten day processing time, but last time I got it in about a week. I think I saw somewhere that you can pay extra and get it in five days. I will post here the total time the process took for both when I get the Tanzania visas.

Virginia Travelers1

We spent a lot of time looking at the various ways of getting the VISAS. Since we live 20 miles from DC we thought of simply taking our documents to the Embassies but we read that there have been problems with lost passports and other paperwork so we decided on an alternative. We wanted an intermediary even though it would be more expensive and thus looked at Visa Central and a company called CIBT Visas but the online process for both was very confusing so we looked again for alternatives. Simply googled the top 5 VISA and Passport companies and found the top 5. We looked at each one (they all looked very good) and the one that seemed to have the simplest process, the cheapest price, and was close to our home in Virginia was Passport Visa Express. It is very highly rated. We can drop the paperwork off and 8 working days later pick the VISAS up for BOTH countries. The web site is easy to understand as is the process. Good luck.

Derek

Sealord wrote:

I think Derek posted above that he also needed a Malawi visa, but the dates posted indicate that Visa Central took more than a month. Using eVisa I got my Kenya visa in three business days, and with any luck I expect to have the Tanzania visa in less than ten. They say it is a ten day processing time, but last time I got it in about a week. I think I saw somewhere that you can pay extra and get it in five days. I will post here the total time the process took for both when I get the Tanzania visas.

To clarify the length of time for my visa(s) as mentioned by Sealord, I have listed the key dates for everyone’s information.

Day 1 - Tuesday March 22nd: Documents Shipped via VisaCentral FedEx Label
Day 2 - Friday March 23rd: Documents Received at VisaCentral
Day 5 - Monday March 26th: Tanzania Visa Application Submitted to Embassy
Day 13 - Tuesday April 3rd: Tanzania Visa Received from Embassy
Day 13 - Tuesday April 3rd: Malawi Visa Application Submitted to Embassy
Day 19 - Monday April 9th: Malawi Visa Received from Embassy

Day 19 - Monday April 9th: Kenya EVisa Application Scheduled for Submission on April 23rd due to restriction of applying no more than 60 days prior to the date of entry (Namanga on June 21st)

Day 33 - Monday April 23rd: Kenya EVisa Application Submitted to Embassy
Day 36 - Thursday April 26th: Kenya EVisa Application Received from Embassy
Day 36 - Thursday April 26th: Documents Shipped by VisaCentral via UPS
Day 37 - Friday April 27th: Documents Received

I submitted my documents early and requested they be delivered no later than May 15th knowing that only one visa application could be submitted at a time.

I was very pleased and satisfied with the support and assistance of VisaCentral and highly recommend them for the novice international traveler. I appreciate that Tauck makes this service available to their travelers.

Sealord

Thanks for the update. But you did have my fingers flying through the internet with some concern due to your “60” day issue. I have my Kenya visas and I’m not getting there until July 19. So I did confirm that the Kenya visa is valid for ‘three’ months. And when you enter they may authorize a stay for up to another 90 days.

http://evisa.go.ke/single-entry-visa.html

Sealord

The credit card charge for our Tanzania visas showed up today, so I’m guessing they processed the visas yesterday (Friday) cuz the embassy is closed on Saturday and Sunday. They received the passports the previous Friday so it looks like a one week ‘processing’ time. Now, if they sealed the envelope (a post online about a case where they did not) and the post office does their Express Mail thing correctly, we should receive the passports Monday, or Tuesday.