buktalare

Has anyone had issues with travelling on multiple passports. Im considering flying into KGL in Rwanda and since im dual nationality i can get a reciprocal visa for Rwanda. However, once i get to Tanzania i have to pay for a visa. No issues i hope.

Flying back into Sydney they took offence at the fact that i was flying on multiple passports depending on which queue was shorter or which one i didnt have to pay visas for.

JDiver

Travelling with multiple passports can make travel easier - particularly in cases where you are about to visit a country that charges a reciprocity fee, etc. for possessors of one of your passports but not the other, if you have an "undesirable" visa (Israel in the Middle East, recent visa from anywhere presumed to have yellow fever, etc.) in one, tender the other.

But - you may be forced to use one or the other, in some circumstances - US (or South African) citizens who are also citizens of other nations are, iirc, required to depart and return the US (or South Africa) with the US (RSA/ZA) passport. You probably will have to arrive and depart with the same passport for immigration control (visas, entry and departure stamps, etc.)

A somewhat helpful site is this one, provided by IATA through Delta Airlines.

It also shows why airlines are so nitpicky about checking our documents:

"Non-compliance with entry regulations will result in fines
for passengers and refusal of entry. Transporting carrier
will be fined ZAR 10,000.- and delays are involved."

and references what I addressed above (as well as minors, passport validity requirements, etc.)

E.g. :Nationals of South Africa holding dual nationality are
required to enter and leave South Africa using their South
African passport."

Disco Volante

This is not really the case. It depends on what time of year you go, where you go, and whether you go with a decent guide or in a Toyota minibus with a driver who doesn't care what you see and makes up the name of the animals. Kenya slightly edges it for me, because of the greater range of accommodation and safaris available, particularly the growth of private homestead safarisbut it is not a sensible comparison because each park is different and they are all fascinating. The answer is to go to both Tanzania and Kenya!

JDiver

Agreed! With you and johan rebel.

Serengeti - at the right times of year - is fabulous, and there are many other parks within Tanzania that are very worthwhile and unique (like Ngorongoro Crater, though I much preferred it when we could - and did - camp in the Crater.)

OTOH, Kenya has more range perhaps - from the Northern Frontier District with Grevy's Zebra, Beisa Oryx, Reticulated Giraffe etc. to the Kakamega Forest in western Kenya, to southern Kenya where most tourists go, and a number of excellent private reserves. And both have highlands, with Mt. Kenya / Aberdares and Mt. Kilimanjaro. Not to mention soda lakes, grasslands, coastlands and islands, well... By far, do both! And repeatedly - you can not exhaustibly see either country in two weeks (or two months I can guarantee that. (Then again, I am the kind of guy who can enjoy a day of observing the antics of a colony of Kenya Naked Mole Rats in Tsavo West... where very few tourists are seen.)

(As to weirdest border crossings, I can say - now - some mates and I swam Lake Chala from Kenya to Tanzania and back one day, with no visas... Don't do this at home, folks - I am older and wiser, and whether they were sleeping or it's due to global warming, Lake Chala apparently does have resident crocodiles - witness the young British lady killed by one there in 2002.)

ffmhoarder

Jdiver - Recall good'ol compuserve with numbers for id's. and DOS for Sabre.

There seem to be a wealth of info here. Any thoughts from all about visiting in a combined tripEast Africa (Kenya, Tanz). and South Africa (Namibia, SA, Zambia, Bots)?

Seems such different climates, and many pros and cons but is there a good time to balance weather with game viewing? Any personal experiences out there?

THanks

JDiver

Good grief, a voice from the past! Indeed, I was an Assistant Sysop on the CIS Travel Forum, moderated on GEnie and... I miss Sabre!

The main thing about any part of Africa is the rains - the dry season makes it easier to travel, and the game tend to concentrate a bit more around the waterholes and boreholes.

Tell us a bit more about what you'd like to see, and what style you prefer - there's everything from fly-in luxe safaris to more traditional vehicle / camping safaris in all. And a;l budget ranges, as well - oh, and how much time would you want to devote?

Cheers, 74652,1203