Hans-Georg Michna wrote in message news:...
> ese002@news9.exile.org (Eric Edwards) wrote:
>
> >On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 20:03:39 +0100, Liz wrote:
>
> >>I don't think any small packages I've sent there have arrived, though, so I
> >>wouldn't send any more.
>
> >Interesting. I didn't have any such trouble sending from Africa.
> >(Never tried sending to Africa) I sent 2 packages home from
> >Dar Es Salaam on different days. Both arrived in the US in about 4
> >weeks. I also shipped from Livingstone, Zambia. No problem there
> >either. Granted, I didn't ship to the UK, but I would expect that to be
> >more reliable, not less. All packages were sent air mail.
> >
> >Sea mail can be entertaining. Three months from Cape Town to the US.
>
> Eric,
>
> you can't draw very firm conclusions from just a few local
> observations. Generally the mail systems in Africa are
> unreliable. We just have to take that. We cannot recommend to
> send anything that's really important, because there's always a
> risk that it gets lost or, more likely, stolen, particularly
> anything thicker than a postcard or a one page letter.
>
> Of course most postcards, many letters, and quite a few parcels
> do get through. Sometimes it takes long, sometimes it takes very
> long, and the rest arrives never.
>
> Hans-Georg
Having lived in Arusha for many years and now Nairobi, I can assure
you this is a topic of frustration to all that live here. I got a
letter in Arusha in 1999 that started with thanking me for attending a
recent meeting. Confused, I looked at the postmark and it was 1991.
I then recalled the meeting I had attened. And the sad thing is, this
letter was mailed to me in Arusha from Arusha!
One the other hand, you do get the odd surprise. A few weeks ago, I
got a parcel address to me at my business from someone I had never
heard of. Inside was 50 Bibles. No note, no reason for sending them
(perhaps they thought I had to be saved). I gave them to Shangalia
Mtoto wa Africa, a centre for street children rehabilitation that does
great work.
Gary |