And on the Fourth Try…I Picked up my Package

Steve Gore is a wonder. Steve and I have kept up since our time at Duke, comparing notes on international travels. Steve has found that great professional combo of consulting + travel to cool places – apparently, it’s called “knowing how to navigate your career at Accenture”.

Steve was working for a stint in Nairobi and let me know that he had decided to test the fates of the Kenya to Tanzania mail system by sending me something to the P.O. Box Address of TechnoServe. And here’s where the saga begins.

There is no residential mail system in Tanzania. This is largely in part because there are no addresses for houses. Most people know their home in relation to something else. For example, I tell taxis that my new, temporary address is “near Key West Club” – it’s not really but that’s the best I have for a starting point. As a result, people do not --- nor can not --- send things via mail.

Instead, all mail for the entire city of Dar is filtered through a central location – with 6 blocks of P.O. boxes. If you have a business, you have a P.O. box. The keys to open each box are old-school. In order to pick up a package, you have to have an ID card that states you are authorized to pick up a package – and the person to whom it is addressed has to physically appear in the office.

Here’s the run down of attempts. At least it had a happy ending.

Attempt 1: Arrived to the mail central distribution place – it’s a cacophony of people moving, talking, and also trying to figure out the mail system. We went to the TechnoServe PO box, found the slip to pick up the package. However, we were denied the package because we did not have – nor know we needed – the illustrious ID card.

Attempt 2: Turns out the ID card needed in the first place was actually at the office and had expired. Someone at TechnoServe had to go to another government-related office to get a new one, which requires spending a half-day waiting in line.

Attempt 3: I could either get my immigration Class C visa or return to the mail center to get my package. I chose the Class C since my tourist visa runs out soon. This was good b/c the package slip had to be signed anyways by the office manager who mentioned that her signature was needed only in passing after Attempt 3. I would have been stymied regardless of efforts to get the package this time.

Attempt 4: Arrived to the mail center of chaos and entered in the package office with high hopes and proper paperwork. On a single bookshelf, there lay all packages coming into Dar. I don’t think there was a morning pick-up already – I am pretty confident that no one mails anything. However, success! After some stamping, some identification checking, and general confusion despite there only being one shelf of packages to investigate, I left with package in hand.

The contents? A bag of Starburst from the United States. Amazing!

While I would recommend no one else to try the mail services (even DHL, who operates on motorbikes, seems to face impediments to delivery) – I was glad to see how that worked – and now I have this to enjoy! Thank you!