Hans-Georg Michna wrote in message . ..
(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