visas

documents allowings travel between countries

Lost My Hat On the Way Back To Balat

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The colorfully decorated street that I am living on now, again in the Balat neighborhood of Fatih, Istanbul, my third visit to Turkey

I’m back in Balat, my favorite neighborhood in Istanbul, biding time and getting some work done in advance of the Rolf Potts Travel Writing Workshop I’m attending July 30-Aug. 4 in Paris.

The Flixbus trip from Sofia, Bulgaria, to here was eventful.

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Here’s Why You Don’t Want A Zim/Zam Univisa

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This section of the Zambesi River below Victoria Falls, one of the world’s most spectacular waterfalls, is known as Boiling Pots for its roiling surface. Zimbabwe is on the right, Zambia is on left; midway across the Zambesi lies the border between the two countries. Spanning the gorge above is Victoria Falls Bridge.

I was going to Zimbabwe to visit a friend and wanted to spend some time as well in neighboring Zambia.

The two South African countries share the Zambesi River as their border where the mighty Victoria Falls unleashes its power.

I thought that a visa allowing free, unlimited border crossings for 30 days would be ideal. It was available on arrival at Zimbabwe’s Harare International Airport for 50 USD, just 20 USD more than the 30-day visa for Zimbabwe only.

I thought it would be neat to go back and forth enjoying benefits of both sides of the falls in the towns of Livingstone, Zambia, and Victoria Falls on the Zimbabwe side.

But there was a big snag in the plan that didn’t occur to me until too late.

Covid tests.

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