I have nothing to add other than to let you know this was a great read and an inspirational story. Please keep this updated if you can, I'm sure many would appreciate it. I wish you continued success.

Be careful with the women. 5.6 percent HIV rate in the country. That's the average. The number for females is higher at 6.2 percent.

Thanks! Yeah it took me a lot of consideration before actually picking up my life and moving out here. I had made a thread about whether I should under my previous name for this thread. Even when I decided to do it, I still had stalled for a while because letting go of poker income was hard back then. Ran kind of good though as far as the timing since it wasn't long after I stopped playing full time that BF happened.

I actually think the last time I checked, the HIV rate for black women in DC where I was from was even higher... so not much lost on that front either. But yeah, definitely always play it safe when it comes to that.

Thanks- I think it was more so a function of supply/demand though instead of me selling the hotels on the idea. The nicest hotels in the country are serving the same ice cream on the menu that you find at a local super market.

very interesting.

im curious what the level of corruption is like? Have people tried to shake you down anywhere, wont issue permits until you pay up?

Excellent update, glad to see everything is going well.

Would you say being an African American is a big help out there vs being Caucasian? Is there a social stigma with Western investors being seen as profiteers or are they welcomed?

Great update OP.

Wonderful update, OP! Thanks for coming back and letting us know what has happened. Very glad to hear how well things have gone for you and how successful you have been.

incredible thread. vwp start to finish OP, couldn't believe when people were trying to tell you not to go for it. link to hotel? I'm coming to to visit one day

Awesome thread. Keep updating it every few months!

Yeah, without going into grave detail this is basically a default expected part of doing business out here. Any business you start out here you will basically have different people in different government agencies who will look into who is involved with the project, how connected they are, and if there's any value in going and doing a shakedown for money. Getting licenses and permits it is standard for every department or person in an influential position to expect compensation somehow. There's even a nickname out here for it called "fast tracking" where people basically have a line item where they already know what it will cost to have things processed.

For the hotel this slowed us down in lots of ways enormously since we are an American company and can't get involved in bribery of any kind obviously. For the Tanzanian people out here doing business though, when you talk to them they describe it as a non-issue since the bribes they end up paying are small so everything goes smoothly. For the hotel we had a few people in low level positions slow us down not wanting to issue permits or process applications but we were connected enough to be able to go up the chain and get things done without needing to bribe anyone. Often times it may even just be someone not wanting to pass an application on because they're waiting on some kind of $20 bribe.

I don't really have a big enough sample size to say for sure but based on the interactions I've had it does seem (be it right or wrong) Tanzanian people take more kindly to African Americans here doing business because they just identify more with them. In my experience it seems they really look up to and sort of idolize African American culture and the African Americans here for business, so they are more supportive to them as opposed to Asians, Caucasians, and Indians out here. I'm not sure in what ways that difference may have materialized for us/me though, if at all.

Yeah, I definitely don't want to be results oriented though. I've went back and re-read the earlier parts of thread and still maintain that it mostly came down to the read, trust, and faith I had in my uncle. Even if it ended up or does end up failing, I felt that the amount I was risking was good value for the experience, opportunity, and potential return (and in hindsight, the lifestyle changes that I place a lot of value on). Others may disagree, which is fine.

Here's a couple links:
http://www.booking.com/hotel/tz/nash...FQYl4godk2wAsw

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...ro_Region.html

+1. OP should not invest, unless he really knows the uncle is the real deal. But it is hard to be objective about family members. So most of the time the neutral should be critical to balance out the natural inclination of someone in that situation to want to invest.

Cool, thx for the links .
Is there any reason why you think hiring pro photographer is not worth it? IMHO, those pictures are pretty bad overall.

OP,

Awesome thread.

Yeah, I agree they are not nearly as good as they could be. I'm not involved in the day to day operations/management at the moment but I can definitely pass the word on. I do know most of our business comes largely from word of mouth, events, and having built a following/reputation as opposed to online bookings or a strong internet presence, so perhaps they haven't made it a big priority yet.

Came across this article randomly and figured it was sort of relevant to thread since it matches a lot of the sentiment my uncle had for being bullish on Tanzania as far as an emerging market and strong growing middle class: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0...al-estate.html

bump for gelato update!!

Awesome thread.