I know without filling out paperwork the limit is $10,000 per person. However, can a 14 year old carry $10,000 as well?

The amount you can bring into a country without additional paperwork depends on the country you are entering. I believe South Africa is actually 20,000USD. I can't comment on other countries in Africa.

Colin

Colin:

I'm referring to how much you can take OUT of the US and if there is any age limit involved. Thanks.

Assuming you are doing this for a hunt. why wouldn't you make arrangements to pay the majority of that before you leave and just take $5000 or so?

Just curious. I would be mighty uncomfortable carrying $20,000 cash. Half of which is with a 14 year old.

The last three hunts we have simply wired the money in advance and then brought money for tips and incidentals. We square up on any over-charges or under-charges based on the actual trophy fees when we return home. That means you are carrying an amount more akin to what Wendell suggests -- which is enough to make me uncomfortable, much less how uncomfortable I would be with $20K on me.

I take Qty 15-20 $1000 traveler checks. If you are a AAA member they are free. Then I take a $1000 in cash.

A PH friend in Zim told me last year he had two Italian clients come in carry cash for an Elephant and Buffalo hunt. They put on the SA visa form how much money they were carrying. Although the PH did not disclose the amount they were promptly robed just outside JoBerg airport. Personally I would never carry large sums of cash and never never put the real amount on the visa form if you are. Officials with cell phones can make a quick call to their crooked friends when they see how much you have and you are a target for a robery.

If you are taking more than $10000 out of the U.S., you must register form FinCen 105 with Customs
(see Taking money out of the U.S.).

The form (see FinCen 105) does not state any requirement that the person removing the money from the U.S. be an adult, so I'd say your 14 year-old can do so once he fills out the form.

George

You might call Customs and Border Protection and ask them. From their web page, it just shows teh limit as $10,000 per person unless you declare the excesss. The undeclared amount is subject to seizure...

Do not rely on my post, get your own comfort as you do not want to get crosswise with Customs or have the cash seized.

I am with the majority on this in that I prefer to pay as much as possible to a trustworthy source just before the hunt (daily rates adn antipated trophy fees) and carry the minimum of cash (tips, VISA fees, extra for incidentals). Small comfort if your cash ends up in Equitorial Guinea and your hunt is cancelled, so there are times when a good booking agent or a safari company with a US account can be a big plus. And yes, I know you did not ask for this advice.

Edit: George beat me to it with a better link. I need to work on my typing speed.

Gatogordo

As others have suggested I would just pre pay by wire with your safari operator or your booking agent. These days I would only leave the country with pocket money and tips.

Mark

Gato: Ain't it interesting how everybody is full of answers to a question you didn't ask?

Here's what I found on the Customs website: http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/newsroom/publicatio...rrency_reporting.pdf

It does not address whether your 14 year-old is treated as a separate individual, but it is clear that if you need to carry more than $10,000 that you simply report that on a form. I'm sure that if you spend long enough on at www.customs.gov you can find the direct answer to your question about a person who is not of majority age. But think of it like this: If he were traveling alone, wouldn't it be logical that he could carry whatever cash he needed? Should this be different simply because he is being accompanied by an adult? My guess is that if a question arose (which would only come about due to a random inspection -- one out of 9100 passenger according to a Treasury IG report I found), then there might be some questions asked, but you are technically in compliance and lacking any suspicious connections you would likely not be delayed. But then, who wants to try to outguess the incompetence of the bureaucracy these days?

I'm sure you know how to wire money overseas, but there may be significant advantages in paying for your trip in cash, which should be your privilege.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
Gato: Ain't it interesting how everybody is full of answers to a question you didn't ask?

. . . sometimes the best answer is to the question that should have been asked.

Keeping your life savings in a pillow case is "your privilege" but does not mean that it makes sense.

Most of my clients pay me in advance for daily rate and expected trophy fees and I deposit the daily rate in the PHs account and keep the trophy fee money in the USA in my bank, at the end of the hunt my PHs contact me and I put that amount in their bank account..If money is not used the clients calls me when he gets home and gives me banking instructions for what he has left..

Sometimes I send it all to the PH and at the end of the hunt forwards me left over money or gives it to the client to carry home..Lots of ways to handle that kind of money.

I would never suggest anyone carry those large amounts of money in a 3rd world or in most large cities in the USA...I would never allow my 14 year old grandson to carry that much money, he could get killed over that kind of cash..I have carried large amounts of money overseas on many ocassions but its just not smart to do so. Ask Ted Blackburn.

Thanks for all the advice and the few answers. I'll check with customs when I register or whatever its called the guns for re-import, another quaint custom that customs has come up with that pisses me off no end, but I'm in Rome, so to speak.

I have pre-paid for a majority of the potential charges, but without going into all the details there are thousands of dollars that can be more or less than I expect and no real way to pre-quantify them. I've carried large amounts of cash on and off for years. In this case the majority would probably be in Traveler's checks which I can change into local money in Namibia. I haven't done an exact estimate of potential extra charges and it probably won't be $20,000 but I'm pretty sure it COULD be over $10,000. It doesn't make me uncomfortable and paying in advance more than I have to does. What if I don't like the way things are going and say,
"I'm outta here", a circumstance which is not beyond the pale of reason? How easy do you think it would be to recover monies depositied with the person/outfit you're having trouble with? I guess it isn't as obvious as I thought it would be but as soon as we're wheels up DFW, I would take charge of the cash. As far as pre-paying goes, what if the booking agent dies while you're overseas? Does he have an escrow account? Most don't. It might or it might not be easy to recover your funds. I'm not trying to offend any of the numerous fine agents on this thread or this forum, but right or wrong, I'll choose to handle my money most of the time instead of leaving it with a third party.

Be advised you may be asked to declare how much currency you have when entering an African country. A while back there were reports that passengers debarking in S. Africa were being relieved of cash according to how much they listed.

Before I get accused of being alarmist I will try to dig the report up.

Here's one.

I am sure that has all been cleared up.

I realize prepaying is taking a risk and weigh that with other risks of the trip.

Most importantly -- have a good time.

Charles:

Lying to foreign customs is second nature to me. As far as I'm concerned all customs, ours or anyone else's, are a restraint on free trade. Personally I've never seen a normal looking tourist type that didn't light up the dope dogs strip searched entering any foreign country, it could and does happen (probably more in the US than anywhere else) but I haven't seen it. While I'm sure many posters on here have traveled much more extensively than I have, I've been through dozens and dozens of foreign customs, sometimes as clean as a newborn baby, sometimes not quite so innocent, so far, so good.

The most nervous I ever was, was not for me but for a buddy, he was in a rush trying to make the flight and neglected to declare his two guns boarding a BA flight in Jo'burg for London, transiting to the US. He strolled through the customs in London carrying his rifle and shotgun case like he owned the place (we respectfully walked about 50 feet behind him, pretending we didn't know him, so we could get him a lawyer) and we all arrrived back home without any problems, but I could see him spending some serious time in the Old Bailey.

When I've got some more time I'll tell the true tale of going through Mexican customs with giant SUITCASES full of shotgun shells (limit then was 100 rounds) in the back of my truck for a dove hunt. We "mordita-ed" them for 4 cases but had about 15 or so. No big deal, but the totality of the circumstances made it hilarious AFTER the fact. Good hunt, too.

Since everyone else is answering questions you did not ask, I will throw in my unwanted $.02 worth. Leave the big bucks at home.

On my Tanzania adventure I paid everything except the trophy fees to the Agent. When I returned home I paid the balance to him. I carried only enough for gratuities and travel expenses. My Visa worked well at the Sea Cliff.

In SA, I paid the Agent in the US for everything, including trophy fees. Our agreement was that if I shot anything else I would wire the Outfitter when I returned home. On this trip I also carried only gratuity and travel $$. Visa also worked well in SA......