My friend and I are in the process of booking a hunt with Gras Ranch next March. We've never done anything like this before. Can anyone point us in the right direction regarding the transportation of firearms and trophies? In short, we're pretty much clueless and would appreciate all the helpful advice offered.

Bobby B.

If you book thru Wendell, he represents Gras, he will likely send you to Gracy Travel, or just google them up....I was entirely satisfied with their service and advice. Don't have a clue on trophies to Canada

Trophies to Canada is easy. Safari Cargo has a regular broker in Edmonton.I don't think Gracy takes Canadian clients but could be wrong about that.Rifles on airlines are no big deal, I don't know anything about Nambia gun permits.

I would contact Wendell at Hunter's Quest.

For trophy shipping you might want to consider Pam Foerster in Namibia:

Contact Pam Foerster
International Air Cargo Services
PO Box 80099, Olympia, Windhoek, Namibia
Tel: (++264 61) 255333
Fax: (++264 61) 230700
Cell: (++264 81) 240 9578
e-mail: pam-iacs@mweb.com.na

Gun process to Namibia is simple. Just need to fill out form with gun info on arrival.

Bobby,

For travel arrangemnts use a local travel agent as US agents can't book when travel starts in a forien country. Make sure you avoid going through US as its a real PIA. Also make sure sure if you have CITES App I animals that you avoid them transiting the US, as some people have had problems with US cutoms seizing them. I use Mills travel (Luana) in Red Deer for my African trips and she works hard to get the best deals. You will also need to get a Canadian Export permit for guns, ammo and scopes.
Check out this link on getting your export certificate from when I went through it last year. Export Permit
As for getting trophies, I am not familiar with getting them from Namibia but from TZ I do it myself. I am currently going through this now with my 07 Trophies. The Canadian CITES works differnet than US in that if you have CITES App I animals you get a copy of the Hunting register, Hunting permit and CITES Export permit before you apply for the Canadian one. Canadian CITES Permits

Pm me if you have any more questions

BobbyB,

Good stuff posted here. You are likely to want to go Canada-Frankfurt-Windhoek, connecting to Air Namibia in Frankfurt for its direct flight to Windhoek. Doing that would obviate the delay transitting Johannesburg. BUT, you must have your travel agent ensure that your air carrier from Canada has a baggage agreement with Air Namibia so that your rifles and suitcases are seamlessly transferred onto the Air Namibia flight.

Temporary firearms import permits in Namibia are easily obtained. Wait at the firearms Police desk/window in the baggage area at the Windhoek airport, fill out the application form and the officer will check serial numbers (rarely ammo) and give you a permit. He may or may not hit you up for a donation to his favorite soccer team. Giving a little bit is up to you.

Regards, Tim

Canuck32

I don't know where the notion that American travel agents can't book Canadian travellers comes from. I used Gracy Travel to book travel arrangements from Calgary to Windhoek via Heathrow and Frankfurt last August. My trip unfolded flawlessly, and I strongly recommend Gracy for hunting travel arrangements.

Also, Canadians travelling internationally with firearms require an export permit from the Canadian government. Check out

http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/eicb/military/faq-en.asp

You can find the Namibian gun permit form at the website of the Namibia Professional Hunters Association. Download it and fill it out before hand as the little gun room where the Namibian Police operate can be very crowded. Having the form filled out in advance may save you a half-hour in getting your gun out of the baggage room. The agents there seemed very straighforward. Offering them a bribe might be a good way to start your hunt on a bad note.

You will also find a great deal of useful information on the NAPHA website about hunting regulations, game scoring, etc. The Gras is a reputable outfit and it is unlikely you'll have any difficulties with them, but NAPHA also is a great resource if your outfitter does not perform appropriately. It's a good idea to carry the phone number of the NAPHA ombudsman with you.

By the way, I hunted a farm very close to the Gras last June and found the game and the hunting to meet and exceed every expectation. Southern Namibia is dry and open country, so be prepared for longer shots than you might be taking in the north.

Something to be aware of -- March will be a rather warm month in Southern Namibia (think September in northern Mexico). It is also right at the end of the rainy season. I would prefer to hunt a little later, but if March is when you need to go you'll probably do just fine (as a bonus, airfares will likley be lower than May-September). Maybe someone who has been in March can chime in here with their experience.

Dogleg, can you post contact info for Safari Cargo?? Thanks!

I used Gracy Travel to book my Namibian airfare for this August.

I'm flying Toronto/Amsterdam/Frankfurt/Windhoek, and reverse. This necessitated getting a firearms transit permit from the Amsterdam authorities (which arrived by fax yesterday), as well as a Canadian export permit (which took several "dry runs" to get through on the website, because it won't let you save your application, so you have to start from scratch if you're missing any of the information.)

Namibia permit you get upon landing.

So far, everything seems to be ticking into place - aside from the absolute run-around that we got from Passport Canada because my wife and her ex-husband don't have a custody agreement for their kids. Passport Canada doesn't understand that just because they stopped being married, they didn't stop being parents. There is no custody agreement in place, because they didn't need a court to explain their responsibilities to them.

The passport application says "Is there a custody agreement in place for the children? If yes, attach a copy." We checked "No",and thought that was the end of it. Instead, the imbeciles at PC sent back the applications without telling us why, and when I went to the passport office they wouldn't let me submit the applications for the kids because I'm not a custodial parent. So my wife had to take time off work to go in and file a paper with PC telling them that there is no custody agreement, which is why she didn't attach a copy of the non-existent custody agreement!!!!!

quote:

I used Gracy Travel to book my Namibian airfare for this August.

Interesting. They turned me down flat when I inquired about my 2006 trip to Tanzania.

Wannabebwana,

mark <mark@safaricargo.co.za> There are plenty of cargo outfits, but I know these guys have a regular broker in Edmonton. I wish I would have known that a couple months ago with my trophies landed in Calgary and I live in Saskatoon.

Mark Hubbard
Safari Cargo Systems
Johannesburg
South Africa
Tel: +2711 979 3770
Fax +2711 396 1061
Cell +2783 327 3375

I have generally been able to find a better airline travel deal on the internet than has been offered to me by Gracey, Cape to Cairo, or any of the other "safari" travel agents. For this year, I found a fare with United/SAA at economytravel.com that beat the agent by a couple hundred. A client of mine (AR member) has also had the same experience, but he used http://www.flycheapabroad.com/

Having said that, I note that the original post was not asking for airline booking advice. The simple answer to the original post is to speak directly with the people at Gras and they should be able to answer all the Namibia side questions. As for the Canada side, Canuck has the inside scoop. There is no point whatsoever in contacting a US-based travel agent or booking agent.