I would like to know the opinion of others who have travelled through Johannesburg's International airport O.R.Tambo during the last year.

Comments welcome

Question:
What sort of a wait did you have for you luggage?

Choices:
Normal and as expected
Waited for over an hour
My luggage was lost in transit
Still waiting for it

Question:
Once you have collected your luggage and you proceeded through to customs your experience with customs was:

Choices:
An Efficient system, polite staff with smiles, helpful
It was Customs, not much to write home about
Rude, abnoxious officials, full of it,
Other

Question:
After the whole process you land up leaving arrivals terminal and from there you head to the SAPS office to collect your firearms. Where you:

Choices:
Meet a representitive who has arranged pre issue import permits and wait for the firearms to arrive
Start filing out the SAPS 520 form yourself
Have no idea on what to do

Question:
Your experience at the SAPS office was:

Choices:
A breeze, my permits were waiting for me
Not too bad, filled out the forms but it was a lengthy process, SAPS staff were helpful
A nightmare, I did not know what to fill in and the SAPS staff could not assist due to high volumes,etc
Other

Question:
Time at spent at the SAPS office waiting for the whole process:

Choices:
20 minutes, only waited for the firearms
40 minutes, firearms took forever to arrive
90 minutes, had to fill in SAPS 520 form first
120 minutes, SAPS office was a nightmare
More

Question:
Your total time from landing to getting into the shuttle departing for your accomodation was:

Choices:
less than 1 hour
less than 2 hours
less than 3 hours
less than 4 hours
more

 

I could not complete the poll because I have never taken a gun to RSA. In the six trips I have made previously I have always taken just my bows.I have found it more tiresome on the way home than on the way out. This trip I will be packing rifles so maybe it will be different.

I replied "lost luggage" but in truth only half of my luggage was lost. One bag ended up in the Virgin Islands, screwed up in Atlanta I presume.

Your first stop on entry to RSA at Customs/Immigration is the slow part. Last year it took about an hour. We used a service that met us after that and it all went about as fast as we could walk. Our luggage had been retrieved and our guns were already in the SAPS office. No problems at all.

Mark

we too used a service and i think we were out of the airport in something like 10 minutes

I just hunted there last month, I didn't use any hunters support either, Also was my first time over...I never had any problems, I was out of there in around 30 minutes with rifle in hand.I didn't even have my SAPS forms filled out, I filled it out there when I arrived, I guess having a good Safari outfitter helps too...Chuck

I have done the paperwork myself and also had my outfitter do the paperwork ahead of time. I have been fortunate every time heading into SA. The whole process from customs to walking to the car to leave has been less then an hour.

Our Safari was at the ending part of April 2008. When we arrived at Tambo everything went smoothly from the passport control all the way to picking up of our rifles. We were out of the airport in no time. It pays to have a good booking agency such as "Gracys Travel" (U.S.A.) who handled the travel portion and using the services of VIP Meet and Assist to handle the permits for the rifles. We stayed at the Afton House with Louis Bekker & his wonderful wife Annelise. Louis who is the owner of Afton House met us at the airport and took us to his home (bed & breakfast). Based on reports we received earlier, we were informed that there have been problems (crimes) in the Tambo area recently. We spent a few nites in the Kempton area (near airport) and wen sight seeing, later continued on our journey to our hunting destination. Again, a representative from the Afton house delivered us to Tambo airport where we were met by "Bruce" (representative of Gracy's Travel & Afton house) who helped us with our luggage and helping us get around the airport. We felt safe and comfortable throughout the process, actually it was very pleasant.

Two weeks later, after the conclusion of our Safari we arrived at Tambo airport again, this time via South African Air. Our connecting flight ( two hours) back to the USA was on Delta. Again, we were met by "Bruce" who helped us with our luggage and took us directly to the Delta Counter. If we did not have him, we would have been in big trouble, there is a lot of new construction going on at the airport. Again, everything went smoothly. For those of you who will be going on Safari and passing through Tambo, may you have a pleasant experience as I did.

Better yet, contact Gracy's Travel (gracytravel.com) and speak to Annelise who just happens to be the daughter of Louis and Annelise Becker of the Afton House in South Africa. She'll set everything up for you and you won't have any problems. Great people.

Now I have to modify my poll comments. My baggage arrived in a hurry and as expected, customs was a non-happening, BUT, my rifles and those of one of my partners did not make it onto the plane at Dulles. Luckily, I had paid my dues to Air 2000, and their person earned his pay, solving the missing rifle situation for both of us, and of course, Air 2000 already had my firearms paperwork completed and approved. As it played out, we piled into the truck for the ride to the Limpopo with the promise that our rifles were on the next plane out of Dulles, and would be delivered to us. Sure enough, the rifles arrived at the camp two days later. My case, hard aluminum and a TSA lock, came thru perfectly, but my partner's had been forced and someone had messed with the scope on his M-70 7x57mm resulting in a lot of field repair. Where this happened we have no idea, but I suspect in Washington, DC.

The upshot of this all is that we had no problems developing attributable to O.R. Tambo. The people there were polite and supportive, but I am concerned about Dulles. I also strongly recommend using a "meet and greet" service at O.R. Tambo, after the excellent service they gave us when it was really needed. I very nearly did not contact Air 2000, since we had slipped so easily thru customs on my first safari in 2004. Thank goodness I spent the money, and I will spend it again for our 2010 safari!
LLS