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How do you carry your cash/traveler's checks in Africa?
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Divide it up between a neck carrier, your wallet and a belt carrier.

It is best if you do not have to carry a lot of money.

But sometimes the safari company may need some CASH.


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Posts: 16134 | Location: Texas | Registered: 06 April 2002Reply With Quote
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I have noticed a couple of Outfitters charge a 3% premium if you use travelers checks. Last trip I made I carried 30K Us in cash. Filed out the personal forms for such an amount and filed properly. At checkin inspection I asked for a private inspection to keep from flashing such a large amount and had no problems with any of it. Had no way to prepay any amount and didn't want the outfitter to be penalized by having to accept the Govt exchange rate in Zimbabwe if he cashed or deposited Travelers checks. They have a hard enough time making ends meet as it is. 30K in 100's is about the size of a brick so I just put it in my camera case and held on tight. I carry a big case with lots of equipment so no real trouble. Not the most comfortable thing to do but have not found any real answer to the problem if you can't arrange a wire transfer easily and in Zim you still had the exchange problem, have no idea what you do now.


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Posts: 2786 | Location: Green Valley,Az | Registered: 04 January 2005Reply With Quote
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No they don't, at least not all of them. I just got back from Namibia this past Saturday. Two days before leaving for the trip, I went to two different AMEX travel centers to buy $1,000 traveler's checks. Both AMEX travel centers said that AMEX no longer issues the $1,000 traveler's checks in the U.S. They said $1,000's were available in Europe and I think Asia. I bought the $500's instead.



My bank special ordered the $1,000 denomination travelers checks for me this past May. Only took them a few days to get them delivered to the branch.


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Posts: 2347 | Location: Pennsylvania | Registered: 07 January 2005Reply With Quote
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I don't, period. I used to be as nervous as a cat when I carried large amounts of money on hunts. In this day and age, with computers and wire transfers, there is no good reason to have to carry large sums of money on trips. Any operator that is catering to US clients needs to have means to receive money from his US clients other than "cash on the barrelhead."

IMHO.


Will J. Parks, III
 
Posts: 2989 | Location: Alabama USA | Registered: 09 July 2009Reply With Quote
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I can understand a surcharge on credit cards, but not travelers cheques. That was the preferred payment option when I went in 2008. We had to special order them, but our bank got them for us in or requested denominations in$50, $100, $250, $500, $1000, and $5000. If the bank told me they can't order them I would be calling the corporate offices to find out if they can't or if the branch manager is just being lazy.


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Posts: 636 | Location: North Texas | Registered: 26 May 2009Reply With Quote
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(north face) make a shirt with i nice pocket zippered behind the breast pocket that. it's hard to detect and it works great for carrying you spending money. I have had no problems with using my debit card overseas. but i do notify my bank when Im leaving so they dont freeze the account due to unusual spending
 
Posts: 3818 | Location: kenya, tanzania,RSA,Uganda or Ethophia depending on day of the week | Registered: 27 May 2009Reply With Quote
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I just went through all of this and certainly wiring ahead is the best if you have the "warm and fuzzy" with your PH/Outfitter, UNLESS as was my case where in Zim they work on a cash basis, at least in my case that is how it worked.

Did have to talk to the JEFFE at the bank to get the AE $1,000 travelers checks special ordered but it did make the $25,000 a little less bulky! Carried everything in a passport belt that was secured and lockable around the waist. Kinda bulky but it worked.
 
Posts: 1324 | Registered: 17 February 2004Reply With Quote
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Two thoughts come up if one is unable or unwilling to wire money ahead. OK, you've got a wad of cash with you. Do you carry all the cash with you all day every day? What I did (maybe not smart but it did work) was lock my travelers checks in my Pelican and left it in camp. I didn't really want to carry all that extra paper with me every day.

The other thing that comes to mind is that I remember entering Zim having to declare how much money I was carrying. My concern being that when a customs officer saw the amount, he would make a call to his buddies to hit me up to be their personal gold mine.

What are your thoughts on storing money during the hunt and propery declaring how much you are carrying?

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Posts: 170 | Location: So Cal, ....USA | Registered: 25 May 2005Reply With Quote
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Typically I kept it my locked gun case in camp. On my last trip I did not have a gun case and kept my cash and travelers checks in my luggage with a lock on it in camp. When touring, however, my wife and I kept our cash with us at all times.

As for Zim, we declared the first time crossing over to go to Vic Falls (but only the amount of US cash I had), but I was advised just to leave it blank when I flew in and out of Vic Falls last November and nothing was said about the blank line on the form.


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Posts: 839 | Location: Greensboro, Georgia USA | Registered: 17 July 2004Reply With Quote
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Tip money and incidentals, carry the cash in a neck wallet going over and lock it in your gun case while you are there.

Trophy fees, wire the money after the hunt.


Mike
 
Posts: 21868 | Registered: 03 January 2006Reply With Quote
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