I have some great connections to leave from JFK to Jburg and then to Vic Falls in April. I can check bags and guns all the way to Vic Falls (cant I?). This would avoid all of the hassles of doing guns in Jburg, etc. Anyone done this lately and have there been any issues? Please PM me if you can and have good advice. In Europe for the next week and not always able to get on line.

Thanks,

Larry

Larry,

I recommend clients receive their guns and luggage in JNB, go through the SAPS process and recheck their guns and luggage to Zim. It is somewhat of a pain but at least you know where your guns and luggage are. If you check your guns and luggage to Zim from JNB and they don't arrive in Zim you at least know where to start looking. If you check them from the States all the way to Vic Falls and they don't arrive who knows what leg of the trip they didn't get put on the plane.

Mark

I have to agree with Mark...both times I have gone to Zim, I checked bags all the way through. First time, not clothes/ammo, 2nd time of 3 hunters with 6 bags, we got 2 bags (0 guns). Both times it took 2-3 days to get them, and they had to be flown separately into camp.

If you can take the time, lay your hands on your guns and luggage in JNB...

check with Aubs458, he helped me get thought jo'berg with not problems and really fast too.

Is there any way to verify in Jo'berg that your rifle case went to your connecting flight and not the SAPS office without rechecking your bags?

I've got a connecting flight in Jo'berg to Beira, Mozambique later this year, so I'm also curious about others experience with checking guns through to their final destination.

In April of 2010 I checked three guns through to Harare from Tulsa, OK. TSA did the inspection and all was right with the world. I was in OR Tembo for about four hours (if I am remembering correctly) and as I was boarding my plane to Harare I was yanked off the jetway and escorted to the SAPS station where I was temporarily placed under arrest for trying to suggle guns into RSA. Three hours later I was released and allowed to go overnight at afton. I had the guns in my possession - but no import permits. Imagine what happened the next morning when I returned to OR Tembo. Again I was "arrested" for smuggling firearms into RSA. Eventually I was released and put on a plane for Harare. The guns never showed.
What SAPS told me was that regardless of destination if you are going through OR Tembo you had better go to the SAPS office and check your guns or you will be arrested. Truth, lies? I don't know, but it happened to me and then the guns were stolen.

+1 on what Mark wrote. There are tips here and in Ken Royce's book Safari Dreams on the exact procedure for checking guns and luggage through Jo'burg to save time. It has been a while since I hunted in Africa, and I went London, Nairobi, Lusaka, but I would never, never trust an airline to transfer guns from one flight to another. That goes double in today's security climate.

Think about it. How much are you paying per day to hunt? How many days would you gamble on missing in order to avoid the inconvenience of assuring that your stuff got on the plane? Not to mention the legal requirements in the RSA. It is just like taking the right equipment. Some things you have to do yourself. <g>