Hi all,

A question for all those who have been there and done this. I am a canadian resident by the way.

I am planning a plainsgame hunt in Nambia with my wife for this coming August. The thought of flying from Calgary-Frankfurt-Joburg-Windhoek does not appeal to her in the least. I've done that route twice before on my past two safaris in Zimbabwe, so to be honest I despise it as well.

What I am looking at is flying out of Toronto, then either through Washington or New York (JFK) to Johannasburg, then on to Windhoek, Namibia. I have contacted the ATF and have been told that there is no forms or permits required as I am not actually entering the USA, I would be in "transit" through the US on my way to Africa.

Have any of you done this route and what paperwork/forms did you need once you hit Joburg and Windhoek. Also,, for those who have done this, the flight from Toronto to either Washington or New York (JFK) is an American Airlines flight which connects to a SAA ( South African Airways ) flight to Joburg, will I have to pick my guns up in Washington or JFK and get them to SAA or will I be able to check them right through?

Thanks,

Tim

You will have more paperwork for Jo-berg than you will in the states. I would take DC over New York, but if it was me I would fly Delta out of Atlanta and get the econmy upgrade.
I would also use Steve @ Travel with Guns.
Just my .02 cents worth.

Tim,

Have you checked on Frankfurt to Windhoek on Air Namibia? I have gone Houston-Frankfurt-Windhoek twice. If you can go Calgary-Frankfurt, you can bypass the US and J'berg. I second the suggestion to give Steve at Travel With Guns a call.

Tim,

Your challenge will be getting into the States early enough in the day to make the flight to RSA. As long as you can do that your good. Do use as you've been advised a travel professional to organize everything. I always recommend Gracy Travel.

Mark

Hi Tim;

I received your PM and have replied.

When we did it, I was advised to avoid New York due to their restrictive firearms policies and a potential of having to change airports. Don't know if that's true, but that's what I was advised. So, we went through Washington Dulles, on United from Toronto, then SAA to Jo-berg. There is some sort of affiliation between United and SAA and you can get your ticket from Toronto to Jo-berg from United.

We did not have to pick up our luggage or guns in Washington on the way to RSA, but on the way back, we had to claim and re-check our luggage including the guns and go through all the red tape in Washington. It took quite a while so we were glad we had lots of time between flights.

Good luck on your trip!

Hugh

Hi Tim
I have traveled via Europe and Via US to Joberg from Winnipeg, Canada. The attraction is the time saving by flying via the US. My advice is to make sure your gun case has an outside label with your cell phone # as when your gun case enters the US the US Customs will want to recheck your rifles, this will help them find you. I also pack spare padlocks inside the gun case clearly labelled “To Whom it may concern, if you had to cut off the locks to get here please relock with these.” Most importantly insure your rifle case is booked through to Joberg and do not claim it in the US. If your flight is delayed in the US it is the Airlines responsibility to look after your gun case, you do not have to take it. I also make sure that all the Airlines know that I am travelling with sporting rifles and I ask if my bags have been checked onto each flight just before boarding. On the return fight you will clear through US Customs but that was no problem. So far so good. Good luck with your hunt.

quote:

Originally posted by MCM300:
Tim,

Have you checked on Frankfurt to Windhoek on Air Namibia? I have gone Houston-Frankfurt-Windhoek twice. If you can go Calgary-Frankfurt, you can bypass the US and J'berg. I second the suggestion to give Steve at Travel With Guns a call.

+1 The flight out of Frankfurt direct to Namibia leaves 10 P.M. or so local time, putting you in Windhoek early morning. Long ways to go no matter how you go, but avoiding US and Johannesburg may be worth it.

Traveling to Windhoek via Frankfurt is usually faster than via JNB, and much more pleasant. You'll typically have an eight to ten hour layover in FRA, but you'll almost certainly have an overnight in Johannesburg -- with the attendant hotel costs, red tape, and significant potential for pilferage (or at least misplaced baggage.) If you'll select the right airlines which have a baggage agreement with Air Namibia you can check your bags and guns all the way through to Windhoek and not have to mess with rechecking, customs in stopover countries, etc.

Any way you cut it, spending a liesurly day in Frankfurt (you'll have time to take the train downtown where you can eat the wurst and drink the local beers) is hugely better than spending a night in Johannesburg, and will cost you much less.

flew from US to Namibia two years ago.
Dullas to Jo-berg. then several hours later on to Namibia------no lay-over in Jo-berg. I just checked my guns/bags straight through with no problems.

check current flight times to see if you can just fly on to Windhoek without lay-over more than 3-4 hours in Jo-berg.

This is some great info guys, keep it coming

I traveled from Australia to Vancouver via the US in 2007 and was told the same thing..... There are no forms or permits unless you're hunting IN the US. Luckily for me our stop over was in Hawaii and although we had to disembark the plane, our luggage didn't. That was my saving grace......

Best of luck.

Cheers,
Mark.

Flew from Toronto to Johanessberg via Amsterdam this past October.
Researched this exact topic. Was told that you CANNOT transit through the USA legally unless you have a special permit issued by the States.
If you travel to the States and hunt there all you need is a form 6N1A, which is easy.
The proper legal permit is cost prohibitive and seldom issued. It is the same permit that gun importers use. Forgot the name of it.
That said a lot of people do transit through the USA but all you need is some customs official having a bad day and you will never get there.

Don't forget that when you leave Canada with your forearms for a country other than the USA you also require an Export Permit issued by Foreign Affairs and International Trade.

http://www.international.gc.ca...px?menu_id=16&view=d

try this link

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
Traveling to Windhoek via Frankfurt is usually faster than via JNB, and much more pleasant. You'll typically have an eight to ten hour layover in FRA, but you'll almost certainly have an overnight in Johannesburg -- with the attendant hotel costs, red tape, and significant potential for pilferage (or at least misplaced baggage.) If you'll select the right airlines which have a baggage agreement with Air Namibia you can check your bags and guns all the way through to Windhoek and not have to mess with rechecking, customs in stopover countries, etc.

Any way you cut it, spending a liesurly day in Frankfurt (you'll have time to take the train downtown where you can eat the wurst and drink the local beers) is hugely better than spending a night in Johannesburg, and will cost you much less.

Agree with Stone across the board. Three times on Lufthansa and enjoyed each trip.


Tom

When I went in 2007 I was told absolutely not.

I couldn't fly with a firearm through the US even as checked bags. It's a department of commerce rule in the US. You can take a gun to the US for a competition or hunt there, but can't fly through. A few years ago when Jim Shockey was going to New Zealand he almost lost his prized muzzleloader.

Tim,

I traveled to Namibia in August of 2010. I flew out of Washington D.C. and I was able to check my rifle all the way to Windhoek because I did not have to overnight in JNB. I think the flight out of NYC gets into JNB about 6 hours before the flight from Washington so I suspect there would not be an overnight. The above is based on the SAA airlines being on schedule. Fortunately my SAA flight was on schedule and I made the connecting flight to Windhoek.

As far as claiming and rechecking you rifle in Washington, I suspect that it would depend if the sirline from Toronto has a baggage handling agreement in effect with SAA. In 2010, if I remember correctly, Delta did not have a baggage handling agreement with SAA but USAir did.

I only made one hunting trip to Africa so I defer to the more experienced hunters/travelers on this site.

Good luck and keep us posted.

I believe you can book your luggage and gun thru to Joberg from your airport. No matter even if you are a transfer and don’t leave the airport you must register your firearm in South Africa then re check to Namibia and then check in again with the police in Windhoek. I just did it last month. It don’t matter what flight you leave from Canada just get to Dulles before 3 pm on the same day no overnight in US, the flight leaves like 6:40 PM and tell the agent in Canada you want to send your luggage thru to Joberg. You will need some type of Canadian gun ownership papers.
You can also fill your paper work out ahead of time.

Larry

Went to Joberg through Amsterdam from Calgary last June with KLM airlines. The quickest and cheapest way to get there. Used Gracy Travel and had no problems whatsoever.

KLM service was excellent and only had a two hour layover in Amsterdam with guns straight through to Joberg.