Originally Posted by
jsnydcsa
As an aside on wrapping. I fly into the US frequently from SA. Granted I have no first or even second-hand knowledge of this. But, I always think that having a wrapped bag attracts US Customs attention. E.g. "Hey. He thought we wouldn't go through the trouble of ripping apart all this cling film to search his bag. He's wrong." Remember, these are the guys and gals who pry open petrol tanks at the border looking for drugs. What makes you think a little cling film is going to stop them.
Agree, the wrapping does seem to attract the attention of customs agents in countries where it's not common. Our bags got targeted for inspection by Japan customs, the lady was really puzzled by the wrapping. Not that I cared, they are fairly quick about it, she got an up close look at my diving gear and that was that.
Originally Posted by
floridagal23
I was not aware of the carry on item limits in SA, just for our charter. I will have to look into it. I think we are allowed 2 bags, 18 pounds each max as carry on. I do know that for our federal air charter our carry on baggage is limited but I'm not worried about that flight as I think they will load the bags in front of us.
I always lock my bags with TSA approved locks. We won't really have anything of value with us to check - we will hand carry the cameras and ipads. We're going on safari so we will be fairly bare bones with stuff. 2-3 pairs of jeans or pants (will cut out the labels), some work out type pants with tops for layering, some blouses/sweaters, pjs, etc. I might just try to bring everything in a small duffel as a carry on.
Yes, the carry on limits in South Africa are ridiculous. If you're in business class then you're correct you get 2 bags each at 18 lbs, economy only gets one and the airport authority has gotten very strict about it from this year. They are sneaky too, they don't enforce it in the boarding area, they do it right on the jetbridge at the airplane door so you can't just rip the gate check tag off and board the plane.
Agree with jsnydcsa, no need to cut labels off your clothing. I suppose there may be some random incident where one time someone was mugged for designer clothing, but its certainly not common. Keep your common sense about you, don't walk around city centers at night time, and all should be fine. It sounds like you're going to be isolated to safari areas anyway, so certainly nothing to worry about there.