I don't remember where I learned this tid bit of travel information, but I've learned that when you are leaving the country and carrying camera and computer equipment, it is a good idea to have documentation that you LEFT the country with them. Otherwise, our friendly, helpful customs people will want to charge you customs on them. If you are traveling from an "international" airport there will be a customs office. Since we were leaving Austin so early in the morning, my first guess was that the customs office would not be open. We had plenty of time with our layover at Washington Dulles so I figured I could take care of this detail at Dulles.
I left Henry sitting by our departure gate and headed off to figure out where I needed to go. Dulles has these cute little boxy shuttles that get you from the various buildings. We rode one from the D building to the B building. I saw the one from B to the Main Building, but it said 15 minutes till the next shuttle - so since I saw a walkway to the Main Building I headed of. I had already checked the Airport Map Kiosks - looking for the Customs office - even looking for an information booth - without a lot of success. There was one security guard that pointed me in the direction of the baggage claim area (asking if I had my boarding pass with me - I had already anticipated that - I had both ID and the boarding pass so I could get back where I needed to be.) Near baggage claim, I found an information booth with real people. They pointed me to a wall where there was a bank of phones. I was looking for a red phone - all the phones were yellow . . . ah there it is over by itself on a different wall. In picking up the red phone I was directed down a narrow obscure hallway. Yes, this was the right place. They had the form. But . . . they wanted to see the equipment. Yes, I did have plenty of time to go back . . .
Back through security - they marked my boarding pass (inwardly I wondered - when I came back through again . . . would they still let me in if it was already marked?)
Henry was a little disconcerted, especially when he realized that he would have to go through security AGAIN. But he followed me onto the shuttle through the maze of hallways. The customs people checked every piece of equipment, making sure the serial numbers were correct (and some of them come with very tiny letters!) Henry and I each have our Certificate of Registration For Personal Effects Taken Abroad duly signed, stamped, and initialed.
We got back over to our terminal building - I never figured out how to get to the shuttles to go back from Main to B - so it was a hike walking in the wide tunnel under the taxi way.
I had an interesting chicken curry salad sandwich at one of the airport restaurants. I stayed there because I had a nice table and access to drink refills. All too quickly Henry came and got me - apparently we needed to check in again at South African Airlines.
Showing posts with label Vacation planning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vacation planning. Show all posts
Monday, August 27, 2007
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Getting off!
Sunday - last minute shopping that included trying to find a carryon bag for me to accommodate the camera equipment and still be under the weight limits.
We chose to rent a car to get back to the airport so we would not have to leave a car for Debra and Jonathan to pick up and so that one of them would not have to be at our house at 4:30 in the morning. Great idea . . . except that the rental car does not have a TexTag for the toll road to the airport.
Go to bed around midnight after finalizing the packing and picking up some of the "debris" from new luggage, new Lacie drives (boxes), new shoes, etc.
Set alarm 3:30 A.M.
Stagger out of bed 3:45 A.M.
Shower, dress, get out to car, leaving driveway 4:30 (Henry is already fretting - with a 7:00 flight we should BE at the airport at 5:00 and we have that rental car to return)
Arrive at airport about 5:10 - rental car is returned. The one bag of luggage is checked (supposedly all the way to Cape Town - hah!)
Breakfast at Lefty's on 6th Street (their location at the airport - near our gate) breakfast tacos.
Boarding the plane - sigh of relief . . . the adventure begins!
We chose to rent a car to get back to the airport so we would not have to leave a car for Debra and Jonathan to pick up and so that one of them would not have to be at our house at 4:30 in the morning. Great idea . . . except that the rental car does not have a TexTag for the toll road to the airport.
Go to bed around midnight after finalizing the packing and picking up some of the "debris" from new luggage, new Lacie drives (boxes), new shoes, etc.
Set alarm 3:30 A.M.
Stagger out of bed 3:45 A.M.
Shower, dress, get out to car, leaving driveway 4:30 (Henry is already fretting - with a 7:00 flight we should BE at the airport at 5:00 and we have that rental car to return)
Arrive at airport about 5:10 - rental car is returned. The one bag of luggage is checked (supposedly all the way to Cape Town - hah!)
Breakfast at Lefty's on 6th Street (their location at the airport - near our gate) breakfast tacos.
Boarding the plane - sigh of relief . . . the adventure begins!
Packing Woes
One of my biggest pre-trip stresses has been weight limits and how to pack what I need to carry and have it all be under the weight limit:
My 300-800mm lens - 21 lbs
My camera bag with computer -
clothes
Total limits - 20 kg per person - roughly 44 lbs.
Plus there were some carryon weight limits to worry about.
Not to mention concerns about checked luggage going through Johannesburg.
I started this blog before we left . . .
I ended up getting a Pelican carryon designed to carry camera equipment and my laptop. I brought 2 Canon 5D bodies, 24-105mm L lens, and a 100-400mm zoom. Cry . . . sob . . . sigh . . . my big lens stayed home. Probably a good thing . . . check out the blog about airports. But I sure hope those animals are as cooperative as some I've seen in photos.
Henry had packed a small duffle with his clothes. I repacked his with mine in a larger duffle - including the tripod. I kept looking at it - we weighed it (30 lbs). I kept looking at it - no wheels . . . Henry kept saying it was ok . . . I kept going . . .hum . . .hum. . . . I dug out another duffle (bought in England right before the flight home to carry the things we had accumulated on that trip) It is large - soft sided AND has wheels. His clothes and my clothes and the tripod, plus things like voltage plugs so perhaps we will be able to charge our equipment. This duffle will be checked and locked.
At the last minute (to Henry's dismay, I added a small backpack containing my Ipod, my medicines, and one shirt and one pair of underwear.
Now that we are actually here in Africa . . . The duffle made it all the way through - it is with us at the hotel. My camera rolling bag worked great.
I think our total weight was about 76 out of the possible 88 max on the small planes. We've successfully made it through the South African Airline system. Next test will be Thursday when we fly Air Namibia and one of the small charter planes to get to the desert camps.
My 300-800mm lens - 21 lbs
My camera bag with computer -
clothes
Total limits - 20 kg per person - roughly 44 lbs.
Plus there were some carryon weight limits to worry about.
Not to mention concerns about checked luggage going through Johannesburg.
I started this blog before we left . . .
I ended up getting a Pelican carryon designed to carry camera equipment and my laptop. I brought 2 Canon 5D bodies, 24-105mm L lens, and a 100-400mm zoom. Cry . . . sob . . . sigh . . . my big lens stayed home. Probably a good thing . . . check out the blog about airports. But I sure hope those animals are as cooperative as some I've seen in photos.
Henry had packed a small duffle with his clothes. I repacked his with mine in a larger duffle - including the tripod. I kept looking at it - we weighed it (30 lbs). I kept looking at it - no wheels . . . Henry kept saying it was ok . . . I kept going . . .hum . . .hum. . . . I dug out another duffle (bought in England right before the flight home to carry the things we had accumulated on that trip) It is large - soft sided AND has wheels. His clothes and my clothes and the tripod, plus things like voltage plugs so perhaps we will be able to charge our equipment. This duffle will be checked and locked.
At the last minute (to Henry's dismay, I added a small backpack containing my Ipod, my medicines, and one shirt and one pair of underwear.
Now that we are actually here in Africa . . . The duffle made it all the way through - it is with us at the hotel. My camera rolling bag worked great.
I think our total weight was about 76 out of the possible 88 max on the small planes. We've successfully made it through the South African Airline system. Next test will be Thursday when we fly Air Namibia and one of the small charter planes to get to the desert camps.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Planning an Adventure
I tend to "sneak up" on big trips. Some of that has to do with big trips we've planned in the past that had life events take them away. The first time we were planning a trip to California, we had a death in the family, I think it was my dad's death that made it impossible to take that trip. We had planned a spring break trip to Big Bend when my grandmother died. Our life the last couple of years has been only roughly structured. When people ask when are we heading out again, often my reply is: "I'm not sure exactly, but I think we'll be leaving in ____ weeks. I know we'll be ________at this date, and ________ at that date, but in between . . . I'm not sure what the schedule is.
And so it is now. I think we'll be home another 10-14 days with perhaps a couple of days heading out to try to photograph wildflowers. We'll probably be in Amarillo for a week or so. We'll be in Colorado May 19th for that writer's conference. Then there is a "dead" space for a couple of months. Will we go home . . . will we try to go to Yellowstone . . . will we go to a wildlife refuge in northern Colorado I discovered last year . . . unknown right this minute. We will be in Amarillo at the end of July for a wedding. We'll be in St. Louis the first weekend in August for NASFIC where Henry is one of the guests. We have a wedding in Austin at the end of August.
But then . . . . then . . . the adventure I'm sneaking up on . . . a trip to Africa. It has almost not seemed real, rather something fragile that I might chicken out of doing due to expense or that might have to be postponed for other family reasons. But, if we are going, it is time to start picking out what we are going to do and get reservations in place.
We have friends living in Africa and it has been my goal to visit them while they are there. To me the most important part of the trip is spending time with them, helping in some way with their mission work. But it is also a photography trip. I already knew some of the things I would want to do - Chobe in Botswana, Victoria Falls, etc. I've been struggling with whether to do things on our own which has been our habit - which is often cheaper than trying to do tours. But I've been convinced that at least on our first visit to Africa, it is probably wise to go with guides who are knowledgeable not only about their area, but who also know how to protect their guests. I've heard from other people who have gone on safaris about the armed guards at the camps. Now before you get alarmed, these armed guards are not there to protect against human marauders . . . no, it is the lepeoards in the trees, the lions in the bush, and perhaps the elephant that decides that his bed for the night is right next to the door of your tent.
What is beginning to take shape: time at Chobe, time at the Luangwa River, and time in Namibia. On the radar as well is time in Livingston and Cape Town.
Shhh! I'm sneaking, I'm sneaking . . . we got our first shots this week, and there are typhoid pills in the refrigerator. It is beginning to feel real.
And so it is now. I think we'll be home another 10-14 days with perhaps a couple of days heading out to try to photograph wildflowers. We'll probably be in Amarillo for a week or so. We'll be in Colorado May 19th for that writer's conference. Then there is a "dead" space for a couple of months. Will we go home . . . will we try to go to Yellowstone . . . will we go to a wildlife refuge in northern Colorado I discovered last year . . . unknown right this minute. We will be in Amarillo at the end of July for a wedding. We'll be in St. Louis the first weekend in August for NASFIC where Henry is one of the guests. We have a wedding in Austin at the end of August.
But then . . . . then . . . the adventure I'm sneaking up on . . . a trip to Africa. It has almost not seemed real, rather something fragile that I might chicken out of doing due to expense or that might have to be postponed for other family reasons. But, if we are going, it is time to start picking out what we are going to do and get reservations in place.
We have friends living in Africa and it has been my goal to visit them while they are there. To me the most important part of the trip is spending time with them, helping in some way with their mission work. But it is also a photography trip. I already knew some of the things I would want to do - Chobe in Botswana, Victoria Falls, etc. I've been struggling with whether to do things on our own which has been our habit - which is often cheaper than trying to do tours. But I've been convinced that at least on our first visit to Africa, it is probably wise to go with guides who are knowledgeable not only about their area, but who also know how to protect their guests. I've heard from other people who have gone on safaris about the armed guards at the camps. Now before you get alarmed, these armed guards are not there to protect against human marauders . . . no, it is the lepeoards in the trees, the lions in the bush, and perhaps the elephant that decides that his bed for the night is right next to the door of your tent.
What is beginning to take shape: time at Chobe, time at the Luangwa River, and time in Namibia. On the radar as well is time in Livingston and Cape Town.
Shhh! I'm sneaking, I'm sneaking . . . we got our first shots this week, and there are typhoid pills in the refrigerator. It is beginning to feel real.
Planning an Adventure
I tend to "sneak up" on big trips. Some of that has to do with big trips we've planned in the past that had life events take them away. The first time we were planning a trip to California, we had a death in the family, I think it was my dad's death that made it impossible to take that trip. We had planned a spring break trip to Big Bend when my grandmother died. Our life the last couple of years has been only roughly structured. When people ask when are we heading out again, often my reply is: "I'm not sure exactly, but I think we'll be leaving in ____ weeks. I know we'll be ________at this date, and ________ at that date, but in between . . . I'm not sure what the schedule is.
And so it is now. I think we'll be home another 10-14 days with perhaps a couple of days heading out to try to photograph wildflowers. We'll probably be in Amarillo for a week or so. We'll be in Colorado May 19th for that writer's conference. Then there is a "dead" space for a couple of months. Will we go home . . . will we try to go to Yellowstone . . . will we go to a wildlife refuge in northern Colorado I discovered last year . . . unknown right this minute. We will be in Amarillo at the end of July for a wedding. We'll be in St. Louis the first weekend in August for NASFIC where Henry is one of the guests. We have a wedding in Austin at the end of August.
But then . . . . then . . . the adventure I'm sneaking up on . . . a trip to Africa. It has almost not seemed real, rather something fragile that I might chicken out of doing due to expense or that might have to be postponed for other family reason. But, if we are going, it is time to start picking out what we are going to do and get reservations in place.
We have friends living in Africa and it has been my goal to visit them while they are there. I already knew some of the things I would want to do - Chobe in Botswana, Victoria Falls. I've been struggling with whether to do things on our own which has been our habit - which is often cheaper than trying to do tours. But I've been convinced that at least on our first visit to Africa, it is probably wise to go with guides who are knowledgeable not only about their area, but who also know how to protect their guests. I've heard from other people who have gone on safaris about the armed guards at the camps. Now before you get alarmed, these armed guards are not there to protect against human marauders . . . no, it is the lepeoards in the trees, the lions in the bush, and perhaps the elephant that decides that his bed for the night is right next to the door of your tent.
What is beginning to take shape: time at Chobe, time at the Luangwa River, and time in Namibia. On the radar as well is time in Livingston and Cape Town.
Shhh! I'm sneaking, I'm sneaking . . . we got our first shots this week, and there are typhoid pills in the refrigerator. It is beginning to feel real.
And so it is now. I think we'll be home another 10-14 days with perhaps a couple of days heading out to try to photograph wildflowers. We'll probably be in Amarillo for a week or so. We'll be in Colorado May 19th for that writer's conference. Then there is a "dead" space for a couple of months. Will we go home . . . will we try to go to Yellowstone . . . will we go to a wildlife refuge in northern Colorado I discovered last year . . . unknown right this minute. We will be in Amarillo at the end of July for a wedding. We'll be in St. Louis the first weekend in August for NASFIC where Henry is one of the guests. We have a wedding in Austin at the end of August.
But then . . . . then . . . the adventure I'm sneaking up on . . . a trip to Africa. It has almost not seemed real, rather something fragile that I might chicken out of doing due to expense or that might have to be postponed for other family reason. But, if we are going, it is time to start picking out what we are going to do and get reservations in place.
We have friends living in Africa and it has been my goal to visit them while they are there. I already knew some of the things I would want to do - Chobe in Botswana, Victoria Falls. I've been struggling with whether to do things on our own which has been our habit - which is often cheaper than trying to do tours. But I've been convinced that at least on our first visit to Africa, it is probably wise to go with guides who are knowledgeable not only about their area, but who also know how to protect their guests. I've heard from other people who have gone on safaris about the armed guards at the camps. Now before you get alarmed, these armed guards are not there to protect against human marauders . . . no, it is the lepeoards in the trees, the lions in the bush, and perhaps the elephant that decides that his bed for the night is right next to the door of your tent.
What is beginning to take shape: time at Chobe, time at the Luangwa River, and time in Namibia. On the radar as well is time in Livingston and Cape Town.
Shhh! I'm sneaking, I'm sneaking . . . we got our first shots this week, and there are typhoid pills in the refrigerator. It is beginning to feel real.
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