I am off to South Africa to hunt and I have all the paperwork sorted for my rifle SA side.
However I have had various responses as to what I need to export my rifle for the hunt from the UK.
Anyone who has the experience could please shed some light then that would be great.
I have info from my FLO but just want to double check his information is correct.
Regards
Alex
Hi Alex
We have just booked our 3rd trip to SA. Its really easy, first time was a bit daunting but in the end worked out well. If you fly with BA they will charge 50.00 out and another 50.00 back in, you need to notify them of the calibre you are taking at least 3 days before flying, however we got caught this way the first time and were lucky to be able to take the guns, they get very touchy about a .308, did not care much about the 30 06. Last year and this year booked with SAA, didn't even have to notify them of taking guns as they do it so often.
All you need is the letter of invitation from your outfitter, your tickets, the SAPs form completed BUT NOT SIGNED as you do that when you get there. If you are going through JHB then its really easy to find the import export of firearms department, do the paperwork then you have to go to another department to get the guns put onto the plane. We found a porter to assist with this and paid 20 sterling to him and another 20 sterling to the guys where we dropped the guns off. The first year we went we met with a guy our outfitter recommended to get us through with all the paperwork, he turned up late and cost us 200 dollars (a lesson learned). Coming back we found more difficult but again only paid 20.00 sterling. Keep smiling, interact and polite and it won't cost you anything. Don't tip the import export police, they are just doing a job.
One other thing to remember is to make sure you have a Hep A & B jab before you go have a couple of copies of your licence with you just in case they want to keep a copy and we always take a couple of spare passport photos.
You will have the time of your life. We are going in September, a group of 7, if you need any further help just let us know as we are currently selling the hunts for Mayogi Safaris.
Regards David & Linda