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Binoculars confiscated by Egyptian authorities at airport (1 Viewer)

A well-known birder just back from a trip to Tunisia reports that his binoculars were taken off him on entry but he got them back when he left. I don't think he will have had a telescope with him - looked like a family holiday.
 
Muddling the water a bit with my story about Ethiopia, an episode where I lost about US$ 4K in the process without even visiting the country!

I had booked three week long stay in Addis Ababa and long weekendish jaunts to Simien, Lalibela, Bale Mountains, etc. thru a local travel agent and had paid the 50% advance. After making the payment, I found out that I need a permit for my Canon 18x50 IS binos. Contacted the travel agent and he assured me that he will take care of getting the permit. A week before arriving in Addis Ababa, he informed me that the permit was denied and I will have to leave the bino at the airport. We had already begun our six month long travel thru Africa (I am retired) and we were in Zanzibar at that time and the bino was already with us. Rather than risk having the bino confiscated, we decided to cancel our travel and skip Ethiopia all together. And the travel agent refused to refund our deposit even though he didn't keep his assurance.

We are right now traveling thru Morocco (arrived thru Casablanca airport where they confiscated my Henkel chef's knife and the sharpening rod from the checked bag - while Morocco actively sells swords and knives to tourists). We didn't have any problem with our bino nor my 400mm prime lens (going birding to Atlas mountains tomorrow).

We fly to Tunis in a few days. Hope we don't encounter any issues there. I think I will stick to South America and Australasia for birding in the future. We had no problems in Ecuador, Costa Rica, Panama, Viet Nam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. Will be heading to Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile and Bolivia next year.

Looks like these issues happen, infrequently, but it is a major pain when it happens!
 
Muddling the water a bit with my story about Ethiopia, an episode where I lost about US$ 4K in the process without even visiting the country!

I had booked three week long stay in Addis Ababa and long weekendish jaunts to Simien, Lalibela, Bale Mountains, etc. thru a local travel agent and had paid the 50% advance. After making the payment, I found out that I need a permit for my Canon 18x50 IS binos. Contacted the travel agent and he assured me that he will take care of getting the permit. A week before arriving in Addis Ababa, he informed me that the permit was denied and I will have to leave the bino at the airport. We had already begun our six month long travel thru Africa (I am retired) and we were in Zanzibar at that time and the bino was already with us. Rather than risk having the bino confiscated, we decided to cancel our travel and skip Ethiopia all together. And the travel agent refused to refund our deposit even though he didn't keep his assurance.

We are right now traveling thru Morocco (arrived thru Casablanca airport where they confiscated my Henkel chef's knife and the sharpening rod from the checked bag - while Morocco actively sells swords and knives to tourists). We didn't have any problem with our bino nor my 400mm prime lens (going birding to Atlas mountains tomorrow).

We fly to Tunis in a few days. Hope we don't encounter any issues there. I think I will stick to South America and Australasia for birding in the future. We had no problems in Ecuador, Costa Rica, Panama, Viet Nam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. Will be heading to Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile and Bolivia next year.

Looks like these issues happen, infrequently, but it is a major pain when it happens!
Sounds like a little inconvenience, I would deal with that travel agent when you get home. That retirement thing sounds like a paradise. Safe travels.
 
Sounds like a little inconvenience, I would deal with that travel agent when you get home. That retirement thing sounds like a paradise. Safe travels.
Thank you for the wishes. Have been on the road for 25 months now immediately after retirement while putting the house up for remodeling. The other secret is that it is cheaper for us to travel than rent in San Francisco, while the major remodeling is going on. It gets a bit tiring sometimes, lugging the 400mm f2.8 lens thru so many flights, security checkins and hikes.
 
Thank you for the wishes. Have been on the road for 25 months now immediately after retirement while putting the house up for remodeling. The other secret is that it is cheaper for us to travel than rent in San Francisco, while the major remodeling is going on. It gets a bit tiring sometimes, lugging the 400mm f2.8 lens thru so many flights, security checkins and hikes.
Lol, I hear you about rents, I’m in New York. Sounds like it’s worth all the hassles and I’m sure your having a blast. Hopefully we’re gonna get to see some pictures from that 400 prime lens when your settled back in.

Take care.
 

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