Ethiopia and binoculars (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Hopkins]

Although I didn't experience it, I'd agree with the assessment that transit shouldn't be an issue. The scanners are literally at the exit of customs into the arrivals area. If you don't go through passport control, you'll never see them.

Just to add to my report, one of our tour members DID have trouble with customs. He had a different "binoculars guy" than the rest of us did. That person insisted on holding on to his bins. He had to go back a few hours later to retrieve them. I'm not sure what negotiating went on to make that happen. So there does seem to be some ramdomness to the process.

Oh, and one other observation. Nobody cares about bins once you're in country (although the kids often want to look through them). FWIW, there are lots of internal "customs" checkpoints within Ethiopia. We were at one with a very particular agent - a checkpoint that our guide says is always a pain in the ass about paperwork and going through thorough inspection of baggage, vehicles, etc. We had our binoculars around our necks as we sat in the vehicles. No reaction from the guy.

 

[Tomeitsparadise]

Transit no problem if you don’t leave the airport. If you have to leave the airport to go to a hotel for the night, even though you are still “in transit” you will pick up problems.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Post script: As I was leaving Ethiopia, my carry on bag went through the X-ray and got pulled out for review. The agent asked "Do you have binoculars?" I replied "yes". He then asked "Do you have a drone?" Huh? I said "no" and he then let me go without even opening my bag to verify the contents.

 

[Rumer]

I can confirm no issues for transit passengers at Bole airport (Addis). It's only when your bags are scanned as you come out of the airport on arrival. Addis is a major transit hub, and given the volume of wildlife tourists to East Africa, they'd really be shooting themselves in the foot if they started messing with transit passengers.

Hi I am going to Ethiopia soon I’m not taking my birding bins but I have a pair of Opticron compact bins which I should like to take.

So they scan you as you leave the Terminal on arrival is this for international and domestic arrivals please?

Also do you have to walk through a scanner both on arrival and departure - thinking of domestic flights here.

Any advice would be very helpful

Thanks

 

[Butty]

Welcome to BF... I think.

do you have to walk through a scanner . . .

Sounds as if you're wondering whether you can avoid the scanners and/or hide your bins... I suspect it's necessary just to assume they will be found and to plan accordingly.

 

[Mono]

It is not just a case of them being scanned, you need to apply for an import permit before your arrival.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

It's not at the exit of the airport, per se. They scan you as you leave the customs controlled area from international flights.

I never took any domestic flights, so I can't speak to that.

Also, you will get scanned as you board any flight. It's part of the normal security procedures to have your carry-ons scanned. Whether they will care about binoculars, who's to say? But see my post #43.

 

[Dortmundbirder]

We had no issues on transit inside the airport, there was no issue using the bins inside the terminal either.

 

[halftwo]

Same here. No problem in transit, nor in the terminal.

 

[iraqbabbler]

By the way, Ethiopia really shot itself in the foot. For few binoculars, they discourage whole tourism

The moral of the story: Birders, avoid Ethiopia. Take your valuable tourist dollars elsewhere. Perhaps that'll teach them a lesson.

 

[AveryBartels]

The moral of the story: Birders, avoid Ethiopia. Take your valuable tourist dollars elsewhere. Perhaps that'll teach them a lesson.

Well, it's the local guides, lodges, park rangers, drivers etc. (who are obviously not to blame for his situation) that are the ones most effected and at risk of losing their livelihood. The ones making these policy decisions won't really be effected one way or the other, unfortunately. It's a pain to have to arrange the permit but I would suggest well worth it for the superb birding/nature (and food!) that Ethiopia offers. Plus, by choosing to still visit this splendid country you are supporting a bird tourism industry that was struggling even before this permit-for-binoculars situation.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Well, it's the local guides, lodges, park rangers, drivers etc. (who are obviously not to blame for his situation) that are the ones most effected and at risk of losing their livelihood. The ones making these policy decisions won't really be effected one way or the other, unfortunately. It's a pain to have to arrange the permit but I would suggest well worth it for the superb birding/nature (and food!) that Ethiopia offers. Plus, by choosing to still visit this splendid country you are supporting a bird tourism industry that was struggling even before this permit-for-binoculars situation.

Agreed. It's worth the hassle. Although, a lot of Ethiopia is off-limits right now, so that limits some of the options.

But FWIW, while I love Ethiopian food, it wasn't always easy to get good quality Ethiopian food on the tour. Part of that was because it wasn't always possible to get good quality ingredients in the more remote areas. For example, while occasionally they had tibs on the menu, the beef was pretty tough. The other part was because on a group tour (as you know), you sometimes have to limit the menu options, and in quite a few cases, the guides limited those options to more "western" choices, not to mention some of the lodges tailored the group menus for the farenji. But in places where there was a buffet, I tended to eat local food.

 

[Phil Hansbro]

HI all
I am planning to just transit through Ethiopia on my way to Cameroon. Planning to bring binoculars, telescope, thermal and camera. What do people think are risks associated with that? Will it be fine to transit with those things? or is it better to re-route?
Thank you very much for any info.
Phil.Hansbro1 at gmail.com
Best
Phil.

 

[jurek]

If you put luggage in transit directly to Cameroon, no problem.

 

[Mono]

In all the recent accounts of people having optics taken off them the optics are returned on leaving the country.

 

[SteveClark]

I transited through Addis Ababa from Namibia to Tanzania back in 2021. No binocular ban then but I had my car satnav in my stowed luggage. No Satnav to be found when I got to Tz. So putting optics in stowed luggage is not an attractive option. We will be transiting through Addis again in May 2025. What to do?

 

[temmie]

HI all
I am planning to just transit through Ethiopia on my way to Cameroon. Planning to bring binoculars, telescope, thermal and camera. What do people think are risks associated with that? Will it be fine to transit with those things? or is it better to re-route?
Thank you very much for any info.
Phil.Hansbro1 at gmail.com
Best
Phil.

Hi Phil, transit should be no problem at all. I went with a group of 9 people to Madagascar last November, all with big cameras and binoculars in carry-on, and as you aren’t entering the country, this shouldn’t be an issue, at all.

 

[SlowLowFlyingTurkey]

I'm transiting through Ethiopia at the end of October, on the way to South Africa. I had completely forgotten about the binocular problems in Ethiopia, so it's reassuring to read that people are going through transit with no problems.

 

[SteveClark]

I transited through Addis Ababa from Namibia to Tanzania back in 2021. No binocular ban then but I had my car satnav in my stowed luggage. No Satnav to be found when I got to Tz. So putting optics in stowed luggage is not an attractive option. We will be transiting through Addis again in May 2025. What to do?

I forgot to mention - On both occasions we transited through Addis we were required to stay the night in a hotel in the city so I assume we will have to hand over our optics if this is the case again.

 

[R Baxter]

I forgot to mention - On both occasions we transited through Addis we were required to stay the night in a hotel in the city so I assume we will have to hand over our optics if this is the case again.

Yes, they will take you to a small storage room about 200m from the scanners, where you place them on a shelf and receive a receipt. Then the next morning you go and pick them up. It does take an extra twenty minutes, so factor that into your morning arrival time.