Travelling Africa with a small personal collection

[Annarobertson1947]

Hi, well im pre empting a problem,
Im heading out of Australia early next year, having relinquished my rental i have to by necessity carry with me a very small collection of my Agrias, 12 specimens .
I will be entering Sth Africa ,Zambia and Kenya, am i going to encounter customs issues ?
Anyone as a collector who travels Africa will have a good idea on this,
Thanks.

[Chuck]

If these are valued specimens I would leave them behind or forward them to final destination. I assume they are not papered.

Humidity in much of Africa is high; and in aircraft it's low. The specimens will cycle through levels of humidity.

You'd be ill advised to check them as baggage, which means hand carrying. I've done this for flights and it's a real pain dragging along a box. You have to watch who puts what in the overhead bin lest they get crushed, and you may not have room in the overhead bin; with airline seats having tiny pouches these days they probably won't fit, and they won't let you hold a box, particularly a glass-topped box, on your lap. Even hand carried they will be jostled, bumped, etc and at high risk of breakage.

You have at least four Customs entries, and in Africa to boot. God knows who you'll encounter. First you have the actual laws of import into each, which you're probably in violation of. Second, an opportunist Customs agent will take the opportunity to either (1) seize specimens they think they can flip for money or (2) shake you down for a cash payment. Then you'll go through Customs at your final/ return destination- if it's Australia you have paperwork to do and AUS is very strict on wildlife import and paperwork.

Overall it's going to be a hassle, and have a high risk of loss and/or damage. I'd not do it.

[Annarobertson1947]

Thanks Chuck,
Regrettably i don't have the ability to leave behind, am probably not returning to Australia.
Final destination is Kenya.
Carry on luggage a no go as customs guys I'm aware of them .
Specimens will be transported in 2 postage boxes.
In bubble wrap.
This is my best way.they survived postage companies
so am going this way.
To post to destination is ot a good idea as Kenyan entry is an unknown.
So in luggage is best protection.
Should i declare at entry points or just sail through?

[Paul K]

If I would have to do it, I’d relax them and papered. They could be easy to transport as a small package safe and easy to go thru customs. Then when you settle in Kenya spread them one more time.

[Annarobertson1947]

Thanks Paul, i was needing advice from people who have traversed Africa with specimens, American and Australian customs issues aren't relevant in this.