NGC travel in SA (Swaziland) and Cameroon ADVICE needed

[fotoguzzi]

not me, My son Rob (25) has a video job in Swaziland and then will be going to Cameroon to visit best friend who's in the Peace Corp there. leaving Mpls in a week and a half.
He will be videoing a church group building a High School in the poorest country in the world, wanna depressing story? google Swaziland..
I will be sure he has a medical evac plan, have heard MEDX really performs, experience?

He has several top of the line Canon camera's and lenses plus a new Macbook pro (that is super fast! with the 2nd SSD I installed in the optical bay)
it's probably $20k worth of kit.. I'm trying to get him to go simple with gear he can give away when done, but that isn't going over well.
I'm researching details about the gear mostly and have heard a lot of horror stories.. like customs lets you bring in gear but won't release it unless you have all kinds of documents, likely you don't know which ones ahead of time.
anyone have experience w/customs and equipment?
Also what is the best way to get his media home in the case of equipment seizure? mail it home, have the church member carry a second copy?

[Van]

Swaziland is the poorest country in the world????WTF????Not when I was there!

Just got back from a month there...it was wonderful, very friendly people, first world services available almost anywhere you go, and NEVER any hasles with customs or the cops!  Just be cool and have your travel documents in order....we found that if you don't make a problem, they don't make a problem. We passed through the Swazi/S.A. borders 6 times and all we were ever asked for was our passports, the customs/cops on both sides were just like here, just doing their jobs and kinda indifferent to it all....but always freindly and polite.

If you're political......well that's a different story, as just about every country gets a bit weird with foreigners who come in to show the current government in a poor or critical light and telling them that they are not doing it right.

Good travel insurance is a must....for any traveler to any country...... 

As far as Africa goes, Swaziland is pretty much first world.....South Africa right next door has everything available as far as modern tech is concerned. Your son will probably transit through S.A. to get to Swazi...they are in the same customs union so he just has to be sure that he has all his stuff in order....we sailed through customs without a glitch...nothing to declare..just visiting .

Swazi is a very small country, you can drive around it in a day, tar roads are plentyfull and generally in good condition, you have to go out of your way to find really poor roads or any of the "old" Africa of mud huts and real backwards poverty.

Tell your kid that as far as "African" experiences go, Swaziland should be one of the easiest, most laid back, friendly and fun. Tell him to stay at Bombasa's back pack lodge in Mbabane.  Jason Foss (the owner) will look after him, mention that the Van Enter's say hello.

Want more info?...just ask

The Cameroon?........sorry, I know nadda about that.

Cheers,

Van

[fotoguzzi]

Thankyou for a great response! I think we ave all papers in oreder.. He leaves on Friday.

[Van]

Hey, your're welcome,

ENJOY, tell him to try the Jason special at the sandwich shop in the mall in Mbabane and the lamb curry (hot) at the take away in the plaza in Mbabane.....hmmmm.....great!

Cheers

Van 

[ferguzzi]

Camaroon's not the worst by any means. Doala's relatively safe for a foreigner, albeit with the usual precautions. Two nice places to visit, I would have thought.

[fotoguzzi]

He is there now.. Manzini Swaziland, nice hotels but no internet since the airport.

He was thinking internet would be available and could keep up with his clients and finish jobs from Swaziland, LOL.. I got dumped on with a major 20k project that needs to be finished Feb 1st, the day he may emerge back to the web world. Hope he gets web at Doala on Feb 2. so I can assure him everything got delivered fine.

last time we emailed, he was a nervous wreck, and wanted to fly home imediately to finish the job..I told him breath deep and let me take over here.

I've spent the last 2 days editing this project and will be taking a week of vacation to nurse it to the end.. I expect 1/2 of the fee.. maybe enough for a used griso! but then there is the new carpet and some shoes my wife wants.. I've seen a good used KLR for under 2k maybe that and the carpet?

 

meanwhile as a Dad I can't help worrying about a 25 yo kid travelling around Africa with thousands of $ in gear by himself... wish it was me!

[68C]

Never been to Cameroon but have worked in Nigeria.  Alledgedly the Cameroon girls were very popular as they had such nice French accents.

[luhbo]

I have a french speaking Cameroon colleague who is married to a Cameroon girl - she speaking english. Their own languages are different, too, so both are rather curious what language their daughters will choose. Actually it looks like it will be just plain 'Unterfranken' - parents never can compete with what great words the kindergarden comes along

 

Hubert

[Van]

So he was in Manzini eh?....did he stay at the George Hotel?

Anyway, the internet IS a bit of a hit and miss thing there, so of the tourist traps have internet, but agreed, it's a bit iffy.

Hope he had fun, I'm sure it opened his eyes a bit.....and I'm sure he'll find the Cameroon totally different again.....kinda like Greece and Denmark,...same continent, but very different!

Cheers

Van

[fotoguzzi]

He says he's Great! and made it to Cameroon.. I was in suspense for 3 days that he didn't get any internet but I think it will be better from now on.. He was in Manzini but with a church group so probably not any fancy hotels, more like a hostle, He mentioned how good a hot shower felt when they left..