So no one has a Canadian travel agent they have used? I emailed Lori at travel express but would also like to check with a Canada based agent to compare with.
I have used Francoise Campbell and Mark Love at Custom Travel Solutions. They have an office in Calgary, but the people I deal with are in Canmore. They've organized about 5 trips to Africa for me, and they are organizing my trip to Ethiopia in the fall.
I have to tell you though, that I don't think there's a travel agent around who really understands travel with guns (at least in Canada). They will do as you ask - make sure it's on the file, etc., but I've never found one that knew what else was involved.
Having said that, it's pretty easy, although I understand that's easy to say when you've done it a few times.
Here's what you need to know:
1. Export Permits. You need export permits for the guns, ammo and scopes. There are thread on how to get this done. It's a bunch of paper to Ottawa, but it's pretty straightforward, and they are easy enough to deal with. Turnaround is a bit erratic, has been as short as a week for me, and as long as a month.
2. Import permits. Depends on your destination. Namibia is a one page form you fill out at the airport. Nothing done in advance. They don't even expect a bribe, from what I can tell. If you stop in South Africa and collect your luggage (you aren't checked through to Namibia) you will need an import permit from South Africa, and a visit to the Firearms Office at the Jo'burg airport. Not terribly difficult, but I have someone else take care of this for me - AfricaSky Guesthouse is who I use, but there are others. The police here don't exactly expect a bribe (at least the sign says that), but they sometimes seem to try to find something wrong with the paperwork, and then a reasonable gratuity seems to solve the problem. This doesn't happen when you use a service.
3. Transitting countries. From Calgary, you can really only go through Europe. DO NOT go through the US. While it might go smoothly, the consequences if it does not are too terrible to contemplate (can you spell felony?). So that leaves you pretty much with LHR, FRA and AMS. You need transit permits to go through Amsterdam, and these can be erratic, so I'd drop AMS. That leaves Frankfurt and London. I've done both. If the guns are checked all the way, you have no issues at all. There is nothing that needs to be done. Repeat after me: nothing. If you are trying to save money by flying into Gatwick or Stanstead and out of Heathrow, then you will have to hire a security company to transport the guns between airports, and paperwork will be involved. It's not worth it. Stick to one airport. Changing terminals is not an issue.
Hope this helps.
