Sefofane - how strict on luggage weight?
 

Hi all. I leave for Botswana on Saturday (yes, just two days!) and just did my packing weigh-in. I'm fine on sizes and weight.....until I add my camera gear. Then, yikes, I'm over by about 15 pounds (for two of us). I've read conflicting accounts of whether or not camera gear is included (I know it is officially supposed to be). Does anyone have any advice? How do photography buffs stay under the limit? We've pared the clothes down to a minimum, but it's stuff like lotions, sunscreen, etc. (and of course long lenses!) that weigh so much. Any advice? Do you think we can get by with this? What happens if you're over? We've used the packing lists from this site, plus the one from our TA and I can't see where we've gone wrong.

Thanks for the last minute help, but I'm in a little of a panic!

Debbie

You should TRY to comply with the rules. The hand luggage (mostly photo gear) is not taken tooooo seriously. but as long as you have got a kind of duffle which can be squeezed in and the weight is reasonable it should be fine!
Don't worry too much.

In almost 20 years we have not encountered any difficulties! We try to be in-line with the requirements - as much as possible;-)

Enjoy your trip (jealous!) and safe return!

Happy landing!

SV

Our hand luggage has often weighed several kilos per camera bag and we carry one camera bag each. We do have our other hand luggage items in those same camera bags too.

We've not had the pilots pay much heed to these at all but that's not to say you'll have same luck. It probably depends on number of passengers, total weight of passengers themselves and luggage, the distance to be flown, the volume of fuel they have onboard...

A lot depends on how much you actually weight also, if you look slim then your hand gear gets factored in with your weight. We've always made sure our main bags were under the limit, then carried camera bags as hand luggage without a problem.

Thanks everyone for your advice. I've gotten everything (including photo gear and personal items) down to only 1 pound over per person. Our main bags are way under the limit. It's just our camera backpack that throws us a little over. Napamatt, good thought about factoring us into the equation. We're fairly small, so hopefully we'll be able to get through without a problem. Of course we'll wear our boots, binocs, hat and anything else we can get on our bodies (without looking like a bear!). I'm feeling much better than I was this afternoon. Thanks!