We just received our duffle bags for our trip in August, I didn’t measure but they are obviously too long for carry on. What date does you trip start on?
Since this is a duffle bag topic...I am not sure if Tauck's mailing department knows what they are doing in regard to sending the 30" rolling duffles for my B,Z, SA vacation. My husband and I received our duffles about two weeks ago for our upcoming August B,Z,SA trip. I requested that our duffles be shipped much earlier to us since I will be leaving prior to our departure date in order to visit my mother (age 91) and other family. I purposefully requested that my daughter's duffle along with her husbands be sent to her home for the same reasons. She lives hours away from me. Tauck has my daughter's address on record and even reiterated back to me. Instead, I received tracking from UPS showing that her 2 duffles will be mailed to me! The same thing happened to friends of ours on the same trip. I hope I do not end up with extra duffles. Tauck said they will expedite duffles to my daughter and her husband. Fingers crossed.
I think the mail room is in need of help. I'm taking my niece and nephew to Africa. Niece lives in Australia so they said she could pick up duffel when we arrive in Africa. I get mine but my nephew who lives in different city doesn't get his. I call they say will ship it out and give me a tracking number. The tracking was for a shipment to Australia. they sent my niece hers in Australia and my nephew's to her also. Finally I had to call again and they finally sent my nephew his to his correct address. Its the only time I've ever had an issue with Tauck but it was wacky
Yes, if this happens just to us, imagine to how many other similar instances there are. I imagine quite a lot! I never received a tracking number from Tauck no matter how often I asked. I receive tracking from UPS.
Question once again about the duffle that is allowed on the Botswana, Zambia South Africa trip. This was in our final documents (see attached). I understand that the 30”x15x14 duffle that was sent to us cannot exceed 44 lbs. The small soft sided carry-on or backpack that we are allowed to bring as our "extra" cannot exceed 16 lbs. That being said, there is no mention at all (as noted in the final documents) of any dimensions. Are they saying that it doesn’t matter but just the weight does? I know in previous documents there were size specifications for the carry on as well. Your thoughts and thank you.
It means a typical backpack like a school book bag. A wheeled bag or hard sided will not work. You are using small planes. I can’t open your docs. Tauck is not concerned about any other plans you might have for extra travel, they are telling you what they require. There is plenty of room for so many clothes in those duffels and laundry is cheaper in Africa. I’ve taken tours of three weeks with just a duffel. It’s a fantastic tour, we plan on taking it again.
I'm not convinced Tauck only mean a backpack for the extra piece of luggage although I will bring one. I'm sorry my attachment couldn't open.
This is what it says. I'm not understanding why my attachments do not open. They have in the past.
DUFFEL BAG- ONLY PIECE OF CHECKED LUGGAGE ALLOWED
PLEASE PACK IN THIS DUFFEL BAG, AS IT WILL BE YOUR ONLY PIECE OF LUGGAGE FOR THE ENTIRE TOUR.
Due to internal flights with limited storage capacity throughout the tour, A special rolling duffel bag (30x 15 x 14 inches) to be used for the entire tour; will be mailed to your home prior to your tour departure. This duffel bag has been selected to provide you with adequate space for all items needed during your stay.
While larger suitcases are prohibited, each guest is allowed a small carry-on bag (soft sided only), in addition to the duffel bag.
Guests are allowed up to 44 lbs (20 kg) for the duffel bag and up to 16 lbs (7 kg) for the carry-on.
If you choose to bring extra luggage outside of the rolling duffel and carry-on, you will be charged $230 per piece to have it flown from Kasane (on Day 3) to Maun where you will be reunited.
OurTravels34
11:03AM
'I'm not convinced Tauck only mean a backpack for the extra piece of luggage although I will bring one. I'm sorry my attachment couldn't open. . . . . "
Unless they are using larger aircraft which I doubt, the aircraft used for 4 of the 5* on-tour flights on the Botswana, SA, Zambia tour were very small Cessna Caravans which had low ceilings and no overhead bins or even racks, and almost no room under the seats either, so you must typically hold your "small carry-on bag (soft-sided)" in your lap or down by your feet. That, along with the "17 lb" limit should give you an idea what they mean by "small." If you have a small bag at home, load it to 17 lbs with the things you might want access to during the flights or trip from the airstrip to the camp, plus a few more items, then see how much more you can pack in the duffel up to 44 lbs.
(Many years ago, during the Kenya portion of K&T, my wife and I shared one duffel! We had no problems! We each used our own duffel during during Botswana several years ago, but each of us had plenty of room to spare in them.)
Loading for our flight from Kisane airport to the Eagle Island dirt airstrip. It required 2 to 3 aircraft to transport our small group. Seating was 1 - 1. In addition to no overhead bins or racks there was barely a center isle! (photo was taken looking down the "isle" such as it was! Think about trying to lug any sort of bag down the non-isle! You are not going to roll anything down the isle, you can barely walk it facing sideways!
The duffels are loaded into a small cargo area in the cabin behind the seats and in a "canoe" under the aircraft. The TD was special he got two very large orange duffles. That is our ticket agent/baggage handler/pilot holding one of the TD's bags!
Landing at Eagle Island air strip. There was a nice "lounge" while waiting for ground transportation to the Eagle Island Camp.
p.s. your attachment opened fine for me. *You fly on a small, multi-engine commuter type turboprop or jet from Maun to Cape Town.
You can see from one of Alan’s photos that people are just carrying small bags onto the plane. This tour is what I consider an adventure tour and that’s how we dress for it. It’s liberating in regards to packing. Not even any makeup!
Comments
We just received our duffle bags for our trip in August, I didn’t measure but they are obviously too long for carry on. What date does you trip start on?
August 22. Yes, I received the bags and they definitely need to be checked....
Since this is a duffle bag topic...I am not sure if Tauck's mailing department knows what they are doing in regard to sending the 30" rolling duffles for my B,Z, SA vacation. My husband and I received our duffles about two weeks ago for our upcoming August B,Z,SA trip. I requested that our duffles be shipped much earlier to us since I will be leaving prior to our departure date in order to visit my mother (age 91) and other family. I purposefully requested that my daughter's duffle along with her husbands be sent to her home for the same reasons. She lives hours away from me. Tauck has my daughter's address on record and even reiterated back to me. Instead, I received tracking from UPS showing that her 2 duffles will be mailed to me! The same thing happened to friends of ours on the same trip. I hope I do not end up with extra duffles. Tauck said they will expedite duffles to my daughter and her husband. Fingers crossed.
That happened to our family last year. Fortunately we live near each other.
I think the mail room is in need of help. I'm taking my niece and nephew to Africa. Niece lives in Australia so they said she could pick up duffel when we arrive in Africa. I get mine but my nephew who lives in different city doesn't get his. I call they say will ship it out and give me a tracking number. The tracking was for a shipment to Australia. they sent my niece hers in Australia and my nephew's to her also. Finally I had to call again and they finally sent my nephew his to his correct address. Its the only time I've ever had an issue with Tauck but it was wacky
Yes, if this happens just to us, imagine to how many other similar instances there are. I imagine quite a lot! I never received a tracking number from Tauck no matter how often I asked. I receive tracking from UPS.
Question once again about the duffle that is allowed on the Botswana, Zambia South Africa trip. This was in our final documents (see attached). I understand that the 30”x15x14 duffle that was sent to us cannot exceed 44 lbs. The small soft sided carry-on or backpack that we are allowed to bring as our "extra" cannot exceed 16 lbs. That being said, there is no mention at all (as noted in the final documents) of any dimensions. Are they saying that it doesn’t matter but just the weight does? I know in previous documents there were size specifications for the carry on as well. Your thoughts and thank you.
It means a typical backpack like a school book bag. A wheeled bag or hard sided will not work. You are using small planes. I can’t open your docs. Tauck is not concerned about any other plans you might have for extra travel, they are telling you what they require. There is plenty of room for so many clothes in those duffels and laundry is cheaper in Africa. I’ve taken tours of three weeks with just a duffel. It’s a fantastic tour, we plan on taking it again.
I'm not convinced Tauck only mean a backpack for the extra piece of luggage although I will bring one. I'm sorry my attachment couldn't open.
This is what it says. I'm not understanding why my attachments do not open. They have in the past.
DUFFEL BAG- ONLY PIECE OF CHECKED LUGGAGE ALLOWED
PLEASE PACK IN THIS DUFFEL BAG, AS IT WILL BE YOUR ONLY PIECE OF LUGGAGE FOR THE ENTIRE TOUR.
Due to internal flights with limited storage capacity throughout the tour, A special rolling duffel bag (30x 15 x 14 inches) to be used for the entire tour; will be mailed to your home prior to your tour departure. This duffel bag has been selected to provide you with adequate space for all items needed during your stay.
While larger suitcases are prohibited, each guest is allowed a small carry-on bag (soft sided only), in addition to the duffel bag.
Guests are allowed up to 44 lbs (20 kg) for the duffel bag and up to 16 lbs (7 kg) for the carry-on.
If you choose to bring extra luggage outside of the rolling duffel and carry-on, you will be charged $230 per piece to have it flown from Kasane (on Day 3) to Maun where you will be reunited.
Unless they are using larger aircraft which I doubt, the aircraft used for 4 of the 5* on-tour flights on the Botswana, SA, Zambia tour were very small Cessna Caravans which had low ceilings and no overhead bins or even racks, and almost no room under the seats either, so you must typically hold your "small carry-on bag (soft-sided)" in your lap or down by your feet. That, along with the "17 lb" limit should give you an idea what they mean by "small." If you have a small bag at home, load it to 17 lbs with the things you might want access to during the flights or trip from the airstrip to the camp, plus a few more items, then see how much more you can pack in the duffel up to 44 lbs.
(Many years ago, during the Kenya portion of K&T, my wife and I shared one duffel! We had no problems! We each used our own duffel during during Botswana several years ago, but each of us had plenty of room to spare in them.)
Loading for our flight from Kisane airport to the Eagle Island dirt airstrip. It required 2 to 3 aircraft to transport our small group. Seating was 1 - 1. In addition to no overhead bins or racks there was barely a center isle! (photo was taken looking down the "isle" such as it was! Think about trying to lug any sort of bag down the non-isle! You are not going to roll anything down the isle, you can barely walk it facing sideways!
The duffels are loaded into a small cargo area in the cabin behind the seats and in a "canoe" under the aircraft. The TD was special he got two very large orange duffles.
That is our ticket agent/baggage handler/pilot holding one of the TD's bags!
Landing at Eagle Island air strip. There was a nice "lounge" while waiting for ground transportation to the Eagle Island Camp.
p.s. your attachment opened fine for me. *You fly on a small, multi-engine commuter type turboprop or jet from Maun to Cape Town.
Alan, Thank you. That makes perfect sense.
You can see from one of Alan’s photos that people are just carrying small bags onto the plane. This tour is what I consider an adventure tour and that’s how we dress for it. It’s liberating in regards to packing. Not even any makeup!