Poor plans do not fly
Make sure you’ve ticked off do-and-don’ts checklist to prevent your travels from crash-landing into a sorry heap
The plane tickets are booked, bags packed and the call of your dream holiday loudly beckons on the horizon, much like the call of a seagull but – just as you tick off the last item on your long to-do list before you jet off – you’re hit by sudden thoughts of all that could go wrong.
What if your house is broken into while you are away? What if you’re arrested while you're on holiday? Or what if the kennels, where your beautiful fur babies are to be housed throughout the duration of your holiday, cancels at the last minute?
We try to answer some of these questions for you to, hopefully, halve your stress.
● What if my house is broken into while I'm away on holiday?
A home security system which is regularly tested and monitored by a reputable armed response company could be the answer.
Fidelity ADT national marketing and communications manager, Charnel Hattingh, also recommended getting-to-know the neighbours to let them know your holiday plans, so that they can help keep an eye on your property.
According to Hattingh, this would help alert the local neighbourhood watch.
“Keeping the lights on so it seems as if someone is home and not closing the curtains, can help to prevent a break-in while you are away,” she said.
“I suggest people look at their property in a layered approach. Start with the outside perimeter – does your wall and fence provide enough protection and should you perhaps consider installing an electric fence?”
For those with a large property with huge gardens, installing a security beam which can detect movement can be useful.
“Moving to the house itself, do you have security gates and burglar bars on all doors and windows?”
● What if I discover my luggage is missing when I arrive at my holiday destination?
XL Aloe Travel manager, Clare de Weijer, said lost baggage was usually handled by the airline.
If your baggage does not follow you off the aircraft, report this to the airline immediately to get a reference number. De Weijer said this number was used to track the baggage.
“In some cases, the bags are just delayed because they were put on a different plane and they will follow in a few hours or after a day or two. If they are truly lost and the client has taken out baggage insurance then they can claim for it,” she explained.
“There are some people who waive the insurance, maybe its an affordability issue, but I personally would never travel without it.”
● What if I get sick while I'm on holiday, particularly if overseas?
Taking out a health insurance with your travel agency may go a long way if you find yourself sick in a foreign country, but also enquire with your medical aid about what your options are.
Head of research and development at Discovery Health, Deon Kotze, said certain plans, such as the coastal plans, had unlimited hospital cover at all hospitals, not just those situated in the coastal provinces.
He said members were covered in the case of any emergency medical condition which required immediate medical and surgical treatment.
“In such a situation, the member may be transferred to the nearest Coastal Plan hospital, but only once their condition has been stabilised,” he said.
When travelling overseas, Discovery Health members are covered for up to 90 days from their date of departure provided they receive care from a qualified medical professional.
The amount of cover varies on the medical plan in question, up to R10m per person per trip on the Executive plan and up to R5m million on the Classic, Essential, Coastal and Smart Plan. ● What if I get arrested in a foreign country?
According to the department of international relations and cooperation’s website, under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963 – the accepted standard for all member countries – people arrested outside their own country must be given access to their consular representative.
South Africans must immediately request the authorities to allow them to contact the South African representative in that country or alternatively, somebody can contact the representative on their behalf.
Consular officials are supposed to seek to ensure that citizens arrested abroad are treated humanely and issues such as torture, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment will be reported and taken up with the local authorities.
The officials can also assist with providing general information about the legal system of the country of arrest, undertake prison visits, contact family or friends of the detainee in writing and also help with funds transfer.
● What if I want to stay connected while abroad using my current phone number?
While it might work out cheaper to buy a SIM card and join a local service provider when you arrive at your new destination, South African networks do provide international roaming services – but at a heavy cost.
Prices differ per mobile network used, with users charged up to R5 per minute when either making or receiving a call, R5 per megabyte in data costs plus R1 to send a message.
● What if I want to go on holiday but I have pets?
Owner of Going Away, Leanne Burger, said leaving pets at the kennels is an option, but getting the services of a pet sitter is best.
With branches in East London, Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth, Burger said she provides both pet and house-sitting services at a cost.
Bookings for Going Away can be made via their website.
● What if I don't like the food at my holiday destination?
Harvey World Travel manager, Melanie Sizer, said one is allowed to fly with food within certain regulations.
According to Sizer, no one is allowed to fly with meat, biltong, whole nuts, spices or fruit. Sizer said the items had to be declared upon arrival in the new country.
“There generally is no issue with bringing food along but just ensure that you don't hide it.
“Just declare it and it should be okay. If you hide it then it could be an issue.
“Also ensure that the food is packaged correctly, preferably in air-tight containers for the journey,” she said.
“Baby formula can also be brought along, provided that it’s in powder format. Bring the empty bottles along and just ask the air hostess to bring you hot water so you can mix it. Remember that you have liquid restrictions in your luggage as well so don't travel with ready-made baby bottles.”
Sizer said if in doubt about the water quality at the holiday destination, rather don't drink it.
“Buy water instead.
“Try to look for an international brand and not the local water if you don't trust the quality.”
No one is allowed to fly with meat, biltong, whole nuts, spices or fruit. The items have to be declared upon arrival
I first met Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum eight years ago, after moving to Dubai. She contacted me because she wanted a private capoeira (martial arts) teacher, and I agreed to take up the role. Not until I first went to meet her at her family’s stables did I learn she was an Emirati princess.
The daughter of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the billionaire ruler of Dubai and prime minister and vice-president of the UAE, Latifa was no ordinary citizen. But there were no outward signs of her royal status. I found her a kind, down-to-earth and private person, with no interest in the trappings of her family’s great wealth or power.
We soon became very close friends, and took up skydiving together.
But, as is shown in a new BBC documentary, her life was not at all what it seemed. In 2016 she showed me a British newspaper article about her older sister Shamsa, who had escaped from the family’s Surrey estate in 2000 but was later kidnapped from the streets of Cambridge and forcibly returned to Dubai.
I saw Shamsa with Latifa at the exclusive Zabeel health club, and she didn’t look well. According to Latifa, she is now effectively imprisoned at home, drugged and watched over 24 hours a day.
Latifa told me her childhood was miserable. That where she lived with her mother and two sisters was a “house of depressed women”. Her life, she said, was heavily restricted: she could only get around with her designated driver and could not enter anyone’s private home. Nor could she leave Dubai.
She wasn’t allowed her passport, not even a bank account. She was permitted to spend time at her family’s sports club, the shopping mall or else at the family skydiving business. But she couldn’t go anywhere without an approved chaperone.
Eventually, that chaperone became me. It’s easy not to see the reality of lives like Latifa’s. When we look at Dubai, we are blinded by luxury lifestyles, air-conditioned shopping malls, fancy cars, sunshine and sea. But Latifa knows the “real Dubai” and she too had tried to escape.
She told me of her failed attempt to flee over the border in 2002, when she was 16; of how she had been captured and imprisoned for 3½ years, and also tortured.
She hadn’t abandoned her hopes of escape. Instead, she’d been quietly corresponding for years with a man called Hervé Jaubert, a former French navy officer and apparent secret agent who had escaped from Dubai after his submarine firm there ran into difficulties. She wanted him to help her escape.
She asked if I would travel to the Philippines to meet him and make plans. “But I don’t want you to take any risks,” she said.
“You’re my best friend,” I told her. “Of course I want to help you.”
And so, with Jaubert, an escape plot took shape. From the end of August 2017 until the day we left on February 24 this year, both of us brimmed with stress and excitement. Finally, the day arrived. Latifa and I met early in the morning after she was dropped off by her driver. Then we drove to Oman, exhilarated by the sense of adventure, and hopeful Latifa’s dream of freedom would become reality.
Latifa was never naive though. Before we left, she put together evidence of her mistreatment and made a film to be released if we didn’t succeed. “I’m making this video because it could be the last video I make,” she said.
If she failed to achieve her freedom, she wanted the world to know her story.
We made it to the coast of Oman, boarded a dinghy and travelled about 24km into the Arabian Sea, where Jaubert was waiting. Together we jet-skied another 10 miles, until we reached his yacht and a Filipino crew and set sail for the west coast of India. The plan was to come ashore in Goa and fly onwards to the US, where Latifa would claim political asylum.
At first she felt happy and free. But as the days passed her mood became increasingly fearful. These fears were realised, six days into our voyage, when we saw planes flying above us: it became clear we were being followed.
About 50km from India, and eight days into our journey, we came under attack. It was about 10pm and Latifa and I were in the cabin when we heard what sounded like gunfire. In terror, we locked ourselves in the bathroom, but the cabin started filling with smoke. So we climbed to the upper deck, and came face to face with a group of Indian commandos, armed with machine guns.
I was pushed to the floor, where I found myself lying in a pool of blood. They tied my hands behind my back and told me, “Don’t move or we’ll shoot you.” Two of them grabbed me, took me to the outer deck and pushed my head over the railing towards the sea. “Take your last breath,” they instructed. “We’re going to shoot your brain out.”
At that moment I was beyond terror. The situation no longer felt real. I was trapped in a nightmare. As I was taken to the front deck, I saw Latifa. She was putting up a fight. “Leave my friend alone,” she cried. “I’m seeking political asylum.”
They told her to shut up but she carried on shouting. We were surrounded by darkness and I don’t know how long it was before someone who spoke Arabic boarded the yacht, identified Latifa and took her away.
The last words I heard from her, kicking and screaming, haunt me to this day: “Just shoot me here,” she begged. “Don’t take me back to the UAE.”
That was the last time I saw her.
That night, I was locked in my cabin with the crew and was told, the next morning, that we were headed to the UAE. While my hands were still tied, one person said: “If you want to jump now, I’m not going to stop you. It will be easier for you that way.”
They took me to a prison in the UAE, where I was interrogated for hours.
They refused to believe I had simply been helping a friend, and demanded to know who organised the escape, threatening me with life imprisonment and the death penalty. Eventually, I was released and put on a flight to London.
When I got home to Finland, I was shocked to find out the whole world knew what had happened. Latifa had made contact with an NGO called Detained in Dubai and Radha Stirling and David Haigh, who had been assisting throughout our voyage, told our story.
Latifa was not so lucky. I still don’t know what has happened to her, as no one has heard from her since. Sheikh Mohammed and the government of Dubai have not responded to requests for comment, though a source close to the government has been quoted as saying Latifa is “with her family” and “doing excellent”.
A moment doesn’t go by when she doesn’t cross my mind. Through the Free Latifa campaign (freelatifa.com) I am now doing everything I can to fight for her release.
I’m not going to give up hope and I’ll never give up on her dream of improving the lives of women in the Middle East, who just want to be equal and free. I have at least succeeded in making one of her dreams come true: telling her story to the world.
As told to Rosa Silverman