So, what happened to the equipment?

This question occupied my thoughts for a week trying to figure it all out. Understanding the thinking of Sherlock Holmes, I went to deductive reasoning to eliminate the scenarios that were not logically possible. First, who would really know what bag Steve left his camera equipment in? Since all bags look alike, we did have three exactly the same roll along bags with the bright pink zip ties. So, how could any of the baggage people from Entebbe to Kilimanjaro know we had a bag with camera equipment in it?

You guessed it, it was the Kenya Airline counter people in Entebbe, Uganda that actually saw the whole scenario. They took Steve’s bag immediately to a private area to steal everything they could. Could there have been a possibility of the bag being gone through in Nairobi or Kilimanjaro? Not likely, because, as I interviewed the security agents, there was zero to no possibility of ‘ID’ing Steve’s bag and stealing his equipment. All bags are under extreme security and locked up over night. The Entebbe group steals stuff all the time, and they are good at it. Where ever they take the bag to go through is safe for them. Steve’s bag was carefully and methodically gone through with other items in their place. I suggest a woman did it, because the bag was so neat. Steve’s Bose headphones was there, but the iPod and cords were gone. I contacted Kenya Airlines and Precision Airways for weeks. If Abercrombie and Kent had carried through with our baggage pickup, then we might have been able to recover our equipment. If I can impress on anyone going to Africa, do not let anyone take you camera equipment from you for any reason. Carry an extra folded up tote to put the equipment in. Keep anything of value on yourself. Don’t become complacent and think you will not become a target. Those eyes are watching your every movement to steal from you. You cannot get reasonable homeowners insurance without a previous rider. You will never get your stuff back for your own lack of awareness. We paid big time. It is just not Africa, but everywhere. Africa is just better at theft! Is there a remote possibility that Steve’s bag was randomly gone through. Not really, as Nicole’s and my roll along bags were retrieved in Kilimanjaro. Steve’s bag did not arrive, but when we did get it, the original pink tie was removed, equipment stolen, and another similar pink tie applied. The real blessing here is, I had left my new Canon Ds Mark III body wrapped in my roll along. No one suspected I would have another body in there. I am thankful for that.

Join my Fan Page on Facebook, Outrageous Red.

Tags: Abercrombie and Kent, Africa, cameras, Canon camera and lenses, Entebbe, jungle, Kenya, Kenya Airline, Kenya Airways, Precisions Airways, stolen camera equipment, theft