Postby PNG_Pony » Sun Oct 25, 2015 9:18 pm
Hmm, when I ship carvings out of PNG, I generally put it on a sea freight container (takes a few months) or in my checked luggage (I just wear all my clothes, normally, and stuff the suitcase full of gifts...I wouldn't want to wear any of my PNG clothes in the US anyway!). DHL is super expensive (as you found!), and the regular post office isn't that reliable. In lieu of bubble wrap I use plastic bags (shopping bags or ziploc) with air blown into them. Or I'll wrap it in a rug or another soft gift I'm taking and cover the whole thing in plastic bags/something waterproof and slather it with tape. But, I've never taken anything of that size out. We do have cardboard here; I generally ask for it at the local grocery store and get a few nasty boxes and tape them all together. Is there any other container service at the port? Maybe not something all the way to the US, but perhaps to Europe? (Sometimes we use one company to get stuff from PNG to Brisbane and then we use another company to get it to the US).
(It might not be an issue with the airports she's travelling through, but even if Sierra Leone lets her bring stuff out, not all countries will let her bring stuff in, even temporarily (like Australia). With any wood or organic products, I have to freeze it, sometimes spray it, and shake it thoroughly so that no little bits fall out and it gets taken because they think there are bugs in it.)