It was 1972 and I was given the opportunity to accompany my fiance on one of his many trips to South Africa for business. I was thrilled. My brother and his family had been living in South Africa since the early 1950s and I was so excited to be able to see where they lived and to visit my nephews.
We
were planning on doing sight-seeing and had a special photographer's
camera that looked more like a rifle than a camera. As we
exited the plane, custom officials pulled us aside and took us into
an interrogation room and did a strip search because of the 'weapon'
we were carrying. I was terrified. My fiance, Paul,
finally convinced them it was a camera and we were released.