by Kieran McGovern Intermediate
Some air passengers seem a little confused about what you can take on a plane as hand luggage.
A man recently flew into the USA with a monkey under his hat. He clearly needs to read the rules. So does the woman who travelled several thousand miles with a kitten in her handbag.
And there’s no excuse for smuggling three stolen iguanas onboard an international flight in a false leg.
Under his
hat
The man and his monkey started
their journey in Lima, Peru. They then had a stopover in
Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Here they passed through a
security check.
Everything was fine until the plane was in the air. Then
the monkey climbed out from under the man’s hat and
sat on his ponytail. ‘Did you know you
have a monkey on you?’ a fellow passenger asked
politely.
I think he did know.
Monkey
The monkey sat quietly for the
rest of the journey. This doesn’t surprise me because
small monkeys aren’t bad travel companions. Yes, they
do want a lot of attention - but so do young children. And
monkeys are more entertaining than screaming two-year-olds.
I once sat next to a monkey on a bus in Vietnam. I first
noticed him when he moved in the bag of the passenger next
to me. I thought I was dreaming until he climbed out.
The bus driver didn’t charge him for a ticket.
Flying
Kitten
Cats are not good travellers and they insist on flying
first class. The stray kitten probably slept through the
2,800-mile journey from Iran to Newcastle, UK. She passed
through security checks in Tehran and Amsterdam without a
problem.
Customs officer at Newcastle Airport discovered the
stowaway kitten while checking the woman’s luggage.
Finally the cat was let out of the bag.
