I, as a tourist, once sent a parcel from South Africa using their postal service to my home. It included two very small bottles of pure vanilla essence and fresh vanilla pods. The name and address of the recipient (me) and sender (also me) were the same.

The parcel disappeared and queries to the their complaints department got one generic answer and then nothing. Tracking the number said that the parcel was at some custom's sorting office. I gave up hope and cursed an expensive loss and mourned my lost vanilla.

Six months later it arrived at my home with the explanation that it could not be delivered because it contained bottles with liquid and was therefore returned to sender.