Traveling to South Africa

[RomaGoth]

So I am traveling to South Africa at the end of this week. Flying out of DC and outside of a stop in Dakar, the flight is roughly 17.5 hours. Yikes. Bringing my tablet, kindle, and friendly conversation with whomever I am sitting next to (and my family members who are going with me of course).

Anyone here been there? We are staying near Kruger National Park and will be in the area from Sunday evening through the following Saturday afternoon.

What should I expect from the locals? Any advice regarding the long flight? Money transfer rates seem to be favorable.

Looking forward to this trip.

[TCY Junkie]

Have a fun and safe trip!

[cartman]

I went there for work about 10 years ago. Flew out of DFW to Frankfurt, had a 10 hour layover, then Frankfurt to Johannesburg. I flew business class, which made the trip a lot better, but that is still a long time in planes.

I'm guessing the place you are staying is picking you up from the airport? On my trip, I they didn't let me go anywhere unless I was with someone from the local office. There is tons of petty crime, and there is definitely safety in numbers. I wish I would have had advanced notice for that trip, because I definitely would have planned some visits to see places like Kruger. You'll likely have a much different experience than the one I had, since you'll be out by the parks.

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by cartman

I went there for work about 10 years ago. Flew out of DFW to Frankfurt, had a 10 hour layover, then Frankfurt to Johannesburg. I flew business class, which made the trip a lot better, but that is still a long time in planes.

I'm guessing the place you are staying is picking you up from the airport? On my trip, I they didn't let me go anywhere unless I was with someone from the local office. There is tons of petty crime, and there is definitely safety in numbers. I wish I would have had advanced notice for that trip, because I definitely would have planned some visits to see places like Kruger. You'll likely have a much different experience than the one I had, since you'll be out by the parks.

My dad is hunting cape buffalo while we are there and he has become good friends with some of the guides. We will be picked up from the airport and should have a guide most of the time. We are not sure where we are staying yet though; there are 3 camps/lodges.

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by TCY Junkie

Have a fun and safe trip!

Thanks!

[booradley]

South Africa

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by booradley

South Africa

Received all my vaccinations, have my malaria medication for the trip, and have my passport.

Thanks for the link!

[EagleFan]

Have a safe trip, enjoy.

Have heard that you need to be very careful where you go, especially at night. (granted this is based on a conversation with someone that used to drive a cab there but this conversation was probably 7 years ago so it may have changed)

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by EagleFan

Have a safe trip, enjoy.

Have heard that you need to be very careful where you go, especially at night. (granted this is based on a conversation with someone that used to drive a cab there but this conversation was probably 7 years ago so it may have changed)

Thanks!

[RomaGoth]

Do any of you travel overseas from the US? If so, what do you do about your cell phone service? I don't want to get hit with international roaming charges but I would like to contact my wife a couple times to let her know I am still alive.

Thoughts?

[Dutch]

For short trips, I would abandon cell phone service. Connect to wifi and FB message. There are some free voice options too but I can't remember them. Voice over IP.

[cartman]

If your phone and carrier supports WiFi calling, that might be a good option. Otherwise, you are looking at $2.50-3.00 per minute without any kind of plan. You might be able to get a short term international plan from your carrier.

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by Dutch

For short trips, I would abandon cell phone service. Connect to wifi and FB message. There are some free voice options too but I can't remember them. Voice over IP.

This is kinda what I was thinking. I haven't been on FB in several years and have zero interest in using it again. I guess my main concern is how stable/secure WiFi is in other parts of the world (specifically South Africa since that is where I am headed).

On the positive side, I can meet that guy who sends emails regarding the money I won!

[molson]

Originally Posted by RomaGoth

Do any of you travel overseas from the US? If so, what do you do about your cell phone service? I don't want to get hit with international roaming charges but I would like to contact my wife a couple times to let her know I am still alive.

Thoughts?

I sign up for Verizon's pay-as-you go plan for text/voice that I only use for minor emergencies. It was something like $1.70/minute for voice and 50 cents per text for Japan. It looks like it's similar in South Africa.

You can call your provider to see if they have something like that, but if not, don't turn on your phone the entire trip, or make you you have texting and calls and data turned off before you get on the plane, or you might risk some weird roaming charge.

[Dutch]

Wifi should be fine in South Africa.

[cartman]

Not sure how much it has improved since I was there, but the customer I went to visit was Telkom, which was the state-owned telephone monopoly. They've since opened up the market to competitors. But internet service was pretty bad. At the time, they only had one cable going north to Western Africa and one towards India, with the rest of the connections via satellite. They had some pretty intricate throttling solutions in place.

[RomaGoth]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I will probably just leave my phone in airplane mode for the entire trip unless I have WiFi available.

[Dutch]

Has South Africa already been completely un-westernized?

[vex]

I would recommend just picking up a prepaid phone when you're there.

[RomaGoth]

Originally Posted by vex

I would recommend just picking up a prepaid phone when you're there.

Might not be a bad idea but I am only going to be there for a week. Not sure if it is worth the effort.

Thanks though, hadn't thought of that option.

[bob]

Using Facetime worked great over Wifi from Taiwan to Atlanta.

[RomaGoth]

Had a great trip. Flight is very, very long. It was quite interesting seeing another side of life half a world away. We took a day tour through Kruger National Park and that was probably one of the best experiences of my life. There is nothing like seeing elephants, giraffes, zebras, and lions in the wild; seeing them at the zoo does not even compare.

It is nice being home though; I was in a plane for nearly 24 hours each way. Now just trying to get back to normal...