TRAVEL TIPS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR A FABULOUS TRIP

 

Traveling to South Africa, Visa and other travel requirements and guidelines

Passport warning:

All foreign passport holders entering South Africa are requested to have a minimum of two blank pages in their passports in order to be allowed entry to the country.

What to do:

Ensure that your passport is valid and not about to expire within the travel period or the next few months

Make sure you have all the necessary visas (and inoculations for other African countries you may visit)

Make certified copies of all your documentation and keep them separate from your travel papers

Take a copy of your itinerary and include contact numbers of friends, relatives or hotels where you’ll be staying. The easier you make it for immigration officials to check your plans, the fewer problems you’re likely to encounter

Always make sure you have enough travel insurance

If you are on prescribed medicines, try and have a medical letter stating what the tablets and medicines are for

What to avoid:  

Excess baggage:

If you have bought gifts and curios (or you have extra clothing) that you want to send back, there is a company that sends excess baggage to over 400 destinations worldwide.

The contact number in South Africa is 086 111 8224
www.u-bag.com
Email info@u-bag.com

Prepared for you by Dorienne of African Stay

www.africanstay.co.za
 

Luggage and labels

Be aware that even if you place things of value into your carry on bag, if that bag is too bulky, you might have to place it in the hold after all. Rather pack lightly. Please be careful to avoid packing anything of value into the checked baggage.

Keep jewellery and other items of value on you including medicines and all travel documents. Copies of the documents can be put into your baggage. I would urge you to leave the jewellery at home.

Please make certain your laptop, cameras, video recorders and jewels are well insured before you travel. Laptop theft is almost epidemic worldwide.

Label your luggage well. Label it in more than one place and put your name and address somewhere inside the case too. This, with your itinerary copy in the bag will aid an airline in tracing you should your luggage land up in some other destination.

Identify all your bags in a personal way-with a ribbon, a picture your initials – anything just so long as it’s clear.

Be sure you get your checked in luggage tags. This is essential if your luggage goes missing. And if this does happen (and I hope not), please don’t leave the airport until you have completed the paperwork at the office of the airline.

Try to put your camera in a larger bag as cameras are easy to steal. It’s a good idea to lock these bags.
 

Tipping

In South Africa, there is seldom a service charge so if you have enjoyed good service, please work on a tip of 10-15%.
Game rangers and trackers, waiters and drivers are not paid huge salaries and actually they rely on tips.
As a guideline, you can give a ranger anything from R150 and up and the tracker R75 and up. Please reward exceptional service exceptionally.

If you will have a driver for a few days, then let him know he will be tipped at the end of the journey if that is your intention. Work this out at about R100-R150 per day for caring and professional service.

A baggage handler/bellhop should get around R5.00 per bag.
At many lodges, you can pay a single amount that gets added into a pool for a year end distribution. However, this happens mostly at the bush lodges. Please speak to the On Duty manager for details.

If you want to leave a tip for the room cleaners, then a general average is R20 per night.
 

What to wear

From November to March – summer clothes. A light weight jersey/sweater/fleece is recommended for the cooler morning and evening temperatures in some areas.


From April to October – winter clothes. A very warm insulated or padded jacket is recommended especially for the bush lodges and you’d also need a scarf and gloves. Game drives can be icy.

Most dining rooms in hotels and lodges are informal although a swim suit and shoe-less will not be tolerated except maybe at a beach resort and on the outside verandahs or pool bars.

It’s unlikely that men would need formal wear such as jacket and tie and if by chance you decide to visit such a restaurant, the concierge will help out.

Comfortable walking shoes or sandals
Hiking boots or trainers with a good tread are essential for bush walks
Shorts and tee shirts
Light colored cotton clothing for the bush

Temperatures

In the summer, the night temperatures can sometimes dip to 10C (50F) in some parts of the country and the daytime highs are 30C+ (high 90’sF).

Winter days are generally mild in most parts of the country but the night time can dip to -2C (27F)


Please bring

Swimming suit
Sun block
Sun hat
Sunglasses
Lip balm
Binoculars

Most lodges will provide insect repellent but if you are going to a high risk malaria area, you must check in your own country at recognized travel clinics for the correct meds.

Prescription medicines
Please make certain you have the correct medicines and if necessary copies of your prescriptions.

Water

All South African tap water is safe to drink. Bottled water is available though and on all drives or walks, it’s advisable to carry a bottle with you.

Personal safety

It is advisable to take normal precautions when travelling in South Africa.
Avoid ostentatious displays of cash, expensive jewellery, cameras or other valuables.

Please don’t walk in isolated areas and especially at night in poorly lit streets.

Keep certified copies of legal documents on you. Leave your passport and airline tickets in the hotel room safe box.

When driving, keep the doors locked and don’t leave valuables lying on the car seat and the windows open when stopped. It’s best to lock valuables in the boot/trunk.

Never pick up strangers

South Africa doesn’t offer the typical taxi or yellow cab service found in Europe or North America. You can’t hail a cab. Please ask your hotel receptionist or maitre d’ to order a taxi through a reputable company.

Please don’t buy “gold” and other expensive items offered for sale by street vendors. It’s more than likely to be fake or even stolen goods.

Ideally traveller's cheques or credit cards should be used to avoid carrying round large amounts of cash.

At the airports, please use only those operators with clearly identifiable tags. If you aren’t certain which of the taxis are legal, please ask at an information kiosk or talk to an officer on duty.
South African police are easily identified by their blue uniforms and blue and white patrol vehicles.

Telecommunications

The country has a very sophisticated system. For international calls to South Africa, the code is +27 followed by the area code and then the number.
The country is well serviced with coin and card operated public telephones and you can hire cellular telephones at the airports.

For additional details on health care, banking and general cultural information, please email info@africanstay.co.za


Welcome to the world in one country. I wish you a safe and wonderful trip. Please feel free to contact African Stay on www.africanstay.co.za
For any further information about the history and heritage, the tourism regions, sport, nature, wildlife and African optimism

 

For more information contact: info@africanstay.co.za