| |
South Africa
Travel Tips
From Europe or the UK?
Especially for First-Timers
Travel Tips You Need
As the owners of a guest house in the Drakensberg in KwaZulu Natal we’ve come to know the kind of things our
visitors say “I wish I’d thought about that before I came”.
It’s not earth-shattering stuff but it is stuff that’s real handy. And it’s not readily available
anywhere else on the web. You’ll be glad you took the time to read it.
So, if you’re thinking of travelling to South Africa (always a good idea!), this is
information you need to have – particularly if you haven’t been here before.
Malaria
if you get bitten, get tested
Using Credit Cards : Bank Charges
watch those bank charges
Your Itinerary : Attempting Too Much?
it’s a big place
Grading Systems
grading systems
Travel Portals
there's a cheaper way
Crime : The Latest Statistics
it's getting better
Malaria
Trust me. You don’t want this one. Here’s a good introductory page. (Well, go and take a
look, I’ll still be here when you get back.) Note two important points.
One - even if you do take one of the 4 kinds of anti-malarial drugs proposed, you can still get it. And while
they describe the side effects, warnings and contra-indications, they don’t mention that
these drugs will, in a lot of cases, make you feel horrible.
Two - note that symptoms can manifest anytime between 7 days and a year.
A better approach is don’t get bitten. That’s not so difficult. There are plenty of people
who live in malaria areas, and since you can’t take these drugs for a sustained period of
time, not getting bitten is their only defense. And they manage.
Buy a few cans of insecticide and “Tabbard” sticks before going into a malaria risk area.
Spray your car and your accommodation thoroughly, morning and evening. Bring
lightweight (malaria and hot weather go together), long-sleeved tops and trousers
(elasticized at ankle and wrist) and use the “Tabbard” on exposed skin. Don’t forget thick
socks or boots.
Another thing you can do is try and plan your itinerary so that your exposure to malaria is
at the end of your holiday. That way, if symptoms do manifest in 7 to 10 days, you’re
back home with access to medical facilities that you know and trust, and probably don’t
have to pay for.
Did you know that a simple blood test can determine if you have malaria or not? So,
even if you decide to take the pills, get tested when you get home. It’s just a pinprick and a
drop of blood gets examined under a microscope. It’s not a big deal. And it cuts out the
possibility of symptoms developing maybe months later. As with a lot of these things, the
faster you catch it, the better.
Top of Page
Using Credit Cards : Bank Charges
Most South African travel and information portals will tell you that South Africa has a
very sophisticated banking sector. It does. There are automatic teller machines all over
the place. Something they don’t tell you though, is that using plastic, you can only take
R1000 at a time out of an ATM.
Now R1000 will pay for accommodation for two, a decent meal and a bottle of wine in a
good guest house. What about spending money? Petrol? (Which you can’t pay for in
South Africa with a credit card. No, I don’t know why.) The bottom line is you’re going
to need to draw more than once a day.
For every R1000 debit that hits your bank account bank back home, it’s accompanied by
bank charges, and in the case of some banks, it’s 5 Euro a pop. That adds up.
If you haven’t got one, think about a Maestro debit card. Works in all ATM’s and on all
Visa and MasterCard machines. The only problem is you have to have the money in the
bank before you come.
Last tip on ATM’s. From time-to-time these things swallow cards. Always irritating, but
more so if it’s after hours. That can really spoil a well-planned itinerary. Most big petrol
ports / stations (Engen particularly) have ABSA Cashpoint machines. At these ATM’s
you stick your card in the slot, continue to hang on to it, while it reads it, and then
take it out. Then it asks for your pin code, how much money you want etc.
Top of Page
Your Itinerary : Attempting Too Much?
South Africa is a big place - the size of France and Spain combined. Now while most
travel and information portals will tell you that “South Africa has a well-developed road
infrastructure”, that’s only kind of true. Yes, the N1 that links Johannesburg and Cape
Town is as good as you’ll find in Europe, as is the N3 that links Johannesburg and
Durban. And the N2 that links Cape Town and Durban is mostly good. But other than the
main autoroutes, even if a road is shown as “surfaced” on the map, don’t assume that that
means fast motoring. And some of the “un-surfaced” roads – well, you’ll be glad you’re
in a hired car.
The reality is potholes, some big enough to puncture a tyre or damage the suspension.
The reality is goats, donkeys and cows grazing on the side of the road. They’re all pretty
solid obstacles.
Another reality is pedestrians. So slow down. If you’re on “B” roads be
especially wary at night.
The last thing you want is to feel pressurized to cover ground because you’ve planned
your itinerary, paid your deposits to all your intended accommodation stopovers and you
just have to get there. Even though you’re exhausted and your malaria pills are making
you feel terrible.
Top of Page
Grading Systems
Grading is Good. If your accommodation choice hasn't accepted the challenge of being measured and benchmarked, think again.
There are three organisations whose accommodation publications you’ll find everywhere. They
are: the Tourism Grading Council of South Africa (www.tourismgrading.co.za); the
Automobile Association (www.aatravel.co.za); and the various Portfolio Collections (www.portfoliocollection.com). Is one better than the others?
Well, I’d say a good guide is to take a look at their grading criteria. You can download
them here. They’re PDF files so you’ll need Adobe Acrobat Reader:
TGCSA Criteria (338 KB)
AA Criteria (39 KB)
Portfolio Criteria (28 KB)
The file sizes alone are instructive.
Top of Page
Travel Portals
What are “travel portals”? Generally speaking, they’re big sites (hundreds of pages)
offering travel information and maybe thousands of accommodation options. They come
in two varieties. Those that provide a link direct to the selected accommodation
establishment’s web site (and provide contact details). And those that introduce
themselves as a “middleman” and take a commission. No contact details are provided
until you’ve paid your deposit.
Examples of the first kind are TGCSA (www.tourismgrading.co.za); and the AA
(www.aatravel.co.za). The accommodation establishments pay for inclusion but what
they’re really buying is the grading. What you get is the assurance that that particular
establishment meets pre-defined standards.
You also get a "come-back” in the event of a bad experience. Both of them will intervene on your behalf. Unfortunately, unless you're really looking, you're never going to find these sites. They're simple not optimized to arrive on the first page of any search engine for any SA tourism-related search term you may care to key in.
Here's one that is though. It's a "class-act".
South Africa Travel
Now the “middleman” type. How do they work? You book through them and pay your
deposit to them. They take 15% - 20% off the top so you’ll find most accommodation
establishments add this in to the prices quoted on the portal. So if you find a place you
like the look of, note its name and put that into Google, Yahoo, MSN, or whatever. If
they’ve got their own web site (and 90% of the time they have), I’ll bet you a pound to a
penny it’s cheaper dealing direct.
Plus you’ll get more information, and a better feel from an “own” web site – portals limit
you to 400 / 500 words of your most persuasive prose and half a dozen pictures. Tops.
Top of Page
Crime : The Latest Statistics
Detailed crime statistics are now published annually by the South African Police
Services. For a while they weren’t published at all because the Great and the Good
thought it would be better to suppress bad news. Now that we know what’s going on,
most South African travel and information portals are going to try and put a positive spin
on crime without getting into too much detail. “It’s getting better”. And so it is.
But 2 things emerge from the 2004 numbers that you should bear in mind in planning
your holiday:
Cape Town (and the Western Cape, although 70% of the Western Cape’s population lives
in Cape Town) is now South Africa’s murder capital.
Johannesburg (and Gauteng) has more than double the rate of “aggravated robbery” of
any other region in the country.
Put you off? Don’t let it…We all know that generally speaking, bad things can happen
in cities.
You’ll be as safe as houses if you stick to the very well policed major tourist attractions. But don’t get too adventurous. And I’d be wary about the location of my accommodation choice. So get
the mega-ticks as quick as you can, and head for the relatively crime-free rural areas…like the Drakensberg?
Top of Page
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Drakensberg accommodation
on the Midlands Meander
for information, enquiries or reservations
phone Janette on +27 (0)33 263 2696
©Halls Country House - Midlands Meander|Drakensberg Accommodation.
|
