Get your questions about South Africa Answered!!

I don't know much about South Africa's food but one of my friends told me that it is not so bad. Hope so!

 

Violence against non-SA Africans have occured at the lowest of low levels - in the squatter camps where housing and jobs are at their scarcest. Avoid the squatter camps anyway - even if you support SA.

Wear your nigerian shirt - have seen quite a few so far.

 

Nooit Boet - start learning these:
http://www.timeslive.co.za/sundaytimes/article487745.ece/40-South-Africanisms-you-should-know

 

hey guys, been lurking in this thread for a while now, time to make myself known!

I'm an avid runner and would love to get a few runs in during our two week stay in Johannesburg. I'll be staying in Greenhill near the Parkview Golf course and I've been told by a South African friend of mine that it's perfectly safe to run in that area as long as I don't have any fancy stuff on.

I'll aim to run earlier in the mornings and just wondered if any of the locals had thoughts on this. I know Zoo lake is nearby and was/is the training ground for Hendrick Ramaala, marathon champion!

Thanks

 

I'm looking at accommodations in neighborhoods in Durban and have been looking at Berea and Morningside. I've found a reasonably priced place located near here:

Manning Road and Moore road, (Musgrave/Glenwood) durban south africa

Can anyone comment on the area? Is it safe? It seems to be, but I'd like to be sure before I book.

 

I too had a similar question. Looking at a place in the Musgrave area very close to Musgrave centre. Does anybody know if that area is safe?

 

The Tour provides the shuttle from the airport to Springs + there is a pre tour meeting on arrival so exact times are unkown. Hopefully by 7 I will be free to go eat and watch the game !

 

interest

 

Enter a race - http://www.entrytime.com/index.asp?goto=af&afid=22&pt=events&typeid=3

 

Yay! Hopefully they can shuttle you to Carnival City or somewhere festive to watch the game.

 

There's plety of runners in Joburg especially around that area you staying at. Please contact these guys and they will certainly assist you, http://www.raceresults.co.za/ you can even go through the site to check the upcoming races.

 

I will be staying near the Cresta Shopping Centre and we are not hiring a car. What do you reckon is the best method of getting to Soccer City and Ellis Park?

 

Looking for decent accomodations in Sandton area beginning Friday, June 11. All current options are appreciated.

 

Thanks for the link, that site looks very helpful. I think it would be great to run a race while I'm over there!

 

I have tickets to a 16:00 game @ Ellis Park. Is there anything near the stadium to watch the game just before it on screens/public so that we can get to Ellis Park right away and not miss any of the pre-game stuff ?

 

The fifa fanpark is about 2 miles away, approximately here on the map.
There might be other options...

 

Added more photos - check out the lovely wire statues at the Pretoria City Hall
http://picasaweb.google.com/n.gronum/WC2010#

 

I will be arriving in South Africa in less than a week. I had hopes that it would be an incident free World Cup. But I must admit that the recent robberies of journalists are beginning to worry me.


http://www.goal.com/en/news/1863/wo...-three-foreign-journalists-robbed-at-gunpoint

What do you guys think?

 

Shit happens everywhere, just blown up in different proportions depending on how sellable the story is. Just have basic common sence and follow the locals and you should be fine as it seems based on the comments from local people here. The only thing I'm worried about is my family worrying back home based on all these panic-producing stories.

Incident-free world cup? Does that exist?

On a different note: we all got the MTN sim card with the ticket confirmations, is the phone number for the sim card the number on the back of it? Mine says 0987161391, is that a mobile number in SA?

 

Right length - have no 098 numbers as yet but maybe that is MTN's way of tracking if the numbers get used. So IS probably your new cell #

 

I'm looking at The Palace Hotel in Durban and its located near South Beach.

211 Marine Parade
Durban 4056, South Africa

That's the address. Does anybody know if that area is dodgy?

 

On my way to South Africa tomorrow! One last inquiry. What's the deal with pre-paid cell phones for local use? Are these easy to acquire/use? Are incoming calls free?

Obviously good to have for emergencies, but also if incoming calls are free it makes it easier to contact loved ones back in the US.

Thanks everybody, I'm beyond pumped for this trip.