Yes - map of city on one side, basic map of SA on other side. Petrol garage near drop off. They have some promotional SA Touring guide map books which have all the maps but if they have run out of stock you will have to buy a map book of SA to get the city maps. Else stop at every branch along the way and get their local maps!! Do you land in JHB?
I land in Jo'burg on 13th June then take a Peregrine tour for 12 days which finishes lunchtime on the 24th in Durban where I pick up the car. I do not intend buying maps unless absolutely necessary. I hope to use a combination of maps printed of the internet, free ones and guide book info. With the possible exception of PE I will not be driving much within big cities - more drive thru in their cases. People have been discussing getting gps but I really see this as overkill.
Yup - if you print a few off the internet and use the guide books it will be fine. ARe you driving Durban to PE straight or via Bloem? There are a few dangerous spots and weak roads on the Wild coast.
Durban-Peitermaritzburg-Newcastle-Nelspruit-Brits- Roodepoort-Bloemfontein-Graaff Reinet-Storms River-PE. Another side issue. I was planning on taking night trains to/from Ellis Pk & Roodepoort but my accom. advised against it. I wanted to go to Gold Reef anyhow so have decided to use the Park N Ride there. My question is when does that park n ride open for an 8 30pm game? The idea would be to drive the car 2pm to Gold Reef to check it out then catch the bus to game about 6 30pm perhaps. Could I park direct in the PnR or would I have to shift the car form the public car park sometime?
1. This cross country stretch requires extra vigilence, only stopping where other motorists do. 2. You can only reach Storms River by backtracking from P.E. or taking the scenic route from George. Do not be tempted in taking the unpaved pass from Avontuur to Knysna, bypassing George. 3. I am not personally familiar with GRC. Montecasino allows unlimited parking for R 10, payable upon entry. The "public" parking and PNR parking may actually be one and the same.
1.Thanks. Idea is to drive during day via Emerlo then Barbeton if there is enough time. Whats the issues here? 2. Yep we are debating the two options. My friend wants to stop at Zebra Park nr Craddock but that makes it a long day. My preference is N9 then R339 to Kynsna..is this the route you mean ? Whats the issue? I note the road between Avondale & Uniondale may be closed but i can detour around it. The Prince Alfred Pass Road sounds very scenic.
There have been (road) security issues in that part of South Africa, in the former eastern Transvaal. Daytime driving is fine just don't stop to take a leak or a photo in isolated spots along the route. The vast majority of "R" roads with triple digits, e.g. R 339, are unpaved. That road you are looking at on the map is a mountain pass, unpaved and with few safety features. You are also driving in the Cape's wet season, so unless you are an experienced African driver with a 4x4, make it easy on yourself. However, if you just live for hair raising driving adventures, you must drive the Swartberg Pass between Prince Albert and Oudtshoorn. That said, possibly the prettiest and safest of the "passes" is the Meiringspoort, also on the way to Oudtshoorn but from Beaufort West. Please be advised that no matter how "safe" the South Africans make their roads, there are still an inordinate number of horror crashes, usually related to driver impairment.
"That road you are looking at on the map is a mountain pass, unpaved and with few safety features. You are also driving in the Cape's wet season, so unless you are an experienced African driver with a 4x4, make it easy on yourself." Thanks .. I guess my friend will be happy as we probably have to take the alternative route then. Unless there is favourable weather june 30th !
You can park in the Casino/hotel parking if the PnR parking is not open yet - hotel parking is open 24/7 and just a pedestrian bridge away from the Theme park (llook on their website) . Great idea to stay there. I would try and get there earlier though and make a whole day of it. You would pay something like R10 or R20 for the parking at the casino.
I have to call BS on the first point ... You have to be the unluckiest sun of a gun to stop to take a leak in the middle of nowhere and get jacked. If you are stopping to take a leak, do exactly that, for guys it's 2 minutes tops (maybe 4 mins after a few beers.)for girls 5 mins plus. Majority of R100's are paved ... yes R300's up is mostly unpaved. I think it was 6 hours before the game. If there is less the 2 hours to kickoff and you have parked inside the park and ride get yourself to the stadium.
The other day (last friday), I exchanged 400 USD (to be exact 399.60 USD) for R2830 at my local bank Wonder if I got a good rate.. but definitely a lot better than the travellex kiosks at the airport. I do know that the USD was stronger against Rand last week than it is this week but obviously didnt get the market rate stated in www.xe.com Assuming what xe.com is actually market rate. My finance knowledge sucks.
Why scaremonger? Unless there's evidence to suggest the cause of this accident is specific to this airline, i don't see the significance.
You're never going to get the market rate unless you're trading $1 million plus typically. Those are institutional rates. The rate you will get always factors in a commission fee. The rate you received, R7.08/USD1 is not that great to be honest. But when you exchange cash you will undoubtedly get the worst rate. The best rates are had by credit cards, although you need to consider any fees they put on top of that. Right now the market rate is R7.45 or so, which means electronically one might expect to receive R7.20.
Credit cards aren't necessarily be the best for cash advances. Depends on card and terms and conditions. In the UK press today they recommend the Santander Zero Credit Card. Seems like no commission on exchange rate or cash advance charge http://www.santander.co.uk
Man you've been lucky! Everyone ive spoken to has either been mugged or their house been robbed at least once. But of course world cup visitors are only here for a short while, just be alert and it should be fine. Criminals can be soccer fans too you know... haha On a different note, are their any others camping during the world cup? or im i the only one...
My opinion is that most criminals in SA will either be lacking education or be unemployed. Chances of affording a ticket will be slim...this will bring down the amount of general criminals in the stadiums in my opinion. The organised, employed and educated criminals will probably only be interested in well planned schemes such as credit card/internet fraud. Crimes of a voilent nature should not occur as much at the stadiums ittself as many would expect.
we are speaking of crimes which havent even occured yet? And is your country without crime? Each country will carry their own risks...some more than others. Which will be the reason some will decide to come to South Africa, and some not. Same reasons as to why only some of our people go to the middle east, the USA, Ireland etc, and some not. Some people have to consider their gains and losses coming to SA...just like many locals who has considered to migrate from here, and others decided to stay. Many people deciding to stay, and even fighting to come back, must give some weight into SA not being as bad as people believe, even inspite of the crime.
Amen to that. Unfortunately we live in a world where some people want to take what they desire just because they think it is their right.
argh! I lived as a foreigner in Lagos, Nigeria for 20 years (was born there too) but never really felt insecure there.. yes there were robbings at my neighbours homes, car jackings.. robbers at my school too, you name it. even got mugged once during the 20 years I spent there but never felt I would come close to death even then. I walked the streets/roads there and always felt safe.. obviously we didnt walk out in night but definitely drove out in the dark on countless occasions without any incident (I guess I was lucky, never really had a bodyguard like some of my other "rich" friends). Crime in SA is somehwat hyped by the media but what some of you locals are saying abt murders and what I read in the local SA news sites has got me a little worried.
Just the same as you thought it was relativlely safe there I feel the same here. We have an optimistic yet realistic outlook on life.
I here what you guys are saying, I also wanna add that the difference between the wrong/right side of the tracks can be tiny. In our town we have all the bars along the boardwalk. A 100 lbs girl can walk the boardwalk in front of these bars at midnight and not feel the least bit threatened. However, no less than 100 yards away is an area called Time Square where 4 guys like myself wouldn't walk around at night.