travelling currency

**maja** · #1 8 Aug 2005

I'm about to set of on a trip from Scotland to Cape Town and return. Africa south of Egypt and Kenya is for me the great unknown so can anyone tell me what the non local travelling currency of choice is at the moment, US$, £'s or Euro's?

Ride safe, Mike.

**gjackson** · #2 9 Aug 2005

Mike,

As of last year (down the West coast) we found:
North, West and Central Africa preferred the Euro. In some places (like Cameroon) dollars and pounds were not accepted, only euros.

Angola was dollars only. South of Angola any of them would be accepted.

As far as the East coast goes, I'm not sure.

Hope that helps.

cheers

Graham
www.africaoverland.org

**Erik D.** · #3 9 Aug 2005

Quote:

As far as the East coast goes, I'm not sure.

Euros have been fine in every east coast african country I've been to, and as Gjackson stated, the same went for north and west africa. Taking along a bit of both was what we did, and we then changed money depending on which gave us the best rate.

Didn't know that only dollars, and not Euro, are accepted in Angola. Interesting.

Erik

www.dunia.no

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**maja** · #4 10 Aug 2005

Thanks guys, all I have to do now is find a bank in Europe with lax security. Ride safe, Mike.

**Matt Roach** · #5 16 Aug 2005

I would recommend dollars for the East Coast. Although euros are changeable in most bigger cities, most street changers outside the capital cities will generally prefer dollars.

**jim** · #6 17 Aug 2005

Definately dollars for east Coast! Most places will take Euros, but at a poor rate, dollars are always acceptable. Another thing worth remembering is that in some countries like Uganda and Ethiopia ( if i remember correctly) large denomination notes (50 and 100) get a better rate than small ones even in a bank! This said though Im told that some countries in the West dont like 100 notes because of all the fakes in circulation. In Uganda you can draw local currency from a bank machine with your Visa card and change it for dollars at an excellent rate. Useful for topping up your cash. In most countries this is not possible.
Enjoy, its so good out there!
PS save yourself some money and stress by getting an idea of relative currency values on the internet so you know how many "shillings to get for your kwacha" on the black market... otherwise you WILL get ripped off. TRY www.xe.com
Jim