South Africa ?'s
 

Hi, I'm 95% sure I'm going to south Africa in mid feb. of 09 to do a extreme 4 corners ride and have a few questions.
1) will my wifi laptop work w/ wifi in SA ? If not do they use the same style ports to hard wire it? (I'm from the USA )
2) Is their electrical outlets different than the USA and if so what are they?
3) what is the temp. in feb.?
4) I was hoping to bring some tools and pack them in my regular luggage (not my carry on ) is this a problem now a days on international flights?
5) is there any thing else that I might be leaving out?
THANK YOU for your time Gary

Hi Gary

A few answers from my side of SA, I'm sure there will be others.

Cheers
Mark

1) will my wifi laptop work w/ wifi in SA ? If not do they use the same style ports to hard wire it? (I'm from the USA )
---> Yes the wifi will work but the availability of wifi is pretty scarce throughout the country. A few (not many) internet cafe's / coffee shops in the larger cities may offer wifi but conventional internet cafes are much more prevalent. Some may allow you to plug you laptop in, and yes its the same networking connection you have in the US.
2) Is their electrical outlets different than the USA and if so what are they?
---> All you'll need is an adapter for the plug, available at most international airports.
3) what is the temp. in feb.?
---> Generally... warm to hot depending on where you are in the country.
4) I was hoping to bring some tools and pack them in my regular luggage (not my carry on ) is this a problem now a days on international flights?
---> Basic tools shouldn't be a problem in checked-in luggage.
5) is there any thing else that I might be leaving out?
---> What other than a laptop and some tools? No you should be fine with those

Sorry to correct:
 

Sorry that I have to correct. A power adaptor will NOT do the trick as the US afaik run on 110V AC whilst SA runs on 230V AC petween load shedding blackouts ;D

Please make sure that you bring devices with multiple voltage AC input (most higher quality electronic devices like camera & cellphone chargers & laptops will run on anything between 100V and 250V AC but some devices have to be set to the correct input voltage manually.

Then you simply bring an US extension with as many outlet points as you need at any given time, go to Pick 'n' Pay and buy an SA power plug (less than 1US$), cut the plug off your US extension and attach the SA plug.

Feb is hot to very hot in most parts of the country. The East / Northeast is humid with the rainy season in Kruger and Limpopo in full swing and high Malaria risk in Limpopo, the Lowveld, Swaziland and Northern KZN. The Southern Cape is pleasant and sunny with occasional thunderstorms. Cape of Good Hope warm and dry, West Coast, Kalahari and Karoo dry and hot to very hot.

Sorry for the duff advice there Gary, I've been running US bought laptops & camera's (chargers) for some time just with an adapter - but clearly with disregard.

Voltage and power plug converters
 

That's why we have a forum ;D

BTW: The bring from home multi outlet extension and buy local plug trick works internationally and worldwide & repeatedly with the same extension! :)
as opposed to the fancy (and fancy - priced) "everywhere in the whole world" plug converters from the backpacker store or telemarketing rubbish outlet that resemble a three dimensional jigsaw puzzle, fit every single power plug in the whole world EXCEPT the ones in the country you travel and even if they fit will not support the weight of your cellphone or camera charger and keep on falling out. :( :( :(

If you're electrically challenged find an electrician or handyman to fit the plug.

Calling cards
 

Yes and yes. Why not get a pay as you go mobile phone card then you wouldn't need to find payphones?

Thought of that one as well ;-) Get in contact with the Pretoria BMW club BMW Motorcycle Club Pretoria

Check out the "extreme riders" section. They offer buttons for traveling to the 4 extreme points of SA.

Hans