South Africa travel?

SkyCougar said:
I dunno, maybe the airlines already mandate that international pilots get the Hep A vaccine. Kev? Doug? TyphoonPilot? Calcapt? Perhaps I should take these comments to Dr. Forred and ask him as well! :) I know VERY little about infectious disease medicine!
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My company mandates all the vaccinations. Hep A is a must when travelling as Sky Cougar points out. I've seen people get it in modern cities. The Oral Polio booster is a good idea as Polio still exists and the shot you had as a child probably doesn't have the same effect.

I'm glad you posted the info on blank Visa pages for the passport, I was going to mention that as there was a story of some travellers from Dubai who weren't allowed in because they did not have two blank pages.

South Africa can be an extemely dangerous country. Many of my colleagues are from South Africa. The operative word being from. They got out because they are subject to so much violent crime. If you stay in large groups and "good" areas you probably won't have a problem, but be wary and safety minded. I'm usually in Jo-Burg one night per month and haven't had any issues, but we stay in the "good" areas and I don't go out alone at night, if at all.


Typhoonpilot
 
typhoonpilot said:
My company mandates all the vaccinations. Hep A is a must when travelling as Sky Cougar points out. I've seen people get it in modern cities. The Oral Polio booster is a good idea as Polio still exists and the shot you had as a child probably doesn't have the same effect.

I'm glad you posted the info on blank Visa pages for the passport, I was going to mention that as there was a story of some travellers from Dubai who weren't allowed in because they did not have two blank pages.

South Africa can be an extemely dangerous country. Many of my colleagues are from South Africa. The operative word being from. They got out because they are subject to so much violent crime. If you stay in large groups and "good" areas you probably won't have a problem, but be wary and safety minded. I'm usually in Jo-Burg one night per month and haven't had any issues, but we stay in the "good" areas and I don't go out alone at night, if at all.


Typhoonpilot
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TP is right about the crime. One needs to be very cautious, particularly in Jo'Burg. One of my agents is from South Africa and we were just talking about the crime there. She advised me to be "aware" of my surroundings constantly. There is over 40% unemployment in South Africa, so crime is heavy. Her mother was murdered in Jo'Burg the week before Christmas. She had bars on her windows and they broke through them and killed her during the robbery.

As it turns out, I am spending most of my time in Cape Town, the Winelands, The Garden district, and on safari, plus I will be with a group, so I'm not worried. Plenty of people go to SA and have no problems, but it is true that one must be vigilant and aware. Also keep your eyes on your credit card, and do all of the usual things that one would do to protect their belongings from pickpockets, etc.
 
Nick, I know that you're leaving tomorrow - hope you and your wife have a pleasant trip, it's a long one! - have fun and stay safe! :)
 
Well,
I'm off to Africa in a few hours. Still haven't decided what to pack.
Looks like the non-rev folks will be on the same flight. That will be great.

Going through Cape Verde on the flight to Africa. Interesting...ALL THE DAKAR HOTELS WERE FULL SO THE flight staff had no where to stay. So they switched...

Delta will be flying direct to Capetown soon.


:yeahthat:

I ended up getting a ton of shots and had a nice hour long consult with a nurse.

I sprayed my clothes with permethrin...and put some sun protector "Rit Dye" on my cotton/silk clothes.

Sorry I missed hooking up with ya.

Dr. Spears
 
FOXES said:
Well,
I'm off to Africa in a few hours. Still haven't decided what to pack.
Looks like the non-rev folks will be on the same flight. That will be great.

Going through Cape Verde on the flight to Africa. Interesting...ALL THE DAKAR HOTELS WERE FULL SO THE flight staff had no where to stay. So they switched...

Delta will be flying direct to Capetown soon.


:yeahthat:

I ended up getting a ton of shots and had a nice hour long consult with a nurse.

I sprayed my clothes with permethrin...and put some sun protector "Rit Dye" on my cotton/silk clothes.

Sorry I missed hooking up with ya.

Dr. Spears
Click to expand...


I may have already missed you, but have fun! I will be checking my email every now and then while I'm there, so feel free to email or PM me. It looks like we're going to be in Cape Town around the same time - maybe we can get together for dinner or drinks. :)

I'm stopping in Dakar on the way from JFK to Jo-Burg as well - not spending the night though. Pack lightly, as it's probably going to be warm there. I'm taking mostly lightweight stuff, lightweight safari pants, shorts, hiking shoes, and shirts that I bought at REI, a dressy sundress for the nightlife in Cape Town. I've got a couple of business functions that I have to attend as well, so I have to pack some business casual clothing. Basically, I'm told that people dress there pretty much like they do in California or Florida.

I am SO ready for this trip! WhoooHoooo! :)



Hope your vaccinations went well - I've had a bit of reaction from mine, but nothing too bad.
 
22,800 miles traveled
1,321 photos taken
40 hours to get home
37 cups of instant coffee
11 monkeys
6 delayed flights
4 separate flights to get home
2 rentals cars
1 crazy wedding
1 yamika

one unforgettable trip.

more pics & stories to come soon :)
 
bike21 said:
22,800 miles traveled
1,321 photos taken
40 hours to get home
37 cups of instant coffee
11 monkeys
6 delayed flights
4 separate flights to get home
2 rentals cars
1 crazy wedding
1 yamika

one unforgettable trip.

more pics & stories to come soon :)
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I can't wait to hear your stories! I'm about to start collecting mine!:D

I'm in the business departure lounge for SAA (and a bunch of other airlines), so if anyone is at JFK in the vicinity of the South African Airways Business lounge, stop in and say "hi"! I'll be here for a couple of hours before I board. Ask for Brenda.
 
I'm in Cape Town right now and am LOVING it! I've been here for 3 days and the weather is picture perfect! What a stunningly beautiful place!Cape Town is gorgeous! Also, lots of good-looking dudes from all over the world here as well. :D I saw the little penguins on the beach, watched a wild baboon walk across the road and steal a cell phone from a German tourist and proceed to run up the hill with it and appear to make phone calls on it. It was funny! More later, my mates are telling me to hurry up, we've got lots of things to do before we head up north for safari and nature reserve time.
 
Excellent! Have a great time, I am missing it already! Still working on getting photos uploaded and my blog/story written up :)
 
bike21 said:
Excellent! Have a great time, I am missing it already! Still working on getting photos uploaded and my blog/story written up :)
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Thanks Nick, I'm having such an awesome time! The weather has been perfect during this whole trip, we've been so lucky!

I writing this from the safari lodge. I'm about to have afternoon tea, then we have an evening game drive for a couple of hours and then a African BBQ dinner under the stars of the African sky. We did an evening game drive last night, and saw a lot of game at the watering holes having a drink after the heat of the afternoon sun had dissipated. I wonder what we'll see tonight? :)
I have fallen in love with Africa and the African people - they've been so warm and friendly to us! I wish I could stay for a few months! Back to the US in a few days though. :(
 
At least you had a 'lodge' and 'electricity' :) We had no such thing on our safari (by design of course). It was luxury camping for us :D

I am still working on sorting pics, but will have some available soon!
 
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