All your travel questions answered!

Cape Town, with its 5 million inhabitants, is South Africa’s most popular big city for international visitors, and the only big city which is a must-see major destination in itself, as opposed to a gateway city or a city visited for more specific interests. The hinterland of the Western Cape province offers an enormous variety of beautiful country towns, stunning natural beauty, and a myriad of things to do and see, attracting many visitors back time and again after their first visit.

In summer (December to February), typical maximum temperatures range from 25 (77 F) to 32 degrees (90 F), though sometimes hotter, and almost always hotter inland, like in the Winelands.

Summer is the dry season in Cape Town, when rain is unlikely but not unheard of. It can often feel cooler than the temperature suggests when the wind blows, especially if you’re near the ocean. Most of the time a pleasant sea breeze off the cold water keeps the air fresh and prevents it from getting muggy, and at times it can be a lot more than just a breeze! Whatever the temperature, you’re almost sure to enjoy sunny days, and the UV is very strong, so be careful about getting sunburnt when the wind is blowing and you don’t actually feel hot! Even in the height of summer a light sweater often comes in handy, and is often essential for evenings.

Winter (June to August) is generally described as cool and wet, with temperatures ranging from an average minimum of 8 (46 F) to an average maximum of 18 degrees C (46 F). Inland, the nights get colder. What really makes Cape Town feel wintery is the possible combination of rain and wind. Cold fronts roll in off the Atlantic every 7 to 10 days bringing varying amounts of rain: if you’re lucky, for just a few hours, if you’re unlucky, for 2 or 3 days. But it’s usually in the form of scattered showers, so it’s rare to have a whole day rained out.

Between those spells of chilly or wet weather are many beautiful, cool to mild sunny days, with little or no wind, reaching the low 20’s C, but with chilly nights. Snow is sometimes seen on the mountain peaks just a half an hour’s drive inland from Cape Town. We call it the secret season, and it’s enhanced by the colour of the winter & spring flowers, the migrating southern right whales, and the lack of crowds.

Bring practical, comfortable clothes, and comfortable walking shoes. Bring layers you can peel off as the days warm up in winter.

In our summer, South Africa is 7 hours ahead of the US East Coast and 10 hours ahead of the West Coast.

In our summer, we are 2 hours ahead of the UK and 1 hour ahead of the rest of Western Europe.

In our winter, all of those time differences are one hour less, because there is only one time zone in SA, and we don’t have daylight savings so we never change our time.

When paying in cash, only South African Rands are accepted in South Africa, though some shops in touristy areas will take US Dollars as a favour but will generally charge an unfavourable rate to cover their cost of changing them back into Rand.

ATM’s are widespread in the towns and cities. Credit cards are accepted in all shops, restaurants and tourist attractions. Some places don’t accept American Express, but Visa & Mastercard are accepted everywhere. Increasingly, there are businesses and tourist attractions which only take card and no cash.

The best place to change foreign currency into Rand is at independent Bureau de Change agents – much quicker and easier than in banks, and with comparable exchange rates. There are quite a few in the main shopping mall (Victoria Wharf) of the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town, open from 9 to 9 daily.

Note that besides converting your currency according to the current rate of exchange, they will often also deduct a commission of a fixed percentage, but with a minimum amount, so you can be penalized for changing smaller amounts.

PLEASE NOTE that you need to show your passport to change money anywhere, and it takes a few minutes (and sometimes a lot of minutes) to fill in the forms. This makes drawing cash from an ATM a lot easier.

Bank notes are R200, R100, R50, R20 and R10. Coins are R5, R2, R1, 50 cents, 20 cents & 10 cents. It’s useful to have a few smaller notes like R20’s and R10’s, as R200 or R100 notes are sometimes frowned upon if buying small items.

At some informal souvenir and flea markets, vendors take US Dollars, again not at the best rate, but increasingly they take credit cards too. If goods don’t have prices marked on them, there’s normally an expectation to bargain. But think about the work and time that has gone into making the handcrafts, compare the opening price with what you would expect to pay at home, and support these hard working entrepreneurs in making a living.

Cash is always handy for quick purchases at souvenir stands, postcards, drinks & snacks, and tips for local taxi drivers etc.

Rule number 1: ENJOY ALL THE GOOD FOOD YOU CAN!

Cape Town in particular has hundreds of restaurants, many of them world class. The standards of food and hygiene are high, whether buying meals in a high-end restaurant, a local neighbourhood eatery, a food market, or a grocery store. The fruit, vegetables and salads are as fresh and healthy as anywhere in the world, and are often locally sourced.

Tap water is safe to drink in South African towns and cities, but bottled water is available everywhere. In restaurants, it’s standard practice for the waiter to offer “still or sparkling water” meaning plain bottled water or sparkling bottled water for which you will obviously be charged. But you can feel free to politely ask for tap water. There is a growing consciousness about the carbon footprint of bottled water and most restaurants are mindful of this. But the choice is (or should be) yours. There’s never a health risk with ice in your drinks.

If you enjoy seafood, eat your heart out! It’s all fresh and of a high quality. Hake, a light, flaky and delicious white fish, is the go-to for traditional fish & chips. “Linefish” means the catch of the day; ask what it is. Some of the options could include kingklip (a firm, white, meaty fish with a mild but delicious flavour), and various other fish like yellowtail and kob. Tender calamari, prawns, mussels, and the delicious West Coast rock lobster (spiny red lobster with antenna but no claws), often called crayfish, are widely available. Good quality sushi is easy to find too.

Vegetarian fare is widely available, vegan options are increasingly too, and most dietary requirements are catered to fairly well.

From our history as a stopping point on the spice trade between Asia & Europe, the Cape Malay tradition emerged: curries, stews and casseroles seasoned with fragrant, aromatic (rather than hot) spices – considered everyday comfort food.

Electricity is 220V. All chargers for cameras, phones, shavers, iPads, laptops, etc, made for some years already, can take a variable input from 110V up to 240V.

South African sockets have 3 large pins, but adapters are commonly used to accept the European plug with two small round pins. These are widely available.

International adapters are available in airports, pharmacies and certain other shops in the cities to accept other types of plugs, but can be a little harder to find out in the country.

Public transport isn’t great. Cape Town’s MyCiti bus system is good but it’s inconvenient that you have to buy a card from one of the main stations and load it with credit there in order to use it.

Uber is a great solution to getting around: quick, safe, convenient and good value for money. For a more comfortable vehicle, choose Uber Black. Old-fashioned metered taxis are more expensive.

From the Cape Town Airport, passengers should call Uber from the Ground floor level of Parking Garage P1 reached by exiting the airport terminal from the Ground floor on the right hand side.

Alternatively, passengers can book a transfer with EZ Shuttle or use one of the shuttle companies represented at the desks in the central part of the terminal on the Ground floor (near the food outlets).

Some busy tourist spots (e.g. certain hotels, Table Mountain, V&A Waterfront) have busy taxi ranks where metered taxis line up and are ready to go. But it’s not easy to hail taxis on the streets – instead it’s best to call to book a taxi, or ask staff in any restaurant to call for you.

Phone numbers: Unicab Taxis (+27) – (0)21 – 486 1600, Excite Taxis (+27) – (0)21 – 448 4444.

If you use a porter’s services at an airport or hotel, it is recommended that you pay them about R25 per passenger.

Should you wish to carry your own bags / push your own trolley, but someone approaches you offering assistance, politely but firmly say no thank you, otherwise they might start assisting you, whether you need help or not.

It is customary to tip restaurant staff 10%, or up to 15% for really great service. If paying by credit card, fill in the amount you wish to add on to the bill (check) BEFORE handing your card to the waiter for processing, and they will get that amount. But check the bill first in case the tip has already been added, which is usually done for groups of about 8 or more (but this can vary), in which case you needn’t feel obliged to add anything more. The card machine will always be brought to your table, and it’s prohibited for your card to leave your presence.

For taxi drivers, it’s a bit of a grey area, but it’s typical to add 10%.

Please check the weight limits for the various sectors of your flights.

Here in South Africa, the limit for domestic flights is normally 20kg (= 44 pounds) of checked luggage, and a limit of one checked item, per person.

Bear this in mind if your first flight from home is an international one with larger weight limits, because if that is followed by a domestic or regional flight, you might be subject to the rules of domestic flights, depending on agreements between various airlines.

You are allowed to carry liquids in your carry-on luggage, on domestic flights within SA, but not on international flights to or from neighbouring countries or long-haul.

Malaria only occurs in the far northern and eastern parts of South Africa, nowhere near Cape Town in the south-western corner.

As in any large city, please be streetwise and sensible by not carrying any unnecessary valuables, wearing flashy jewellery, wearing your camera hanging around your neck, or casually walking around with phone in your hand.

Be especially careful using ATM’s in crowded places and do not accept help from anyone while using them, no matter how professional, kind or helpful they might pretend to be! It’s preferable to use ATM’s inside a bank branch or lobby.