Stay where and Roam around how!

My stay was always arranged by my administration, so I never actually had to arrange myself any accomodation, however I did that for my family who paid a visit to the country.

Staying and roaming around is a pleasure in a country like South Africa! Why?

> Imagine wide and clean roads!

> Imagine green and Purple aura ( Purple because of Jacaranda trees) everywhere!

> "After you" traffic sense!

Enjoy it while you are there. Experience is one of its kind :)

Stay:

Taking Johannesburg as a base, there are many options to stay in SA. There are:

1. Self Catering Apartments: R150 - R500 PP/ Per Unit

2. B&B: R 150 - R500 PP

3. Hotels: R1000 - No Upper limit

4. Road Lodge: R250 - R400PP

5. Town lodge: R400 - R600PP

6. City Lodge : R600 - R1000PP, everywhere be it Cape Town, Pretoria, Durban or Johanneberg

You don't have to worry about the safety and hygiene in any of the above accomodation. My personal experience has been quite awesome.

Roaming around:

Driving is one of the major positive points of this country. The weather, the roads, the people make it a perfect combination to travel long distances. So, if your are young, excited and energetic go drive.

As in other countries, you can rent out the cars, budget  starting from R165 to whatever you can afford, from:

1. Hertz

2. AVIS

3. Europa

For avid riders, Bikes can also be rented out , from BMWs to Harley Davidson to what not!

Basic things are quite easy, so fix your Budget and get going!

Insider's Info!

Let us continue from where we left... Today's post is about giving you some Insider's Info of the people. I am sure after learning these few things, you would not be a stranger any more ;)

People:

Before I visited the country, I was also of the perception that South Africa is a nation of just African people, and I would be seen as a complete stranger, but to my complete surprise! As soon as I landed, I could see Whites, Blacks (People call themselves Blacks non - hesitantly, but be cautious as some might get offended), Indians(Yes, they are everywhere!) and Chinese.

I din't know the history of these races but Whites, Indians and Chinese existed from the Apartheid era, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_under_apartheid.

Being an Indian, it is a shame for me that I never knew that Indians were taken to South Africa as Slaves in ships 150 years back, hence there are generations of Indians, who are infact more Indian than us. I would be more specific about details in my further posts.

So, concluding about the races, there are Whites, Blacks, Coloreds (Not the Indians, but where mother and father are from two different races), Asians.

Due to its political nature, there are reservations for the majority black group , called BEE (Black Economic Empowerment) but it was new to me that Indians and Chinese also come under BEE, 2 Indians make 1 black! Political isn't it?

Languages:

They are not called rainbow nation for nothing. There are 11 officical languages, apart from many unofficial ones.

1. Some Whites speak Afrikaans, are called Afrikaaners.
2. Some Whites are British, speak English
3. Blacks have languages like Zulu, Ndebele, Northern Sotho, Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Venda and Xhosa
4. Indians speak English. Most (99.9%) of them don't know any Indian language.
5. Chinese speak English or their native languages.

Say Hello, their way!

1. Haha! I wasn't in habit of ordering anything in a restaurant after wishing the waiters, in fact everywhere. Follow this:

Megha:  "Hello! How are you doing?"

Waiter: Smiles and says "Good and you?"

Megha: Fine thanks!

and now you can order :) Don't complain if your food is Slimy, you had to wish them!

Sometimes, you just laugh and the response is "Fine and you?"

2. Whites just say "How's it" to wish!

3. They don't use Excuse me, like many other places! They won't even hear you if you say "Excuse Me".

So, I went to a restaurant and I learnt that they will listen to me if I say "Sorry"

Megha: Sorry, Can I have a Coke?

4. Goodbyes?  You say "Shot!" or "Sharp! Sharp!". Bbyes isn't common :)

Get used to it, I did too :)

Virgin South Africa...

Many of my future blogs would be on my experience of spending almost 2 years in South Africa, roaming around as much as I could. Most of the people in India are oblivious of the beauty that South Africa(SA, hereon)represents. I hope this blog helps in improving the perception and understanding of those who think of it as a jungle with no civilisation, of those who have no knowledge of the country and to those who are curious to know more about it, or are already planning their visit in the future. I would welcome questions, comments, inputs, recommendations for improvement of this blog.

Getting there

SA is as far as 8265 kms from India! There are frequent flights from Mumbai(Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport) to Johannesburg (O R Tambo International Airport) and the following flights can be booked easily:

1. Jet Airways ( Direct flight from Mumbai to Jo'burg)

2. South African Airways (SAA)( Direct flight from Mumbai to Jo'burg)

3. Emirates (4 hours halt at Dubai, gets painful to wait, however a good stop for people who want to shop duty free at the airport)

All the above flights are the top ones, however there are numerous flights although they take longer, they might suit some of you like Etihad, Turkish, Kenya Airways etc.

Tickets cost: Approximately INR 34000 (Yes, Return included)for flights 1,2 and 3, depending on the season you are travelling. Unfortunately, there are no direct flights from New Delhi and passengers would have to travel to Mumbai for the journey.

Duration of the Journey: 8.5 - 9 hours journey(without halt)

After Getting there

All the travelling formalities like Imigration check, baggage collection would not take more than half hour.

It is advisable to convert your dollars into Rands (South African currency) at the airport, to avoid any hassle.

• Very important to note here that there is no or almost minimal public transport in SA, hence someone , either the hotel personnel, where you have booked your stay, or friends should come to pick you up.
• Other easier way to travel is the super fast Delhi's metro alike GAUTRAIN, which would take you from Airport to Sandton (One of major areas) in 13 mins, which otherwise might take you 45 mins by car. Very comfortable mode of transport.

By now , you should be comfortable reaching till the Hotel and I shall get to SA's geography and demography in the next post!