South Africa Travels Blog

Advice when travelling in South Africa

Photocopies.
It is a good idea to photocopy the page of your passport that contains your photograph, passport number and other identifying information, along with other important documents such as visas, travel insurance policies, air tickets and travellers check serial numbers in case you lose anything. It is also a good idea to have a complete set of copies left at home.

Lost Passports.
If you lose your passport, immediately notify the nearest embassy or consulate of your home country. There are consulates for most large countries in Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban. To speed up the process of replacement, you will need to know all information previously recorded and show identification and proof of citizenship. Replacement documents can take from 1 to 2 weeks to process. Any visa stamps in you old passport will be lost.

Identification.
When you travel, it is always good to have two forms of identification on your person including one photo ID. Many establishments, especially banks require identification before cashing traveller’s cheques.

Exchanging Currency.
The general rule is that it is cheaper to convert foreign currency in South Africa than in your home country. It is always advised to bring enough Rand with you to last 2 to 3 days into your trip, to ensure a smooth transition into your host country.

Credit Cards.
Credit Cards are generally accepted in all but the smallest accommodation in South Africa or Namibia. American Express and Diners Club are only accepted in the larger Hotels and never elsewhere.

Rock paintings and engravings are found on every continent, but nowhere else in the world did the technique reach the high standard achieved in South Africa. In this country it is commonly known as Bushman art, but the correct term is San art.

The works are scattered over an area stretching from the Cape to the Zambezi, and from the east coast lowlands to Namibia.

Many examples of Bushman art have been discovered in the South African Northern Cape.

The most striking characteristics of Bushman art are boldness and simplicity of design, accurate draughtsmanship and limited use of colour, the latter due to the small number of pigments available to the artist. Engravings were ‘pecked’ into the rock with flint and similar hard implements.

Until recently it was impossible to assess their age with any great degree of accuracy, but in the early 1980 sengraved stone fragments were discovered in the ‘Wonderwerk Cave’ near Kuruman and positively identified as being thousands of years old.

San Bushman rock art - Perdekop Farm, North of Mossel Bay

Natural weathering and vandalism have unfortunately destroyed many of these records of the ancient Bushman’s way of life, but today much is being done to preserve the remaining priceless works of art.