Last Minute Travelling
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As much as it pains us to say, now is not the best time to be boarding that plane, boat or train. More and more countries are going into COVID-19 lockdown and closing their borders, which is making it virtually impossible to travel anyway. You can track the current coronavirus right now.
We've written a very extensive guide filled with insightfull comments and handy tips and tricks about all the aspects to traveling in South Africa. We've summarized the most critical things below, but you can discover more information in our detailed guide to South Africa.
Currencie(s): South African rand
Corruption: South Africa has a corruption score of 57 out of 100.
If your itinerary runs through South Africa, watch out for muggers and beware of corrupt police officers. According to Transparency International, South Africa scores average on the list of corrupt nations around the world.
South Africa is concidered to be a relatively dangerous country, with a Global Peace Index of 2.4 out of 4.
This report is the only one of its kind that measures how dangerous or safe a nation is based on 23 different indicators, including political terror, deaths from internal conflict, murder rate, and ease of access to small arms and light weapons.
Tap Water: Do not drink. According the the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - USA, Source), you might want to drink bottled water because travellers' diarrhoea, hepatitis A, typhoid and cholera are among the illnesses that can be transmitted with bad water.
Drinking age: The minimum age for drinking in Cape Town is 18.
Age of Consent: 16 years.
Same-sex marriage (also known as gay marriage) is legalized in South Africa since 2006.
South Africa scores a 6/10 on the 'Gay Travel Index'.
Timezone: UTC+02:00
Driving: Left-hand traffic.
WARNING: You might want to rent a car, but remember: this is a left-hand driving country. This might be the opposite side of the road than you’re used to, so it will require more concentration to keep from turning their car directly into oncoming traffic.
Power adapters and converters: 230 V (50 Hz), Plug C / M / N (still rare)
Weather: Currently few clouds, with a temperature between 20 and 21.7°C (68 and 71°F)
Pollution (PM2.5 fine dust particles): 25.1 µg/m3
PM2.5 Fine dust particulates can be carried deep into the lungs where they can cause inflammation and a worsening of the condition of people with heart and lung diseases. The smaller the particles the deeper they travel into the lungs, with more potential for harm. Note that the World Health Organisation's guideline value is 20 µg/m3. So be carefull when travelling to South Africa. Make sure you are prepared by reading our article about effective strategies for a healthier trip.