[Leica] OT: Anyone with first hand experience of travelling in/to SA? - Don

[Jayanand Govindaraj]

No direct experience of South Africa, but advice gleaned by almost yearly
travel to other parts of Africa:

The big mega cities are violent and crime ridden, be careful, and as with
any metropolis around the world, know where you can go alone safely, and
where you cannot. I would be as skeptical going to New York as I would to
Nairobi, both are dangerous for visitors in the wrong areas. As a matter of
abundant precaution, when going around, hire a car from your hotel instead
of taking cabs on the streets, even though it might cost more. If you have
a local with you, then you can go anywhere - I had a close friend in Sao
Paulo, considered the most dangerous metropolis in the world, and when
Neela & I visited, we consistently stayed out in parks and dodgy areas till
midnight, places we would not have dared to set foot in otherwise, and took
public transport everywhere, because Armando was with us together with his
invaluable local knowledge.

Conversely, I have never felt unsafe driving all around the various
countries in the  rural and semi urban areas

As a final comment, the only time I have been pickpocketed was in the King
George V subway.station in Paris!

In other words, use common sense!

Cheers
Jayanand

On Tue, Feb 5, 2019 at 12:52 AM Philippe via LUG <lug at leica-users.org>
wrote:

> Thanks, we read about this, hence my questions ;-)
>
> Amities
>
> Philippe, trying to find his black belt in the archives …
>
>
>
>
> > Le 4 févr. 2019 à 20:09, Don Dory via LUG <lug at leica-users.org> a écrit
> :
> >
> > Second hand information so take up the salt shaker.  If you stay in the
> > confines of the upper class hotels you will be fine.  Otherwise it is a
> > very crime ridden, high theft, high murder rate country.  This from both
> a
> > senior airline pilot who flies there regularly and from an expat whose
> > family has been held at gunpoint is a gated community.  It can be an
> > amazing country but should be approached with great caution.
> >
> > On Mon, Feb 4, 2019 at 1:27 PM Philippe via LUG <lug at leica-users.org>
> wrote:
> >
> >> Hi all,
> >>
> >> Alice and I are leaving for Capetown, SA on Sunday, and I was wondering
> if
> >> we had missed some important information about the country, or forgotten
> >> any necessary piece of (photographic or else) equipment.
> >>
> >> Capetown, Durban, Santa Lucia, Hluhluwe, and Kruger are on the
> programme.
> >>
> >> TIA for informed experience and advice, including specific
> safety/security
> >> issues there, although no township visit is planned.
> >>
> >> Amities
> >>
> >> Philippe
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> Leica Users Group.
> >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> > Don
> > don.dory at gmail.com
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Leica Users Group.
> > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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