Any one with experience in Africa?

[LadyM]

If you have done this, are doing it now, or will be doing it. please give me any ifo you think I should have. I am nervous and excited about my new opportunity and I am so looking ofrward to my 8 weeks there.

[richardo]

About Africa-

I studied at the University of Cape Town in SA. I was there for a year and then spent a few months traveling through East and North Africa. I loved it. SA is the only country on the continent with anything approaching the living standards of modern countries. So if you’re thinking of going to Africa to live for awhile, I think it is the only reasonable option. Well, I guess that’s not really true. In other African countries you can find a tiny few well developed places, but these are just for foreigners like yourself. If you rough it a bit I found that in some countries such as Malawi you can survive on USD5 a day or less. That’s OK for traveling around, but you don’t want to live like that. I suppose the coast going from Cape Town up to Durban must be something like the Gold Coast in Australia.

South Africa is a very dangerous country. They have the highest murder rate of any country in the world outside of a war zone. This used to be mostly confined to the black areas, but now that it is a black run country there is a lot more mixing between whites and blacks in different areas. You would think that this would be a positive development but it has actually made the crime problem worse because now you have many desperately poor people in close proximity to (comparatively) rich white South Africans. Maybe I was lucky. The year I was there nothing bad ever happened to me, but several people I knew had some bad experiences. The father of one of my friends was murdered. Stolen cars, house break-ins, etc.

This one girl I knew in Cape Town, Angelique (unfortunately I never got to know her as well as I would have liked if you know what I mean…) has gone on to be a CNN news reporter. She became quite famous in SA after I left. Anyway the reason I bring that up is that she was engaged to a famous rugby player and she ended up fleeing SA after a well publicized incident in which he was murdered by some darkies right in front of her, and she barely escaped with her life. In fact many (white) South Africans leave the country and end up in Australia from what I understand.

CNN Programs - Anchors/Reporters - Angelique van der Byl

[LadyM]

I will be staying at a camp hospital with my husband and several other nurses, doctors, dentists, surgeons,and support people. They will be doing reconstructive and rehabilitative surgery as volunteers, we are not sure exactly where we will be going as there are 4 teams going to different spots, we may end up in a fairly dangerous place, but we really feel that we need to give to these people and show them that there is humanity left in this world. I am sure i will learn more from the people there than I will ever teach them, but I am very much looking forward to sharing what I know and helping in general.

[Amit_kumar]

Originally Posted by LadyM

If you have done this, are doing it now, or will be doing it. please give me any ifo you think I should have. I am nervous and excited about my new opportunity and I am so looking ofrward to my 8 weeks there.

One planning to live in South Africa should take care not to underestimate the cost of living, which has increased considerably in the last decade. South Africa isn’t a cheap destination any more, particularly following property price increases in the 21st century.Inflation was currently running at almost 10 per cent in 2003 but it has been significantly reduced and a rate of 5 per cent is expected for 2005.

The cost of living in the popular (with expatriates) parts of South Africa’s major cities is much the same as in cities in Australia, France, Germany, the UK and the US. Luxury and quality products are expensive, but wine and spirits are relatively inexpensive, as is dining out, although there are fears that the steep price rises seen in some restaurants and hotels over the last couple of years will deter tourists from visiting South Africa. (An investigation by the Congress of South African Trade Unions, fearful of job losses among its members if visitor numbers decline, identified 40 per cent price increases in 2004 among some businesses in the tourist sector, but these are the exception.)