Going to South Africa this summer- surprising kids

Buy them a monkey.

you can exchange currency at any major bank

I would choose Bostwana over SA currently.

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Have you looked online to see if you can just print some that look kinda close?

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OP wants to know how to get South African currency and your solution is to counterfeit some??

Thanks everyone. I have researched a lot. It will be safari and Cape Town only. So only touristy spots

Not a travel group but I went through jarat tours when I was down there and they were great. First class service and vehicles. Did a private driver from Cape Town down Chapman’s peak drive, cape of good hope, and boulders beach. Used them next day for a winelands day guide and transfer. And used them for any airport transfers. Just go to their website and email them what you are looking for. Uber black in Cape Town is also insanely fast and cheap. $5 -$10 max rides anywhere and won’t wait more than 1 minute for a car.

I was born in Johannesburg and when I went back to visit as a teen, Cape Town is so much better. Johannesburg is like a shitty version of Detroit while Cape Town is absolutely beautiful.

We had the Afrikaner cab driver who picked us up from the airport offer to take us around on a tour one of our days there for a very reasonable price.

And it’s not “scaring” when South Africa has one of the highest violent crime rates in the world. I’ve lived in Chicago and Memphis and would urge the same caution there.

There is a lot more petty crime too. Always lock your luggage, baggage handlers stealing things is extremely common.

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Do any of you know the best way to get local currency (South African Rand) to give to my son and daughter as a Christmas gift (like $20 for a souvenir). This would be the way of telling them along with kids books.

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A bank CAN get you currency.

A. It may take some time (a week or two?)
B. It may have a higher minimum amount than you're interested in

For the purposes of storytelling at Christmas, I would just buy currency on eBay. Your exchange rate is trash (10 rand, or about 50 cents is $3 delivered.) But if you want to give them SA money, so their imagination starts moving, that's what I would do.

Enjoy the trip.

You can buy Rands on E-Bay.

I took my family to South Africa in 2021. My kids were age 9 and 14 at the time. We had a blast and spent most of our time in JoBurg and Limpopo.

Coronavirus was still a major concern at the time, so we weren’t able to experience some activities.

Kruger is amazing. Depending on when you go it’s usually quite busy. Mapungubwe is a fun trek too and much less crowded.

Consult a Travel Physician. Depending on where you go there may be some vaccines like Yellow Fever that may be worth considering.

I will confess that after two or three days the kids were sort of over the safari experience.

If I had to do it all over again, I would start in JoBurg for 1-2 days. Then do a Safari limited to no more than three days. Then make the trip to Cape Town for a few days with a day trip to Stellenbosh (SA Wine Country) built in.

Once you identify a guide or outfitter, inquire about how much hiking you will do. Most keep you in the truck. If you are going to get off the buggy and hike you will want good boots and boot gaiters. The thorns and whatnot in the Bushveld will tear up tennis shoes in a hurry.