AT&T Passport in South Africa

Old Mar 29th, 2016, 08:59 AM
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AT&T Passport in South Africa

I was able to use my iPhone in Canada, Belize and Costa Rica with a $30 AT&T Passport (really don't need it that much, just good to have). According to their website, I should be able to use it via MTN or VodaCom networks in South Africa. Has anyone had experience? We will be in Kruger, and KwaZulu-Natal for most of our 2-week trip. On our last trip (2012) I just swapped out the card for a VodaCom voice/data card, but if I don't need to do that, it would be one less thing to attend to before we drive from JNB to Kruger.
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Old Mar 29th, 2016, 10:25 AM
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I used my AT&T phone in S Africa and Swaziland in 2014. I just call to tell them I'm traveling and they add the service. Only pay if I use it. And it's very expensive to make calls. I used it very sparingly, emergencies only, and used wifi when available for data and stuff like Facebook. Texting is much cheaper than calls.

I don't know how to swap out a card unless you have an "unlocked" phone.

We used hotel phones for calls to home (cheap!) and calling cards at pay phones in national parks and airports (super cheap!!). We have elderly parents so had to call every few days.
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Old Mar 30th, 2016, 04:30 AM
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Phones are too expensive ... get Skype.
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Old Mar 30th, 2016, 07:35 PM
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Thanks christabir - that has been my experience in other countries. We really have no need to make calls except in an emergency. It supposedly now gives you unlimited texting, so that will probably be used.
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Old Mar 30th, 2016, 09:21 PM
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Kruger has very little cell service. We used the pay phones there - you need to buy a card at the shop. Take Rand with you. Only ATM is at Skukuza. Except in Kosi Bay/Tembe neighborhood, cell service was good on the KZN coast, but wifi must be very expensive - lodges/hotels we visited had very limited service for short periods of time. My favorite part of S Africa. We are always surprised how much better service is outside the US.

Have fun! Kruger/KZN is my favorite trip.
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Old Apr 4th, 2016, 01:02 PM
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Thanks for the useful tips. I really kind of like being out of cell phone and even wifi range once in a while. I think we'll have it often enough to post to Facebook (or maybe even Fodors) just to let our kids know we're alive. Two weeks really isn't that long.

We'll get rand on arrival at JNB, or the next morning when we pick up our car rental and drive to Kruger. We can hit Skukuza ATM if necessary before we head to Swaziland and Hluhluwe then Thonga, then Zulu battlegrounds, etc. (which I expect will give us another chance at connectivity.)

We've still got a night at the end before we fly home from JNB. We may make reservations at the place we're staying on arrival, if we like it enough. Originally I thought we might stop at Dundee, which looked like a cool little town, but that's not far from where we will have just spent 2 nights, so we probably will head to JNB. We could turn the car in early and do some kind of 1/2 day excursion from the hotel the next day and shuttle to the airport in the afternoon.

Just sorted through our foreign currency stash, and we did a good job of using up Rand from our 2012 trip. All we've got is 32 ZAR - which might cover 1 beer?
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Old Apr 4th, 2016, 01:34 PM
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We had trouble using our ATM cards in S Africa a few years back and when we went through Swaziland were able to use them there and get Rand. It surprised us.

Where are you staying in Hluhluwe-iMfolozi? We stayed at Hilltop but found the game viewing in the southern part - iMfolozi - was much better. The roads are not as good as in SanParks, so be prepared for rough going. We had a 2x4 SUV - happy to have the higher clearance and wider tires.

R32 might cover a domestic beer. Probably not an import. But maybe a nice glass of S African wine!! If you get a chance, visit St Lucia. Insanely fun town with so many activities - land and water based. The drive to Cape Vidal might be the most beautiful drive we've ever done, with the added bonus of the wildlife. Take all the turnoffs - stunning.

The Africa Museum is nice.
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Old Apr 11th, 2016, 06:34 PM
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We are staying at pretty much all Isibindi properties - got an exceptionally good rate from Wild Wings and an itinerary that fit what we wanted to do. We start at Rhino Post Lodge (3nts) in Kruger, drive to Swaziland for the night at Reilly's Rock Lodge, then to Rhino Ridge Lodge in Hluhluwe for 3 nights, drive to Thonga Beach Lodge (while we will have a 24 SUV, we are getting picked up at the Cashew Factory and taken to the "beach") for 2 nights, then we will drive to Isibindi Zulu lodge for 2 nights to tour the battlefields and do a "history" thing. Haven't decided what to do or where to spend the last night, as we head to Johannesburg, but we have some time since the flight takes off around 5PM. We'll see how we like the place we're staying on arrival, (we get in too late to start for Kruger, so we'll stay at Premier Hotel and pick up our rental early the next morning). We could head back there for our final night before departure, or if we've decide we want to try Pretoria or the Rosebank area, we might visit the Cradle of Civilization on the day before we head for the airport.
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Old Apr 11th, 2016, 10:16 PM
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Sounds like a nice itinerary. We did a very similar one a few years back, but mostly on self drive in the parks, not at private concessions. We love to combine self drive with private reserves, for what I think is the best of all worlds. It also cuts our costs a lot so we can keep going back.

You're going to love it. Thonga will be a nice treat. The Swaziland stay will be fun - plus the great passport stamp. Oddly, when we had trouble using our ATMs in S Africa, it was no trouble in Swaziland. And their ATMs spit out Rand. Saved our sorry butts until I could get it sorted out.

We might actually be doing it again next month! I found availability everywhere we'd like to go and a ridiculous airfare. I have to decide today... All in, two weeks, under $5000 for both of us. I can't travel domestically for that. Tick tick tick.

I'm having the same problem you are with the last day. Not sure if we spend a night in St Lucia (possibly my favorite town) and fly to JNB or spend the night near JNB. We are checking out neighborhoods/real estate for our retirement for a few days, so a few days without game reserves might make me crazy. I might need an elephant fix.

The Maropeng Hotel at the Cradle of Humankind was very nice and the price includes entry to CoH and breakfast (and dinner was great!) if you book on their website. You'll need your car and you'll use up just about a perfect amount of time to get to the airport by 3pm. The caves are cool. At JNB, we stay at the Sun International. Nice, convenient, great breakfast. Free wifi when you join their membership program. Check on that at the Premier, too.

Wild-Wings does a great job. Everyone has great experiences using them (in all budgets). All of those lodges get great feedback. There's one in Kosi Bay I really want to visit someday.

Have a great time and let us know how it goes!!
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