Never thought I would be happy to see the Rand at 6.22...
 

but after watching the U.S. Dollar dip all the way down to about 5.80 against the Rand recently, 6.22 is the new 10.0, if you catch my drift.

Gee, now that Singita is only $2,180 per night, I may just scratch my entire 14 night high season Zambian safari in favor of 4 nights at Singita. Instead of a 19 night itinerary, I can do a 20,000+ mile roundtrip inside of one week with Singita and the Cape Grace, and be back at work before I even knew I left. ;)

Seriously, though, it is nice to see the U.S. Dollar with a little life to it, although I will still be spending 2/3 of my time outside South Africa on this and future visits.

Great news indeed! I saw that this morning!

Especially since the wife and I decided to make an unscheduled trip to my "homeland" in mid June!

We won't go near places like Singita, but even the boerewors platters at the Spur will now cost less!

And the Castle Lagers. And the Windhoek Exports!

Go dollar go!

Rocco

it is not only South Africa pricing that is affected. Pricing in all of Southern Africa is affected by the dollar. All the countries in the area are looking at their costs to run the camps in local currency and then converting it into US Dollars. A weak dollar will give high dollar prices in all Southern African countries. Our best hope is that if the dollar recovers that the camps will be lowering their prices (or is that just me dreaming?)

mv,

Your statement is mostly true, but not entirely. It was the weak dollar the first led me to Zambia two years ago, as all Zambian lodges do their tariffs in U.S. Dollars.

So, while tourists visiting South Africa, Botswana and other places in Southern Africa have been very affected by the dollar's slide, tourists visiting Zambia have largely been unaffected. It is for this reason that a person can stay in a top-notch lodge like Luangwa River Lodge (www.luangwariverlodge.com) in South Luangwa for $350 pp per night in high season ($250 pp per night for Nov. 01st - May 31st), or stay at the luxurious Kasaka River Lodge in Lower Zambezi (www.kasakariverlodge.com) for only about $300 pp per night. These prices probably have not been seen elsewhere in Southern Africa for 3+ years, if ever.

It is for this reason that Zambia is such an attractive option, either standing on its own, or to mix with Botswana. For longer safaris it would be a piece of cake to start out in South Luangwa, fly down to Lower Zambezi, then spend a couple nights in Victoria Falls before concluding in Botswana.

I may be in the minority, but I just don't see how people can be content to come all the way to Africa and only spend 6 nights or less on safari. Just as I was concluding my 11 night safari last year, I was really just starting to get in the groove of things and wished I had another 4 or 5 nights. This year, I am not messing around and will be spending 17 nights on safari! :)

Roccco -
I did a 7 night safari last year and it was a helluva trip for just 7 nights. But I'd rather have only 7 than not go at all. (I couldn't get more time off work.)

Not all of us are in the same situation as you!

As for the Rand, I wouldn't mind it going back to 10-1 like it was in 2002. It sure made shopping easier! My brain is on vacation while I am so trying to figure the "real" price of things by dividing by 6.5 was too much work. I needed a calculator!

>Not all of us are in the same situation as you!

Sundowner, just fyi, that situation is commonly known as DEBT! ;)

sundowner - don't bother figuring it in your head, print out a cheat sheet! I never got past the 7x multiplication tables anyways... but 10 was real easy!

roccco - a man after my own heart - debt! if it's got the word safari in it, it's worth being pooooor after an African infusion.

Sandi,

As I've said before, who needs a ROTH IRA when you can instead send the money to your favorite African tour operator each month! ;)

Don't look now but the Rand is 6.34 and rising! :) That is nearly a 10% improvement in the last couple months.

Rocco
The impact of travel on one's finances is something I know all too well - don't even ask me what the total for our long trip last year was - but...

... you have to admit that not everyone can take the amount of time off that those of us who are self-employed can take.

I don't get paid unless I'm working but... I can at least make the choice not to be. Lots of people just aren't in jobs (and can't easily find jobs) which give them lots of annual leave and flexibility in taking it.

Kavey,

Yes...there are benefits to being self-employed, but there are also plenty of drawbacks. There are times when Alexsandra and I (as well as probably you and any other self-employed person) works for 10 consecutive days or put in 15+ hour days.

Anyway...Rand now at 6.37 and climbing.

Westcliff Hotel is now down to under $125 per night for internet rates. Think I'll be booking that about now. :)