purchasing power converters
 

Hello, I am looking to purchase a power adapter for a safari trip I am taking next year. I will be travelling to Namibia, South Africa, Botswana and Zambia. There seems to be three plugs used in the various countries. I have found a few so far but I am having trouble finding an adapter with the three round plugs included, is this used often? For those of you that have been what type of plug did you run into? Anyone who knows where I might buy what I need in the Toronto area? (I have limited time after arrival before my tour starts so I would prefer to purchase in advance.)

Thanks.

My experience is that many of the safari camps have converters which they will lend to you. How often will you need to recharge?((*))

Hi - Europe Bound (on King Street West at Peter) and also on Front Street (east of Church) has an extensive selection of converters/adapters with multiple plugs - we bought one last year for Jordan/Egypt etc.

Correction - west of Church on Front street (south side - both stores)

And one more post from me! It looks like you're a new user of Fodors - FYI there is a Toronto area Fodorite get together next weekend (August 9th) at Front and Church (you could visit Europe Bound first!) We had one last year and had a great time - here is a link to the info on the Canada Board -hope to see you there!

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35138714

Here's a list that shows both voltage and plug type.

http://voltagevalet.com/country/all.html#gamma

Depending on what type of appliances you will be using,and what country you are from, you might need a converter and an adapter. The only thing I needed elecricity for was to charge my camera batteries. My charger is dual voltage, so the only thing I needed was the adapters.

I went to Namibia and Bots last year, but have also been to South Africa and Zambia as well as East Africa. I have an adapter kit, and generally take the entire kit just in case. They don't take up much space and are not heavy like the converter. I think the adapters I used most were of the D and E type shown on the attached list. I remember thinking I would only need one of those but am pretty sure I used both.

I am in the U.S., so cannot help you with Toronto retailers. I bought my kit years ago at Brookstone. Kits are widely available on line through travel companies like REI, Magellans, Packing Light, Travel Smith, etc.

Like Dana_M I take my entire kit of plugs with converter. Have been using these for 25+years.

Besides the dedicated travel companies listed above, I find most local drug and/or health/beauty stores have a small "travel dept" where you'll find luggage tags, traveling iron/hairdryers, plug/converter kits, luggage straps, etc. Prices are very reasonable.

Thanks all for the help. The adapter is mostly for my camera and I think it might to the conversion on it's own. The back of the charger says input 100-240V ~ 50/60Hz.

As for the gathering next weekend I will defintly look into that, sounds like fun and I could meet some folks who have travelled the areas I am going.