It's now 3 weeks till our wonderful JY holiday to South Africa, Whale watching and Zambia add on and can I say I'm a little bit excited! 

I'm Chloe, 26 years old, this will be my 7th holiday with JY ::D

Our tour manager is Lynne, so she will be looking after us.

I've just heard from Vickie that there is 27 of us in total! So not quite fully booked but I think that's a good size group! 14 on the add on.

4 men, 23 women. Aged between mid 20s (so that's me lol, still the baby of the group) - mid 70s.

I have heard from a few people: Barry, Mandy, Tim H, Roger T, Carolyn and Alison so say hi guys. Alison has helped us book Robben Island on our free day. If anyone is interested in joining please check out her post not long ago ::) so there is a few more of you out there, don't be shy say hi everyone, let us know a little bit about you and if we have any newbies.

Also how much currency/ spending money is everyone thinking of taking in Rand, dollars and sterling? As we can't pay for any excursions in card when there! 

And 19 days is a long time hehe, I'll be getting mine next week.

Looking forward to meeting you all at the airport lounge 

See you 

Chloe xx

Age is just a number!

Regards

Jaya

I'm still trying to figure out how much cash I need, but looking at the notes we have to pay in rand for the optionals, so I'll take mainly rand but I always take dollars and sterling as a back up. I know in some countries they are funny about dollars if they are creased or torn, so I'll be checking that mine are ok.

Checking online it didn't look like I needed yellow fever so I just have to sort out my malaria tablets and then its the packing left to do.

I've been travelling with JY for 10 years and have done 20 holidays and even at 51 I am still one of the younger ones in the group but on these trips age doesn't matter.

See you at Heathrow.

Tim

Hi Tim and your fellow travellers to SA. I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about currency for your holiday. There are plenty of places with ATMs along the way so I would recommend taking a currency card if you can. When I did this tour a few years ago I had no problems at all by doing that. 

Have a wonderful holiday, South Africa is a great country to visit.

Sue

Hi Tim and your fellow travellers to SA. I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about currency for your holiday. There are plenty of places with ATMs along the way so I would recommend taking a currency card if you can. When I did this tour a few years ago I had no problems at all by doing that. 

Have a wonderful holiday, South Africa is a great country to visit.

Sue

This will be my first JY tour at the tender age of 63. Although I did 8 tours with their previous incarnation Page & Moy (the first in 1974).

Really looking forward to this one .. it’s been a long time in the planning.

I agree Tim, judging the cash requirements is a tricky one. It will be nice to lighten the load once the extra excursions can be paid for on arrival. Definitely 3 extra game drives as a minimum.

Jaya, you’re absolutely right age is just a number. We’re told your only as old as you feel. With me that can be 33 or 83 !! Depends on how many steps are involved ...

Looking forward to meeting up in the Lounge. Hope there’s room for everyone as they can get very busy at times !

Cheers,

Roger

Having looked through the list again I think we'll need a mix of rand and sterling as the more expensive ones are on the add on where we can pay in sterling.I always end up taking too much cash as I don't want to find I have to miss out on a once in a lifetime opportunity.

I'll book the botswana game drive in advance and will look to do as many as possible while I am there.

I still can't decide whether helicopter or microlite as i've not done either before.

Have just had a late meeting added to my diary so hopefully I'll get to Heathrow in time to make use of the lounge

Tim

Yes a mix of currencies will certainly be needed for you lucky ones doing the add on trip.

If I had signed up for it I would be like you doing as many extras as possible.

The Chobe day is a no brainer. As for the flight it might depend on how brave I was feeling at the time !

I was lucky enough once to do a helicopter flight over the Great Barrier Reef and that was awesome.

Looking at various reviews I would like to think I’d go for the microlite. A unique opportunity, if a little hairy ..

An ‘added late meeting’ ? Ah, I remember those days ..?

Keep an eye on the clock !

Roger

.

You will need some dollars as there is the Zambia visa to pay, at the border for $50 not included and I think one of the Chobe excursions has a $30 tax on. Microlight flight and helicopter rides have $6 air tax to pay on top. So it will be the little bits that catch us out. 

I'll be taking about £800 into Rand, $200 and £500-800 sterling. I can always get more out when there ::)

Chloe

Yes it's me! I'll be the TM on this tour and look forward to meeting you all at Heathrow.

Just to clarify the currency situation. You need to pay for all excursions in SA in Rand cash. If you dont want to carry all of your money with you, you can easily access Rand from ATMs with a card and I will advise once there where to do this. For those going on the add on to Zambia, you will need US $ cash for your entry visa. For the excursions in Zambia you can pay in £ sterling, on a credit card (in £), or US$ cash. I hope this helps. Please dont try and get local currency for Zambia, there is no need.

I have posted before on Chloe's other thread about this trip, but in case you didn't see it, please take a fleece or jumper as it can be cold in the Cape and also on those early safari mornings.

You have chosen a fantastic tour to do and I look forward to meeting you all soon.

Lynne

Thanks for the info, look forward to meeting you and the rest of the group at Heathrow. I'd better go looking for a fleece.

Tim

I can recommend microlight flight. It is thrilling and you feel as free as a bird and the views are fantastic. I did a helicopter flight in Sydney and one flight was enough for me - give me microlight anytime. Everyone going on this trip have a great time. This is a fantastic tour. I loved Zambia and wish we had an extra day there!

Regards

Jaya

Just wondering how you all got on with the money on your tour.  Think I have under estimated how much I need and I'm going on the same tour on Tuesday 6th Nov

Just back from this trip, ended up spending around £650 in rand, that covered all the township, game drives and bush walk etc as well as drink, lunches, ice creams, tips and souveniers. 

If you are doing the add on then it depends what optionals you are doing and whether you have pre-booked, you can pay in sterling for the optionals (we were able to pay by card, but I took cash anyway to be safe), you will need dollars for visa, hotel bill and pictures from microlite / helicopter so around $200 should do.

Tim