Is Southern Africa difficult destination to Travel to?
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Is Southern Africa an expensive or difficult destination to travel to?
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It is surprisingly easy and less expensive than you might think. There are direct flights from both New York and Atlanta to Johannesburg and Cape Town with a flying time of about 11 hours.
This might seem lengthy, but if you consider that it is a night flight where you can sleep and also watch plenty of movies, the time passes faster than you may have thought. The great advantage is that there are no connecting flights and therefore less stress.
If you were to compare the cost of a trip to Hawaii, staying in decent hotels, compared to the same time on a continent that offers a unique and once in a lifetime experience, it appears that for a totally new experience, the minimal increase in cost is worth every penny.
The even bigger drawing card of the region, particularly South Africa, is that the US Dollar is so strong (around 7-10 South Africa Rand’s to the $US over the past several years for example) and the value of the local currencies is so low that it is extremely inexpensive once you are there.
You find that you can eat like a king at a very nice restaurant for the price of a simple meal back home. Most other world wide regions are relatively cheap to get to but costly once there, so in theory there is a balancing effect when you consider it might be slightly more expensive to fly to Africa, but once there, it is extremely cost effective.
An even bigger bonus of the African safari industry is that it is all inclusive in most parts (i.e., meals, drinks, game drives and guides) are included, so there is no additional need to pay for anything once you have arrived, except for perhaps the odd curio.