TAXIS
Uber is a great way to get around Cape Town and other small towns in the area. It is a relatively cheap, safe and reliable method for getting around locally.
CAR HIRE
We recommend hiring a car for your time in Cape Town as there is so much to see in the area. Car hire is easy to access with well known car hire companies like Hertz and Avis located at the airport and in the City.
You can drive in South Africa with a valid UK photocard driving licence for up to 12 months.
Much like the UK, the standard is to drive on the left hand side.
Generally in the Cape the safety risks in driving are low, however in any situation it is good to have an awarenss of your surroundings and to not leave valuables in full view.
On arrival at the airport we recommend getting a SIM card fro a local provider and loading with with some minutes and data.
This is very easy and afforable and will make the day-to day logisitics of your trip much easier.
We recommend MTN or Vodafone as options.
You will need your passport to get a tourist SIM card.
The currency you can expect is the South African Rand. Card payements are very easy and straight forward in all formal establishements.
However it is always useful to carry cash if you'd like to purchase from any informal roadside stalls or tip your car guards.
Luckily, there is very little time difference between the UK and South Africa. No Jetlag! Whoop Whoop
On the wedding day the time difference will be GMT +1h.
"Loadshedding" is a term used to descibe a planned, local power outage to balance the countries power grid. These can happen relatively frequently and can last for a few hours at a time.
We recommend taking a power bank in case you get caught without power and want to keep your phone charged.
When booking accomodation plase enquire as to your hotels/BnB's load shedding controls to understand the impacts further (ie. The wedding venue is suppoerted by generators and solar so power will not be an issue).
While nothing like the USA in terms of gratuity, having a few Rands on you for a tip is always handy.
When parking in most places a car guard will get your attention once you have parked and will watchh your car for. On return a cash tip is generally expected - R10-R20.
For service in restaurants, a 10% - 12% gratutiy is a good guideline value, muvh like the UK.
Cape Town, Franschhoek, the Winelands etc are tourist areas and we wouldnt expect anyone to have any issues around safety in these areas, or more generally tourstiy areas throughout the region.
As in any new country that you visit, keep track of your valuables and have a good awareness of your surroundings when out and about.
If you have questions, please get in contact where can dicuss any concerns.
Otherwise, for any concerns regarding safety in South Africa, here is a useful website.