This shouldn’t need saying!
My understanding is big bank money cards charge a hefty fee when you load up. And loading up specific amounts in specific currencies is horrible. I would never use one. Also, in my experience, you get terrible rates for cash.
Look at 28 Degrees and CitiBank Plus.
Do these countries that take USD give anything less than $1 back ie coins? Not that you’d be bothered, but I assume the just give local coins or, in some places in china, lollies.
No. Any change is usually given in local currency.
e.g. in Cambodia 1 USD is approx 4000 riel. Most of the riel notes (there are no coins) are worth less than 1 USD, so fill that gap.
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brilliant place to visit. took the family there in 2015 and hired a driver and guide. Beaches in the south are great as are those in the NE (Trincommalee). Lots of interesting historical stuff to see (temples etc) as well as national parks with great wildlife (elephants, crocs, panthers).
We did a big loop from Columbo down to Galle, then up through the tea plantation areas around Nuwara Eliya and Kandy. Must see is the temples at Sigariya and Dambulla. Finished off with a week of relaxation on beaches at Trincommalee.
Main thing to check out is when the monsoon seasons kick in relative to when you go. Its different from South to the north, even though it’s only a small island.
What time of year did you travel?
And how long would you allow for a loop like that?
We went late September. I saw the writing on the wall early in the year and wanted to be out of Oz when Hawthorn won the GF. Total time was about 17 days although wish we had have had more time in Galle.
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Isn’t that wet season in the south? How was the weather?
Yes. we just missed it. 2 days after we left Galle, the rains came and roads out were flooded.
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We went in 2012 and it was truly wonderful - Africa is top of our holiday hit list. Nearly went back to Kruger last year and we intend heading back sooner rather than later. A couple of tips.
-if you’re booking the campsites inside Kruger, do it ASAP, they sell out quickly
-hire the biggest car you can for Kruger. We were lucky and inadvertently got upgraded to an 8 seater, which was ideal. The higher you are the better, the grass can obscure the view at times.
- don’t play chicken with the elephants and have the motor running at the water holes
-drive down to the Cape of Good Hope by all means but don’t stop at the picnic spots. We did and nearly got torn apart by a savage baboon. Later found we weren’t the only ones.
-If you like wine you’re in for treat in Cape Town - the wine tour we did was great.
I’ll send you a link to a blog my better half posted
You’ll love the place
Great - thanks for messaging the link GRR.
I’m deep into planning at the moment -
The first part of the trip will be to spend a couple of days around Blyde River Canyon / Panorama Route area to recover from the flight, explore canyons & waterfalls and get supplied for Kruger. Then we will head to Kruger for 4 or 5 nights, probably staying at the SANParks sites (better get onto this).
After that, I’m playing with 2 options. Initially I was looking at flying from Kruger to Cape Town, then heading to Hermanus for whale watching, Oudshoorn for Ostriches, Meerkats & caves & finally somewhere on the Garden Route (Knysna?) before flying home from George or Port Elizabeth.
However, as you probably know, they are looking at turning off the water supply in Cape Town on April 12 with no guarantee it will be restored by the time we get there. So I am also looking at an alternative itinerary in Kwa Zulu Natal where we would head via Swaziland to the wetlands & coast around St Lucia, more wildlife in Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park & hiking in Drakensberg ranges before driving back to Jo’Burg.
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I’m incredibly jealous.
PS If you get a chance in Kruger do an early morning hike, preferably an organised one with park guides with big guns. We were lucky to see a white rhino up close enough to start thinking about the afterlife. The guide wasn’t fussed, he made us all duck down and shut up, waited till it got within about ten metres, and then threw a rock over its head. Blondie scarpered. Turns out the guns were mainly for show. He told us he’s only ever fired at poachers.
Sounds good. I’ve read there are lots of options from the SANParks sites which add a bit of variety to the self-drive safari norm - guided drives, walks (some multi-day), guided night drives etc… It would be easy to spend a full week just in Kruger I think.
Here is something I just read by a South African in response to a question asking why that country was so expensive. It may contain something useful for you:
"This is for a tourist point of view:
I live in South Africa. This is an incredibly beautiful country. Judged by Western standards I am rather poor. Still in this country as well as its neighbour Namibia I can throw a tent in the car and go and have a two week holiday for the fraction of what overseas tourists pay. I can do multiday hikes for as little as USD20.
South Africa is expensive if you want someone to put a chocolate on your pillow every night. If you make your own bookings and either camp or use privately owned guesthouses you can have a very cheap holiday here.
I have often looked at the package tours which are so popular with overseas tourists and they are all so expensive! I have seen tourists being charged USD100 for a day hike which is free for the rest of us (but we have to make our own sandwiches then).
If you do some Googling and make your own bookings South Africa is not expensive. Hire a car, ask around and be amazed."
Yep. I find this is the case in most places.
When we went, admittedly 5 and a half years ago, the AU was around 8.5 ZAR and living costs were cheap compared to us. I don’t know about their recent inflation rate but I note the rand is over 9. Flights in Africa are pricey but most other costs were well below Oz rates.
Sri Lankan airways are doing Melbourne to London fares for only $1100 in Economy and $3500 Business which is pretty awesome. Of course they go on sale not too long after we booked on Etihad 
Going to find myself in Barcelona for a few days and there is a La Liga game on with Barcelona at Camp Nou.
Is it a must do?
What’s the best way to get tickets?
Barcelona FC website is the best and most reliable. The only way of getting tickets is if season ticket holders hand their tickets back to the club for individual games.
Barca was one of the hardest ones for me to get tickets to as they usually don’t resell them until a few days out so it’s hard to plan