South Africa Rand

[RL]

Heading to South Africa in September. Should I have some dollars converted to rand in the states or wait till I get there? Also, how much would you recommend?

[S Meyer]

Why not use a credit card? It's much safer than having large sums of cash and ATM's are fairly common, so when cash is needed it's not imposible to get. The bank fees may be relatively high but at seven rand for a dollar it's not all that bad. Otherwise, shop around. You can get slightly differrent exchange rates from different place here.

[Joseph]

I just traded some in the airport when I got there.  It was easy.  Joseph

[Tilzbow]

I just returned two weeks ago. I only took $40 cash and had the outfitter swing by an ATM on the way to camp and used by bank card to get Rand for tips. The exchange rate is better than what you'll get at the airport and easily off-sets the ATM fees. For all other purchases I used a credit card. I do this same thing no matter where I travel. For trophy fees, we set up an account in advance and our excess would've be refunded back to us but I used mine to book another hunt in 2009. You may want to check if your outfitter can accomodate the trophy fee acount.