I have Verizon and have signed up for the International plan. Has anyone used this plan in Jo Berg? Pretoria? and Beria Mozambique areas???

Used my AT&T in Nambibia last week. Service is spotty outside of Windhoek, but where you have a signal it works flawlessly. The charge is supposedly $2.49 per minute. We'll see when I get the bill.

Has anyone rented a cell phone in Joberg airport?

I have had no problems in South Africa around the towns using my cell phone. Service way out was spotty.

I have not rented a cell phone in Johannesburg Airport but the place to do it is right across from SAP office on the way out of the terminal.

I am just getting a quad ban. Has hi-fi also. Use cingular/att and they have told us that we should be getting service in SA and cost 69 cents a minute. Also will have my lap top and have subscribed to SKYPE (SKYPE.com) Very reasonable rates calling all over the world. Check it out.

Driftwood,

You might want to check those rates again before you go. Their web site shows rate a good bit higher than that if you do not subscribe to their International calling plan. And it appears that a Roaming charge is applicable as well.

Maybe cheaper overall to have your phone "unlocked" [ so you can use other providers] then rent or buy a SIM card in Johannesburg when you arrive at the airport from Vodacom/Vodaphone.

[but for a single trip, renting a phone there may be cheaper, all in]

Les

Scott et al,

renting a phone in JoBurg airport is simple and cheap. On my last trip, 28 days long, I used vodophone, (MTM is another vendor at the airport). Total bill was just over $100 US and the phone was used extensively calling back to the states and across South Africa. Rates include theft/loss insurance. It takes all of 5 minutes to pick one up, and returning the thing takes half that time.

nkonka - Thanks!

My plan is to pickup a vodophone at the AP. My kids will be able to call me via Skype for around 2 cents per minute.. I'm expecting that the inbound calls on the cell phone will be fairly inexpensive... It's really only so we can check in a couple times with the kids while we're there...

Scott

Check Vodacom for rates and rental phones here.

But, if you are just going to use it a couple of times during your trip you might be able to use your outfitters land line or cell phone and reimburse him much cheaper. Also, have you verified access to computer connectivity. Many use telephone lines for a dial up connection at per minute rates.

Cell phone reception is very strange in the African bush.

On three seperate occasions, once in South Africa and twice in Tanzania. The camp staff seem to have found a small spot - in South Africa it was on a three feet high wall as it joins the main building. Within a couple of yards on that wall, one can make a call any time of day. Anywhere else the reception was absolutelely dead.

In Tanzania, again, the camp staff seem to have found an ant hill close to the skinning shed. If one stands on it, he can make calls without any problems. A few feet away and everything was dead.

In another area, the sweet spot was by a bend in the river!

Anytime one walks a few feet away from those sweet spots, and you might as well use drums for communications.

Very weird indeed!

Ditto - Senuko camp (Save) is based on the kopje - single cottages are arranged around on its slopes, generally I had a good signal if I stepped outside of the cottage (not all the times tho) - so I expected if I climb up on the top of the kopje the signal would be even better - - not in Africa - no signal whatsoever

There are also places in the states you can purchase a SIM card for a foreign destination. It s a bit more than buying one locally, but one less thing to worry about on your trip.

A 'local' SIM with international calling card is usually the cheapest way to call home when abroad in my experience.

I just got the SIM card for my daughter from Cellularabroad.com. They have several plans. The one that worked best for me is the one with all incoming calls free, since I will be calling her. Outgoing calling is reasonable and can be recharged from any phone. It is good for 30 countries. You get a UK number that works everywhere. If you are staying a while, it may work for you.

I used mine when I was in Namibia in May. I have Cingular and as mentioned earlier the service is very spotty outside of Windhoek. I was charged $2.56 a minute even if I was not connected. I got a connection 2 times and talked for about 8 minutes total. Cost $44 and change due to the number of time I tried to call. Each attempt was charged for 1 minute.