1

Victoria Falls/Livingstone is the most expensive place of the places you're going. I'm not sure about Victoria Falls, but in Livingstone there's a nice place called Fawlty Towers. Hotels in the area Are very expensive compared to South Africa.

Cape Town has several great places to stay like Ashanti.co.za where prices start at R120. Cape Town and Johannesburg both have everything you'd like when it comes to food, from very cheap to very expensive and from all over the world.

South Africa has really bad crime statistics, but very little of serious crime affects tourist. So just use common sense like you would in New York or London and you'll be fine.And ATMs are very easy to find and safe. When it comes to driving you shouldn't keep valuables visable, keep your doors locked in the city and don't drive at night(animals and people in the road, poor lighting, a lot of drunk driving)

I've only been to Port Elizabeth once, and we stayed at Chapman's Family Hotel, it was recommended in Lonely Planet and it's about half way between the city center and the tourist place with casinos and a bunch of restaurants if I remember correctly. I spent way less on food in PE than in CT and had a lot of great seafood.

What you'll spend depends on what you do and how you do it. But there's a lot of budget options. The Lonely Planet Southern Africa is a good source for information. There's a lot to shop in South Africa so I always come home with food, bowls, books etc etc, but if I take the shopping out of the picture I spent about 40% more than I did in India-maybe not that helpful. But around USD 75 including accommodation and food, but I could have spent less if I had to.

2

look at www.backpackpackingsouthafrica.co.za for hostels and www.karooheartland.co.za

3

What do you consider expensive? What do you have available for per day expenses? It's impossible to answer without knowing this. I can tell you that average daily living expenses are more expensive than India and less expensive than Norway, but without knowing what you're aiming at it's difficult to answer your question.

4

Hey thanks a million for all your answers, you really help me!

That's the question, how much I will need per day. This is now my problem at the moment, my opinion is around 40 USD, 350 ZAR, 30€ more ore less. I know it's really not a lot, but I book all my tickets, like safari tours, flights, train and everything before. And this money what I use on these days is just for food, accommodation and things what will be on the way.. That's the reason why I'm looking for cheap hostels and infos how I can safe money :)

I really thank you all for your quick replies and for all your infos! You really help me to plan my trip :)

Best regards Christian

5

When you book safari and transport in advance and will be staying at hostels it shouldn't be a problem.

6

Zatraveller,

I always tell people to assume European prices. This doesn't hold true for food (restaurants are cheap in SA) but it's pretty much accurate for everything else; medicine, shopping, accommodation, transport. Yes, you might be able to find a room for R100 but only if you are willing to search high and low and tame your standards. Generally speaking, it's European prices. Safety wise, exercise caution. Everyone carries their credit cards, wallets, children, jewellery... just use common sense, you will be ok.

7

ok this sounds good, thanks so much! :)

8

Mamameeya: European prices doesn't really say much, there are huge differences within Europe. I'm Norwegian, so pretty much everwhere else seems cheap for me. But if we leave out crazy Noway, Sweden and Demark are cheap, but Germany's cheaper than that and Bulgaria is even cheaper than Germany and so on. I've paid around 1 euro for a beer in Prague, the same beer would cost me around 4-5 euros in Sweden and easily 8-9 euros in Norway.