We are going to be in Cape Town at the end of the month for 2 weeks.

Since we are staying at a private apartment, we were told we could buy a Sim card to use which would allow us Internet via the vodacom network.

Then we buy prepaid cards for Data usage:

at R2.00 per MB of Data

What does this mean exactly, how much time /or how many Internet pages can we view with 1 MB of data?

Since we are used to unlimited usage, I'm wondering if it is worth the effort to take our laptop all the way to South Africa, and pay such rates, just to send a few emails view new, etc.

maybe it wold be better to just forget the laptop and visit a Internet cafe once in a while.

Any information or thoughts would be appreciated.

Thank you,

Marvella

Will you be accessing the internet by phone or laptop?

In my case, I wanted a SIM to use for my laptop. I found that local SIMs were not compatible with my dongles and in the end I bought a Vodacom (effectively Vodafone) dongle which was quite expensive. I bought an amount of data which lasted about two weeks, using it as unlimited. Sorry, I can't remember the price, but checking at vodacom.co.za should find current prices.

One thing to bear in mind. Purchasers of SIMs need to register with the authorities. If you buy one locally, the dealer should be able to do this for you. In our case, the dealer said he required a letter from our hotel confirming that we were residents! (I'm not sure if that was legally necessary, but that's what he said.)

If you're using your cellphone, I imagine that costs would be lower. Sorry, I haven't got the answer on that.

I'll be interested in other responses in preparation for our next trip.

If all you want to do is check email then better to use an internet cafe as access by phone is slow and expensive.

Here's a directory you might find useful:
http://www.worldembassyinformation.c...th-africa.html