Zimbabwe currency situation
Jul 10, 2019, 7:38 am
#16
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That list is somewhat meaningless. If you are traveling around Africa, ALWAYS carry your yellow fever certificate. Governments and airports and border officials can decide on a whim to request it or not.
Jul 10, 2019, 9:09 am
#17
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Funnily enough i’ve Just had it out with my GP about the exact thing- she was quite insistent Mr pants needed yellow fever vaccine for South Africa (only). And not even because the Africans might demand it, but because “Australia won’t let you back in”. Um, denying entry to Australia to an Australian citizen due to lack of a vaccine for a disease that isn’t even prevalent in South Africa...
unfortunately it’s a nice money spinner for GPs here so they push it quite hard
also unfortunately more western tourists die from the vaccine than the disease these days so I am seriously unimpressed with them!!
/rant off
unfortunately it’s a nice money spinner for GPs here so they push it quite hard
also unfortunately more western tourists die from the vaccine than the disease these days so I am seriously unimpressed with them!!
/rant off
Jul 10, 2019, 10:47 am
#18
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Interesting thread. We visit SA (only) every year, and Yellow Fever has never been mentioned.
Should we be worried, and write a [lovely] country off our list?
Should we be worried, and write a [lovely] country off our list?
Jul 10, 2019, 10:52 am
#19
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South Africa is not (and to the best of my knowledge has never been) a YF risk area
i ended up having it for west Africa which is absolutely fair enough
Jul 11, 2019, 12:37 am
#20
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There is a rather extensive thread in this forum on Yellow Fever Yellow Fever Vaccination - Requirements for Africa
But as to South Africa, the general point is not that you need the vaccine for South Africa, rather that the South African government can request that you present your vaccine certificate if you fly into their country from one of the risk areas. For instance I have flown NBO-JNB many times and I often have to show my cert upon arrival. But if I fly LHR or CDG to JNB, I do not. But what if your CDG-JNB flight is diverted to a place like NBO and you have to continue on a KQ flight to JNB? Or what if you change your plans and take a side trip? Or what if some silly officer at JNB decides to screen everyone from LHR for YF? This is why it is always best to have the cert with you at all times when traveling around Africa.
But as to South Africa, the general point is not that you need the vaccine for South Africa, rather that the South African government can request that you present your vaccine certificate if you fly into their country from one of the risk areas. For instance I have flown NBO-JNB many times and I often have to show my cert upon arrival. But if I fly LHR or CDG to JNB, I do not. But what if your CDG-JNB flight is diverted to a place like NBO and you have to continue on a KQ flight to JNB? Or what if you change your plans and take a side trip? Or what if some silly officer at JNB decides to screen everyone from LHR for YF? This is why it is always best to have the cert with you at all times when traveling around Africa.
Jul 11, 2019, 1:11 pm
#23
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Seriously, you should not worry about this. You won’t be asked for a certificate unless you are arriving from a YF area - and even then it is far from a certainty. So if your biggest risk is your aircraft being diverted to a country on the YF list, you really can sleep easy.
Jul 12, 2019, 5:37 am
#25
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Obviously if you have a YF certificate take it with you, but there is no need to vaccinate yourself unnecessarily.
Jul 12, 2019, 5:41 am
#26
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Then he wants a R100 bribe and off you go
Obviously if you have a YF certificate take it with you, but there is no need to vaccinate yourself unnecessarily.
Obviously if you have a YF certificate take it with you, but there is no need to vaccinate yourself unnecessarily.
Jul 12, 2019, 6:00 am
#27
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Yes, like said they want a "bribe", so by all means carry your certificate with you if you have one.
Aug 4, 2019, 2:34 am
#28
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Aug 4, 2019, 5:47 am
#29
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Ok well. I think the situation is very much in flux and the country is somewhat depressing at the moment. Everyone seems to have an exit plan which is not something I have ever experienced in other countries. The begging and humbug are also worse than I have ever experienced in Africa (and I have worked extensively in west Africa so not just talking as a casual observer)
-USD are accepted everywhere, ZAR to a lesser extent although the exchange rate when taken was about right
-prices are almost exclusively in USD, some restaurants have a Z$ menu but they state “local ID required”, not sure if it is enforced
-however you burn through currency extremely quickly as obviously things are priced to liberate hard currency from those that have it
-my (Australian) card would not work anywhere in zimbabwe
-there is an occasional need to have Zimbabwean dollar/bond notes- eg I bought a SIM card, price was Z$1 but if you don’t have Z$ they will take USD at a 1:1 exchange rate (official exchange rate is more like 5-6:1 but apparently this 1:1 is government policy to prevent dual pricing). Similar experience in the supermarket buying bottled water
-however Z$/ bond notes are extremely hard to get hold of- none of the banks would sell me any and when I asked around for somewhere I could exchange some no information was forthcoming. Not sure if the trade is being clamped down on. I got the impression the lodge I stayed in may have been willing to help with small amounts if i’d pursued it but I decided it was too much hassle. The security guard at the mobile phone shop disappeared with a US$5 note and came back to me with Z$30 which didn’t seem outrageous, however he was easily gone for 30 minutes and there wasn’t any real guarantee he would return or if he did wouldn’t pocket half for himself so less than ideal there
-I asked if there were limits on export of Z$, was told no, no one asked at the airport and beyond those usual kind of signs saying amounts greater than $10000 US or whatever must be declared there was no interest really
also whoever asked about the trillion dollar notes- they’re actually worth a fair bit these days. You will be approached continuously by bumsters trying to sell you notes up to around twenty billion. But I had to search quite hard to get a 10 trillion dollars and was unable to find anything higher
hope this helps!
nb I also gather the situation in VFA is quite different from elsewhere. I cancelled my planned trip to Bulawayo in part because of the issues getting bond notes- the train is priced in bond and the internal airlines are massively unreliable (I think air zimbabwe is currently running more of a schedule than fastjet which tells a story)
Last edited by nancypants; Aug 4, 2019 at 5:53 am
Aug 4, 2019, 6:10 am
#30
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Many thanks for the update. I think in the light of this, I am likely to stay on the Zambian side with just a day trip over the border to the other side of the falls.