South Africa Expat Feed

Nawty posted Flights to Cape Town from United States on the South Africa forum:

Hello Fellow ExPats, Anyone have advice on flights from the United States to Cape Town? Visa requirements? Or any other issues? Please reply with any advice you wish to share.....Thanks my friends

jmish replied to the thread Getting our dog to Cape Town on the South Africa forum:

jennatroy initially posted:

We are moving to Cape Town and we would like to ship our dog directly from Boston (USA) to Cape Town. A friend will pick up the dog at the airport. We've been quoted 5000 US. Has anybody had any experience with this? Thank you.

jmish replied most recently with:

$5000 is WAY too much. Typical quote from most pet shippers. There is NO direct service to Cape Town. From Boston, British Air has connecting service. Very Good. From JFK or Newark, KLM has connecting service. Must use a pet shipper to book on KLM. So, not so good. From JFK there is SAA South African Air via JNB. Much cheaper than other carriers. We can help you Jerry Action Pet Express

adminee posted You Could Win $75 Amazon Gift Card for Posting Tips about Living in South Africa on the South Africa forum:

Be one of the first to post tips about living (working, parenting, moving to, retiring, etc.) in South Africa in our new Expat Tip section. Or, you may submit general tips about expat life! The 3 expats who submit the most tips in May will receive $75 Amazon.com gift certificates! (Note: tips that are promotional in nature are not counted in this top tip competition -- although tips that promote events and professionals who submit helpful advice are WELCOME on Expat Tips!!) Expat Tip Section: http://www.expatexchange.com/expattips Post a Tip: http://www.expatexchange.com/expat/index.cfm?pr=tip Help build an amazing resource for the expat community! Thank You! Betsy Burlingame Expat Exchange

adminee posted New Expat Tip Tool on the South Africa forum:

We wanted to send out a note to introduce our new Expat Tip Tool. It helps you offer advice and grab tips from other expatriates about international jobs, moving overseas, retiring overseas and more. Use it to keep track of your expat insights and save tips from others living abroad all in one place! http://www.expatexchange.com/expattips Or, click on "Expat Tips" on the top of any page of Expat Exchange! Also, if you would like to add a photo to your profile, you can do that now, too. Click on "My Profile" - "Photo" and upload a photo today!

Property in Centurion, Pretoria, South Africa for Rent

Secure residential estate with secure access and play parks

elhelm2002 posted learning Islam and Arabic Language by Skype on the South Africa forum:

I am an experienced teacher of Modern Standard and Colloquial Arabic and have been teaching Arabic privately to students for the last 7 years. I am familiar with a range of course books including the Samia Louis series of course books for colloquial Arabic which I know form the core course material used at ILI for courses in Egyptian Arabic. In addition to teaching I write a regular series of Arabic topics in Egyptian Arabic in the BCA magazine Cairo. I really enjoy this work: helping foreigners learn Arabic and understand our culture . In parallel to teaching, I've just graduated at the Open University faculty of "Dar al Ouloum Cairo University-Egypt" licentiate of - The Arabic Language and Islamic studies. Just let me know if you are interested. Skype Name: elhelm2002 Thanks Muhammed

danmor posted Help repeal FATCA and US taxes on the South Africa forum:

Dear fellow US citizens, Please distribute this message widely! Please send an URGENT message today to your newsletter and on your website, urging your members to personally send letters to Congress by the Monday, April 15th deadline (tomorrow!), pleading Congress to repeal FATCA and change the tax system from citizenship-based taxation to residency-based taxation just like it is in the rest of the world. As you very well know, these issues have caused immense financial hardship to all of us (US citizens living abroad). We don't get any benefits from the US but we have to file US tax returns??!! The US is the only country in the world that harms its citizens residing abroad in this way! It's time to tell Congress and the IRS: Enough is enough! No taxation without representation! More information on the call for action can be found on the website of the American Citizens Abroad association: http://americansabroad.org/issues/taxation/have-your-say-tax-reform/ Our voice is starting to have a positive impact: http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/293187-americans-living-abroad-plead-for-relief-from-irs But we need to keep on with the pressue, and we need your support as well!! It is EXTREMELY important that we ALL support this effort and make our voice heard on the Capitol in order to put an end to our unnecessary suffering once and for all! Please explain that even if one misses the deadline by a few days, it is still crucial and worthwhile to send the letters to Congress, as they will most probably take them into account as well. Finally, you can add that to those US citizens abroad who are reluctant to send such emails since they don't want their names to end up on some list that somehow finds its way to an unfriendly eye in the IRS, there is a very simple solution: create a new email account using gmail, yahoo, or hotmail, under a made-up name, and send the emails from that account. Thank you very much for your immediate help and support on this crucial issue that is affecting you, me, and all of us! Sincerely yours, A fellow US citizen

RodP replied to the thread Weekends away on the South Africa forum:

twitchdownunder initially posted:

Where are some nice places to visit for weekends away not far from Cape Town as don't want to spend all weekend driving. Please include weekends with kids and also for 2.

RodP replied most recently with:

Google the following places: Hermanus (esp. during whale season Aug-Nov) Arniston (ditto) Barrydale Paternoster Greyton Darling De Hoop Montague All have excellent and economical B&Bs and are within a couple of hours of Cape Town

lotsaluv replied most recently with:

Hi there, lots of places. This all depends also if you want to stay overnight in some places. The west coast is amazing, lovely nature reserve 2 hours from Cape Town, and in the same direction is a well known fossil park, amazing fossils still in their original state. Many wine farms with attractions for children too near Stellenbosch. Up the south coast just off the N2 national route at Gordons Bay is my idea of the most beautiful scenic drive in africa, this goes from Gordons Bay to Betty's Bay, and beyond to Hermanus. Then lastly you can do the world renown penisula drive to the southern tip which is very beautiful too. Enjoy.

EastofEden posted ENT - EAR,Nose,Throat Doc needed in Port Elizabeth on the South Africa forum:

Greetings, All. Does anyone have any experience with a good ENT guy in Port Elizabeth, please? Someone who is up on all the latest & greatest? Thanks a lot.

lotsaluv replied to the thread Is this salary enough... on the South Africa forum:

kanatoff initially posted:

Hi , I'm considering moving to Cape Town to work. The base salary that is being offered is 13000 R / month. Is this enough to lead a more or less comfortable life living as a single person in a small 1-2 bedroom appartment (equiv.) not too far away from Century City so that there is not a constant worry about paying the bills and trying to scrape up the last of my change to buy food at the end of the month?

View All 3 Replies

lotsaluv replied most recently with:

Good day, if this is your gross then I am afraid you may struggle a bit, but if it is your nett income then it is possible. The cheapest rental accomodation in a gated community is in the Strand or Gordons Bay which is 60 kms from Cape Town, there is bus and rail transport available if you do not have a vehicle. There are 2 bed room flats in Gordons Bay for around R3500.00/month, but make sure you have a good credit record. If you have no furniture there are many reasonably priced second hand shops available. You could also find sigle roomed furnished accomodation in Gordons BAy, check on Gumtree. Hope this helps.

richard1972 replied most recently with:

R13000 is rather little. As Dave said, a small 1-2 bedroom flat is already R4000 a month. Commuting, food, clothing, medical, etc means that you will be financially a bit tight on 13k a month. If that is a base salary only and you can earn decent commission on top of it, no problem. R13k is a salary for a admin position or junior technical position, or the basic salary for a commission-driven sales position. Depending on your line of work, I would aim for at least 20k a month in order to be comfortable in Cape Town. Richard