Advice needed for upcoming botswana holiday

[Roberto]

Please keep us informed of your trip. It would be interesting to know how it all went.

All the best and enjoy it!

[Niranjan B Venkatesh]

Hi Kate,

Lots of info regarding the chargers and electrical , so I wont put what i did for my Kruger trip in here.

As for Meats, only the fresh produce of Cloven hoofed animal can be stopped at any VET gate and Border. All others can be taken through. Dont get taken for a ride, ask to see the legislation the prevent other meats/Produce from being taken through. If they continue to be a pain, ask to speak to a senior officer, failing which you can contact the State Vet services. I will look up the numbers later tonight and post.

As for fresh produce, you will be able to get fresh things at all major centers, Gaborone( Woolies, PnP, Spars), Francistown ( 3 spars and PNP), Maun( 2 spars), Kasane(Spar), Palapye (Spar) and Mahalapye( Spar), Molepolole ( Spar). But further east toward Guma and Ghanzi, it wont be so fresh! And try not to buy Meats at small village supermarkets as Donkey meat is sold often as other meat!

I did look at your trip and think that four nights at Guma is way way over kill, two nights there is more than enough for mokoro trips, unless you are fishing.I usually go fishing at Guma and am very well aware of whats on offer in the area (Dec 2010 , saw the largest cro I have ever seen, he was bigger than the 19ft boot I was fishing in! But that was in the main channel).

As for Pulas, any Atm ( FNB and Barclays atms can give up to P 4000.00 per day) will issue you with cash as long as your card is either visa or master card and their debit cards. Banks as well will change Rands to Pulas ( be aware that you can only legally carry R5000.00 out of SA, so Travelers Cheques en-cashed at banks is the other option.) and there are currency changers all over the place. As for Credit cards, always keep them in sight, get out of the car and follow your card, do not be complacent. Ensure that your cellphone is enabled for roaming ( Mascom or Orange are preferred Service providers in Botswana.)

If you do get stuck and need emergency help, Please feel free to contact me. I will try and see what I can do to assist. I am based in Francistown, but always have my Sales Rep and trucks all around the country. I will PM you my cell Number ( its on 24/7) if you like. I will be in Joburg next week but will be back on Thursday.

Regards,
Niranjan

[Henk Coetzee]

I will try and exchange some Rands here today, but if we can't get them here, is it easy to buy Pula in Bots (legally).

It's very easy to get Pula - banks, legal cash exchange at the borders (rates may not be that good, but aren't too bad either), ATMs.

[jab2]

- the "300W" is just a MAX wattage rating, you have to look closer to find the actual usable wattage. AND after all this it is only the laptops charge wattage that counts - 40W on the little notepad I tag along on trips

When my cigarette plug lost it's smoke it, was pulling a 300W inverter which was driving a 95W laptop power supply. I started smelling that pungent sour smell of melting plastic about 4km after we started our holiday trip, still on tar. Stopped and inspected everything, but could not find the problem. Though it was another vehicle, as we did pass a vehicle which was smoking excessively. Drove for about another 4 km and a beam of light swept through the car on a bend in the road. In the beam I saw a little smoke coming from the lighter socket area. Pulled the plug out and it came out in a gooey mess, fuse still intact. This was one of those more upmarket plugs where you unscrew the tip to get to the fuse. Later heard that the vibration can cause the plug to move back in the socket and start arcing. Although the current is still low, the heat from the arcing melts the plastic. The inverter has a low voltage buzzer, and even the buzzer did not sound, so it was maintaining 12V+ whiles arcing.

Thank you for the Warning Cobus! Just out of interest... what kind of testing would the manufacturer do on something like the little inverters? Would they still be allowed to sell them if there was a possibility it could happen? I really no nothing about cars and electrics so would never even have thought about anything like that!

The problem has nothing to do with the quality of the equipment, or shabby testing. See my answer to Chris above.

On my BMW bike I have a plug called a Hella plug, which have a positive click lock. It is however rated rather low, so not sure if it will be suitable. To run an inverter I would rather go for a Brad Harrison connecter of suitable rating, connected to permanent wiring, as mentioned earlier.

[Kate de Pinna]

Thank you for your replies Henk and Cobus, sorry for only replying now - didn't get them before we left
We ended up buying a Waeco inverter which was a magic little piece of equipment when it worked. It kept over heating and we couldn't understand why, then we realised that the internal fan was not working. It came on and off intermittently right from day 1. We used to have to hold it infront of the air conditioner to keep cool while using it That said, it is still a great piece of equipment and I would definately buy another if I ever needed one.
We are going to take the inverter back to the shop and ask them to look at it for us.

Thank you again to everyone who commented and offered advice, it was a tremendous help.

I have started a blog for out trip which you are all most welcome to have a look at if you have the time.

Thanks again! xx

[AstraPics]

We are going to take the inverter back to the shop and ask them to look at it for us.

Or... you could take it back to the shop and insist on a brand new replacement.