The African Countries Where Your Pound Still Makes A Difference

Virtually everywhere in the world has felt the impact of the global recession. The UK has felt the impact of the recession a lot worse than others with jobs being cut, companies going out of business and peoples pensions being reduced. Throughout this troublesome period, all is not lost as the Pound still holds great value abroad. The UK is not the only nation to feel the full effects of the recession as countries in Africa have also bared the brunt of the problem. Both the South African Rand and the Kenyan Shilling took a bit of a battering with the Rand being at 12 to 1 Pound for longer than normal and the Kenyan Shilling being at 160 to 1 for a time when it's normally around the 130 mark.

For all those people in the UK thinking it's all doom and gloom think again. You can still travel on a Tanzania safari and spend less when your there for a couple of weeks as opposed to staying in the UK for the same period of time. Although your pound might not get you anywhere these days in the UK with inflation, it will still get you somewhere in Africa. There are a few exceptions to this rule however as some countries in Africa have never been cheap and are as expensive as most of Europe is to travel to. If you decide on heading out on a Botswana safari it won’t take you long to notice that your pound really doesn't get you that far at all. Safaris and holidays in these countries are more expensive that most due to the fact they have to import all of their commodities from surrounding countries as opposed to countries in East Africa who make their goods.

One thing you must take into consideration when your abroad is how you manage your money. The best thing to do is to take travellers cheques with you, which you can exchange, commission free in most local banks. Take lump sums of cash with you, although you must keep them safe at all times. One of the safest yet most expensive options is withdrawing cash on your credit/debit card as not only do you get charged for using the cash point you also get charged for the currency conversion, so in total it can work out around £3-4 per withdrawal.

If like most people you are only going on a Namibia travel adventure for a couple of weeks, you will be able to cover your extra costs with travellers cheques, but if you are heading over to Africa for a few months your only option maybe to withdraw your cash from ATM machines. If you do your research you will notice that there are one or two banks within the UK who offer free withdrawals with them… It might be worth signing up just for your holiday to Africa.

Tags: Botswana Safari, kenya safari, Namibia Travel, Zambia Safari