Everyone searches for a spot offering Wi-fi (also known as Wifi or wireless Internet) at some point or another, whether it’s so that they can quickly check emails, get their daily social media fix or just get some serious work in within a comfy environment. With so many different Wi-fi hotspots in Cape Town’s city centre, all of which differ slightly in their ambience and offering (they range from trendy and bustling to quiet and business-like), it can be quite tricky to find the setting that suits your needs. Not to mention, the requirements for using a spot’s free Web offering can be difficult to navigate – is it necessary to order a big meal? Is it fine to just grab a coffee? So, to answer such questions and to bring you the lowdown on the Mother City’s wireless Internet scene, we’ve scoured Cape Town to find a variety of top cafés, restaurants and bars offering great food, a relaxed setting and, of course, FREE Wi-fi.
B4i.travel simplifies your communication needs when travelling and takes the risk out of high international roaming costs. We offer a range of pre-loaded, pre-activated and pre-registered world travel SIM cards so you’ll be connected when you arrive in the country you are visiting. Tourists, students and businessmen have been talking like a local in South Africa, USA, Europe with B4I.travel since 2010. It’s time to ‘Explore your world’.
]]>They say that first impressions are everything, and beyond a doubt, the best way to get acquainted with the Mother City is to meet her via helicopter. In South Africa, chopper flights are reportedly the cheapest in the world, and more importantly, a heli-flip is really the only way to truly appreciate Cape Town’s magnificent beauty.
Sure, there’s plenty of opportunity to take in bits and pieces of her exquisite scenery with ground touring. But much in the same way that looking at individual pixels to get an idea of a grand image is rather unsatisfying, conquering the Mother City on land just doesn’t compare to drinking in the whole of her brilliance from the heavens above.
And while there are a handful of operators that take passengers up, up and away, we recommend booking with long-time locally reputed company NAC.
The established operator is backed by South Africa’s first commercial aviation company and boasts a 100% accident- and incident-free record. More importantly though, it offers two entry level flights that treat riders to spectacular views of glorious Cape Town, including vistas that feature Table Mountain, the V&A Waterfront, Lion’s Head and so much more.
B4i.travel simplifies your communication needs when travelling and takes the risk out of high international roaming costs. We offer a range of pre-loaded, pre-activated and pre-registered world travel SIM cards so you’ll be connected when you arrive in the country you are visiting. Tourists, students and businessmen have been talking like a local in South Africa, USA, Europe with B4I.travel since 2010. It’s time to ‘Explore your world’.
]]>Raising children can be expensive. There are nappies, teeny garments, sticky sweets, mini furniture, toys and school fees to think about, so when it comes to entertaining them, most moms and pops likely want to keep costs as low as possible. Of course, this doesn’t mean simply sitting at home – no one wants little tykes climbing up curtains or hanging from lampshades – but rather finding fun family-friendly activities that don’t burn a hole in the pocket.
And fortunately, such things do actually exist in Cape Town. From free options like storytelling sessions at bookshops to very affordable to-dos like crocodile viewing, rose picking and grape juice tasting at wine farms, there are plenty ways to keep tiny tots busy while pinching the pennies. If you’re wondering where to find such alternatives, simply take a look below – we’ve carefully compiled an overview of things to do with kids for free or for less than R50 to help you get through the child-rearing phase with your bank balance still more or less intact.
B4i.travel simplifies your communication needs when travelling and takes the risk out of high international roaming costs. We offer a range of pre-loaded, pre-activated and pre-registered world travel SIM cards so you’ll be connected when you arrive in the country you are visiting. Tourists, students and businessmen have been talking like a local in South Africa, USA, Europe with B4I.travel since 2010. It’s time to ‘Explore your world’.
]]>Whether you are using your regular phone or a travel phone, make sure to add the phone numbers and address of the places (hotels, restaurants, friends, business associates, airlines) and people you plan on visiting to your contacts or address book.
This will make calling and using maps easier (no need to look up numbers or google for contact details while you are traveling).
If you are planning on calling outside of the USA, make sure those numbers have the country code as part of their phone number.
]]>Free programs and apps like Tripit can make building your itinerary with related details (address, phone number, rate, confirmation number, flight details, dates, etc.) easy. You can let the app read your email or just forward emails to Tripit (or similar apps) once you have an account. The app will self-populate your itinerary. No need to hunt around for the details while you are on the go.
Check it out here https://www.tripit.com
]]>While traveling in the USA, Yelp has a good website and apps are available for iOS and Android. Or you could try OpenTable – it’s a great way to get the opinions of the locals when choosing a restaurant or other venues. We’ve found them very reliable (look for a high number of reviews and stars). OpenTable also lets you makes reservations online. TripAdvisor is also an excellent source but Yelp and OpenTable are used by the locals.
The trick when using these type of apps is to try gauge the quality of the reviewers and look for restaurants that respond to reviews, it shows they care.
]]>Most of us use Whatsapp, and it’s simple enough to share your location via the app – another alternative if you are traveling or meeting others is Glympse, which is also a free app. Just remember sharing locations and using apps consume data so always ensure you have a local data bundle.
]]>However mobile data roaming is expensive, and taking that path can end up costing you. I was travelling in Thailand in 2012 (before you could download offline maps) and we got lost trying to find a restaurant called Nikki Beach in Koh Samui (we had followed the websites directions but kept going around in circles) and ultimately I opened up Google Maps using roaming data to navigate us the last few miles. Lets just say the data usage cost me more than my lunch.
Most maps are 40-60 MB in size. To download an offline area, simply open Google Maps, type in the city /areas name in the search bar and once the area has loaded, hit the menu key (three horizontal lines on the left of the search bar), select “Offline Area” hit the + key at the bottom of the screen to add.
Offline Area’s will only download on a Wifi Connection.
See the detailed help article on Google Support on how to use Google maps offline
]]>If you’re at a hotel that charges for wifi don’t forget that you can use your phone as a personal hotspot to support your computer or tablet.
Most restaurants in the USA have free wifi, just ask your waitron for the details.
]]>Under the GSM standard for mobile phones the universal emergency number which can be dialed anywhere where you have cell reception is 112. This number can be dialed with or without a sim or airtime.
Alternately for emergencies you can dial:
Another option is save an ICE (in case of emergency) contact in your phone, ideally next of kin or your doctor. From the lock screen of Android and Apple phones a person (paramedic / first responder on the scene) can call this emergency number without having to know your passcode.
Always leave some of your cards in the hotel safe in case you loose your wallet. Note that you may need to notify your bank in advance you will be traveling abroad.
Make a copies of your passport and visa, then keep a paper copy at the hotel and a copy on your phone or stored in the cloud in Dropbox or any alternative. Ideally when out and about it is always good to travel with some alternate form of identification (drivers license) and leave your passport in the hotel safe.
Most hotels have business cards which you can take with you so you can find your way back to the hotel or in case of an emergency. And in foreign language cities the address its great to be able to hand the card to your cab driver so they know where to take you.
Leave a home address card in you luggage in case the baggage tags are destroyed in transit.
Many bags look identical on the airport carousel. Make you bag look unique by tying a coloured ribbon or coloured tape to your handle
Prepack you bags and create a checklist for last minute items (medications). If you pack 48hrs in advance, you give yourself time to remember what you forgot.
Create a separate carry-on checklist… headphones, sweater, eye mask, book, empty water bottle (fill it up once though security), cable ties, safety pins, medicines, pen for immigration forms.
Emergency snack and water (bring empty bottle to the airport that you can fill later) in case flight delays once you are on the plane.
We recommend trying the following apps before you travel: