Travel essentials in South Africa

We Americans really do have it pretty good and traveling to Africa is a good example of the things we take for granted. For the most part women's restrooms in America have toilet paper. I'm afraid that I learned a bit late in our trip that toilet paper is a precious commodity and that is always a good idea to carry some with you. Our friend Professor Peter Franks said that at the University of Limpopo stealing toilet paper from the restrooms is a major problem. Clean drinking water is also a given here in the states. My first night in Limpopo province I broke the advice given to me about not drinking the water or eating something that had not been boiled, cooked or pealed. After an exactly 24 hr delay in Altanta we arrived very late to our accommodations in Polokwane, with food awaiting us in our room. There was no bottled water. What was I thinking in not buying some at the rest stop? So indeed being the rule breaker that I am I drank the tap water to take my anti malarial and other medicines and even ate the salads. Nothing like figuring things out on the first day. I was greatly relieved to know I could survive a few sips of tap water and that eating lettuce would not make me ill. We had been told by some folks that they thought we would be fine eating the food. I was glad they were right. It would not have been fun to be ill on the schedule we kept while we were there.

Back to the toilet paper. In Kraskop visiting a beautiful panoramic escarpment there was a woman with a baby laying in the grass passing out tp as you enter the women's toilets. I wasn't sure if this was her job and she was paid to do this or she was being entrepreneurial. As an afterthought, I maybe should have given her a tip.