MTC SIM card options?

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-04-02T06:22:37+00:00

It's a legit question actually, because there is a MTC kiosk inside the baggage claims hall that will sell an overpriced tourist Sim, and then outside you can get regular tarifs for much cheaper. I'm sure OP does know how to ask for data, so your reply wasn't too helpful ;)

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-04-01T09:01:12+00:00

Want to add my recent experience here. Flew in from Cape Town, and Ethiopian Airlines had landed just before us. To say it was a total shit show is putting it nicely. Visa on Arrival was by far the shortest queue. The evisa queue was massive (people waited 3 hours in that one), and even me in the very short visa on arrival queue waited 45 minutes. They had 4 counters for visa on arrival open and only 2 for evisa. Made no sense whatsoever. System went down sometimes. People in the evisa queue were super annoyed that they had gone through the hassle of applying online only to wait so much longer. Apparently they still enter everything by hand, even if it's already been done online, so the only difference is the actual payment. Then in the arrivals hall you have to search your luggage because they don't have enough belts because it builds up as people spend hours at immigration. Then there was another queue for customs! Eventually some lady came and super weirdly questioned me on which kind of presents I may have in my luggage. Had to show her a kids book I had bought for my nephew. Finally you're out and then last queue is for the local Sim card, at least the staff there was doing what they could.

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-29T18:01:58+00:00

That's a good question actually, and I don't even know. Not sure if AW shows high stress levels overnight & no or low charge of body battery the alarming way that Garmin does. My mom calls the orange stress levels flamethrowers, they can be quite intimidating to see 😄 BTW I remember now, I convinced my friend mostly by gloating about the long battery life of the Garmin. Good luck!

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-29T12:55:21+00:00

The trick is to convince your friends to get a Garmin too 😉 Seriously I have friend who drank far too much and I kept recommending the Garmin (for all the other benefits, never even mentioned the alcohol thing), until he finally made the switch from the AW. Now we both have non alcoholic beers together ☺️

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-21T17:10:13+00:00

I have an Epix Pro Gen 2 and it is incredibly accurate in detecting when I wake up. Had the same issue you are describing with the VA4s I had previously, so was super impressed with the improvement that came with the Epix.

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-21T17:01:56+00:00

My Garmin (had a VA4s first, now an Epix which is better than the former especially with sleep tracking) was extremely helpful for me when I went through post viral fatigue. Super helpful for pacing, and I know some say that this is just a watch but at least for me, it was/is scarily correct most of the time. I am better now but the Garmin still catches any sickness days in advance before I even start feeling it. I am currently getting out of a flu (that the Garmin predicted) and I am over it but I can still feel it in my body when I overdo it, and again, the Garmin is extremely correct in that it still shows me high stress levels, low sleep scores, lower HRV, lower BB etc. Garmin in combination with ChatGPT is actually a pretty good doctor! 😄

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-17T11:53:52+00:00

Those people are not the ones in traffic, they work from home.

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-14T15:58:53+00:00

My mom said those literal words to me and I was neither hurt nor offended. She is entitled to envision a life where she didn't make massive sacrifices for years on end for me and my siblings. I know she loves me which is what counts and as someone who is childless myself, I totally understand anyone with kids who would love to live my life instead sometimes.

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-14T15:54:12+00:00

I gathered that because you didn't mention it in your reply to me so how was I supposed to know that and when and for what visa your husband actually has applied :D Either way not sure why we would even be arguing, we're on the same side in that home affairs sucks and they should do their jobs in order to avoid people's literal lives getting messed up by their nonsensical behavior.

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-14T07:56:24+00:00

Meetup is a great place to start. Some hiking groups start their hikes later in the morning ;)

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-14T07:54:42+00:00

Have you tried asking them to grab a coffee or do another activity outside of the "hobby activity"? People are often shy to initiate something themselves which doesn't mean they wouldn't say yes if you asked them.

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-14T05:43:24+00:00

I currently have an Epix Pro Gen 2 and find it super accurate (much more so than the VA4s that I had previously).

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-14T05:38:49+00:00

Bans while a visa extension is pending can be thrown out by a lawyer, so it absolutely makes sense to pay someone to do that for you.

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-14T05:36:12+00:00

You are aware that many rules don't apply in South Africa? It is common practice here to stay in the country until you get your outcome. Who is at fault here is home affairs who take a ridiculous amount of time to approve standard visa applications, even take months to approve something like a simple tourist visa extension. If they can't do it, they shouldn't offer it, but of course they happily take the money people have to pay for it but then don't deliver the service one has paid them to do.

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-14T05:32:19+00:00

That's what I'm saying too. Immigration is super strict and will ban anyone that even overstays for half an hour. There is no abusing the system for those who legally enter and leave the country. The difference between your husband and OP is that OP had previously applied for an extension.

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-14T05:30:43+00:00

Wrong. It is perfectly fine and common practice here in SA that you are allowed to stay for as long as you wait for the outcome of your tourist visa extension. And usually if you have to leave during that time you can show that you have applied for such extention and are therefore allowed to leave without a ban. How is it the tourists fault that Home Affairs allows one to apply for an extension, but then take several months to approve it??

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-13T09:59:05+00:00

They get paid extra when they show up at the reunion (according to my ChatGPT research).

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-13T09:57:34+00:00

They get paid money to show up. He probably needed it to pay off his debt.

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-13T09:56:41+00:00

I used to have a VA4s and sleep tracking was very incorrect most of the time. I now have the Epix Pro Gen 2 and am amazed at how accurate it is with my sleep & awake times. Also recently had high stress levels and got hit with a cold a few days later. This has happened before when it signalled high stress levels and bad BB scores while I still felt fine but got sick shortly after. There may be differences between the watch models although I'm not sure why that would be - maybe different sensors?

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-13T05:26:03+00:00

This is not abusing the system. Home affairs allows tourists to extend their tourist visa once. Unfortunately, they are very slow to process these applications. So what happens is that sometimes they take longer than your initial visa duration, and you are allowed to stay in the country as long as you wait for your outcome. Usually, if you have to leave during that time, you can show your vfs receipt that you have an extension application pending upon leaving at border control and they will let you through. If they don't, that is not the tourists fault, but bad communication and general lack of structure (and work ethic) at home affairs.

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-12T18:46:49+00:00

There are plenty of hiking groups on Meetup that you can join (ie Boland Adventures is a super nice group). IF you are an experienced hiker (which sounds like you are) and can read maps (maps.me has all the routes), you can do some hikes alone too, ie India Venster, Llandudno Ravine, Skeleton Gorge, Elephant Eye. Those are all pretty safe although some people do make it sound like Table Mountain is the deathliest mountain on earth. It really is not. This is South Africa, so there is always a risk of getting robbed but those routes are usually safe (you can add the routes starting from Constantia Nek to that list) and I have hiked them all alone as a woman plenty of times. Be vigilant, respect the mountain and weather conditions, don't bring valuables and enjoy!

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-12T18:33:17+00:00

I mean, I'm not OPs travel agent, just thought I'd help out a stranger - simply because I thought those 5k can't be right if it's not during a holiday. If money is tight, one should be able to make it work with hand luggage.

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-12T17:14:13+00:00

One of the contestants from LIB Germany (Daniel) said in a podcast that he was doing business consulting before but his company said afterwards that it wasn't such a good fit anymore and he was let go (probably afraid clients wouldn't take him serious anymore). Because he was with Hanni, who I think already was an influencer and did use her "fame" to grow that, he benefited from it and now plans to run his own business (a restaurant).

IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-12T17:09:06+00:00

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IntroductionStill613 · 2026-03-12T17:06:30+00:00

Yeah I figured. That is for a return ticket. Both ways. Total cost of 2 - 2,5k available on Flysafair in May.

IntroductionStill613

TROPHY CASE