What type of converter/adapter do I need to use in South Africa (from US)?

Question

I am traveling to Cape Town & Johannesburg in South Africa and want to charge/plug in a digital camera, laptop, and curling iron. The laptop is grounded, but I do have a 3 prong to 2 prong converter. What type of outlet is used in these cities/this country? What type of converter/adapter do I need to buy in order to use these electronics? Are they easy to buy in Cape Town? (What stores-- I don't want to buy at airport?) Any links would be very helpful...

Thank You!!

Answer 1

I know the AA (the Automobile Association here) sells what they call "international" adapters, and I assume those will cover US to SA too. I reckon airport shops here in SA will probably have them too.

I don't know how much luck you will have in the US trying to find adapters for SA. Not much, I reckon.

We use 3-point plugs with fat round points in SA. Sometimes 2-point ones too, but it's usually best to get a 2-point to 3-point adapter for these, for those situations where 2-point sockets aren't available. Possibly more important than all this is to note that our mains here is 220 volts. I think yours in the US is 110 volts. Getting around this may be your biggest problem.

Maybe these pictures will help you with identifying the types of plugs: (scroll about half-way down the page):

http://www.tumuga.co.za/general%20Inform...

Answer 2

You will be able to buy the adapter you need in most shopping centres in travel shops. As mentioned the bigger problem will be the voltage as well as frequency. Some devices (possible the laptop adapter) might be built to function on both 110V and 220V. But, for all other devices you will need a converter, more or less a transformer.

Answer 3

A USA-SA adapter.

Answer 4

You could even buy the adapters in the USA:

http://www.laptoptravel.com/Product.aspx...

http://www.adaptelec.com/travel-plug-ada...

http://kropla.com/!m.htm