So you're about to head to South Africa for a few days of meetings. All your bags are packed, you're ready to go. You're standing there outside your door. And you realize: you have no idea what South Africa is like.

Sure, you know where you're staying. Maybe you've got a guidebook that says where to visit if you manage to scrape together a few hours of sightseeing. But what's South Africa really like? More practically:

How should you greet your business partners?

If you're invited to someone's house, should you be on time? What sort of gift should you bring? If flowers are OK, what kinds of flowers are appropriate--or inappropriate? Should you bring an odd number of flowers or an even number?

Are there any special considerations for female travelers?
Or female business associates?

What do the electrical outlets look like?

Perhaps most importantly: if you order the sosaties, what on Earth is that going to look like?


South Africa: Business Traveler's Passport is an iPhone app for business travelers. It contains a few hundred pages of information on South Africa, focusing on areas of particular concern to the business traveler. While it does contain a small amount of information on hotels and sightseeing opportunities, these sections are intentionally light. Instead, it has entire sections of information on:

• South Africa Basics: A brief history of South Africa, with some background and historical highlights.
• Country Facts: demographics and other statistical data.
• Doing Business: Greetings & courtesies, meeting protocol, business attire, business entertaining, etc.

• Women: As travelers, are there any special considerations in South Africa? As a businesswoman, are any extra measures needed? How are South African women treated in their own country?
• Money: What does the money look like? How much should different service people be tipped, if at all?

• Travel: Visa info, embassy & consulate locations, departure formalities, electrical system, etc.

• Safety: Emergency numbers, notes on street crime, health & medical care
• Points of Interest: Some interesting museums and cultural sites, in case there's time in between meetings.

• City Views: Background on Cape Town and Johannesburg, with a handful of hotel descriptions.
• Telephone System: The subtleties of dialing from & to South Africa. There's even a section on how to use the different South African pay phones.
• Life Cycle: From birth to marriage to old age, what's life like?
• Gift Giving: The subtleties of giving personal or business gifts.

• Holidays and Festivals: Solid background on the popular holidays and festivals.
• Religion: Background on South Africa's varying religious climates.
• Superstitions and Folklore: Common superstitions, along with South African stereotypes.
• Food and Recipes: Descriptions of common brazilian foods, along with recipes for several dishes, including bobotie, venison potjiekos, sosaties, pap, umngqusho, chakalaka, and melktert.

• Terms Dictionary: Over 100 words & phrases translated into both Afrikaans and Zulu.

Being part of the Business Traveler's Passport series means that the app also has easy navigation, editable bookmarks, changeable font sizes, and an array of text & background color choices. If you've got any questions, do drop us a note!