As for previous years, I can also help by issuing confirmation letters for those who require them. The letter essentially says that OpenCraft is sending you on a business trip and pays for your flight and lodging expenses.
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Brief reminder that this forum post is public. Iād recommend not conspiring to subvert immigration law where a border agent might trivially look it up before letting you in.
@Fox Ahhā¦ I see now how it sounds, but I didnāt actually mean it like that.
As far as I understood, technically there is no such thing as a conference vs a tourist visa. There is only a short-term visit visa, with a short space in the visa application form to mention the purpose of the visit.
Now, if the only purpose for visit is attending a conference then (according to the internet) an invitation letter from the organizers is generally expected. However, in my case, I intend to travel in South Africa for an extra couple of weeks besides attending the conference, so I felt that tourism could (and perhaps should) be considered my primary purpose of visit. Although I can get this point clarified from the local embassy here.
Argh, I canāt find any information on where/how/when this fee is paid 
. Iād imagine it gets paid at the airport and that a debit/credit card would be accepted, but I canāt say for sure. Could you contact your embassy to find out?
@kaustav Thanks for bringing up the accommodation requirement for the visa application. I will finish compiling a list of Airbnbs early next week, and create the associated tickets for each of us to book our accommodation. Iāll update you as soon as thatās done.
@fox It says:
Where a national passport holder of a specific country is required to be in possession of a port of entry visa to proceed to South Africa, the list also outlines whether or not an administrative processing fee is payable or not.
So I think that fee is only required if a visa is required, which in our case (Canada/USA ordinary passport less than 90 days), it is not.
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Hey @kaustav,
Iāve created tickets for us all to start arranging accommodation for the conference and co-working week (hereās yours). Everyone else can find their dedicated ticket on the epic. 
If you need to book accommodation as part of your visa application, please try to select an Airbnb with a lenient cancellation policy - just in case something goes wrong with your visa.
Let me know if you have any questions.
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Wow, the accommodations in Hermanus look amazing!
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Iām glad you think so! Stellenbosch is very much a student town, so the accommodation options are not quite as āluxuriousā as in Hermanus. 
@bebop Please put the tickets for the conference planing and selecting accommodations in one of the upcoming sprints, as all of them are in the backlog right now, and wonāt appear on your sprint board.
@kaustav and I spoke with Cay (pronounced āKā) from Journeys by Emerge at
www.journeysbyemerge.com +27 0820970131 about a possible safari trip in SA.
She comes highly recommended by a āSA localā.
Note: Our discussion doesnāt preempt any other plans by the very able people in charge.
Kaustav and I wanted to share our discussion notes so we can begin to gauge interest by the team.
We discussed a safari-type trip to Kruger National Park, the largest wildlife reserve in the world during the week following July 14th. Kruger, in the northeast of SA, is dry and warmer than the south so this is a very good time to go.
This trip would involve
- Flight from Cape Town airport to airport next to Kruger (1.5 hours and costs 6K rand - local currency)
- Drive to site in the park (1-2 hours travel)
- Stay at either one or two different sites with either walking or automobile wildlife tours
- Cay says 4-5 nights would be a good duration for this trip
- Typical costs per person per night is 5-10K rand per night but could go lower for more basic level accommodations
We also discussed a possible day trip to Cape Town for the team, perhaps during the weekend between the two weeks weāll be in Hermanus (minimum normally 10 people) as well as other activities there (Table mtn. Hike 7-8 hours), etc. Again, our discussion doesnāt replace any other activities already in the works by the team.
We will follow up with a survey to assess interest.
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Cay asked me to correct thisā¦ The Kruger National Park is one of Africaās largest game reserves 
It might be tricky logistically to get this trip into Cape Town done on the weekend between, due to many factors - including transfers from Stellenbosch to Hermanus. But if the team wants to do this @Ali and I could discuss furtherā¦
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@DouglasDraper @kaustav Iām so glad to hear that youāre organising a trip to the Kruger! Youāre going to see some phenomenal wildlife - hopefully members of both The Big Five and The Little Five.
I agree with @cassie that it wouldnāt make logistical sense to travel to Hermanus then back to Cape Town. It would be a better idea, either to do the Cape Town trip directly after the conference (perhaps stay an extra night or two in Stellenbosch, meaning weād need to change any Airbnb bookings that have already been made), or after the co-working week - perhaps just before the Kruger trip. I would say the second option makes most sense, since team members would need to get to Cape Town to depart from the airport anyway.
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@cassie @Ali Good point about the logistical issue during the weekend between. I agree, the weekend after the coworking week (13th and 14th July) would make much more sense to do this trip.
@team Would you be interested in a day trip to Cape Town as a group during the weekend ?
- Yes
- No
0 voters
This poll would help Cay with planning the trip for us. The planned trip would include transportation to/from Hermanus and possibly a guide as well (More details will be provided by Cay soon).
Costs will be shared for the Cape Town day trip soon 
which will give everyone an idea of the personal costs involved.
The suggested day trip:
- Cape Point
- Flying Dutchman Funicular
- African Penguins at Boulders Beach
- Kirstenbosch Gardens
- Constantia Wine Tastings
- Light Lunch at a Wine Estate: 2-course meal, either Starter & Main OR Main & Dessert, excludes drinks
These spots in Cape Town are beautiful!
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Hi everyone!
Weāve put together a Conference travel guide that gives you key information about things like vaccinations, what to pack, and most importantly the slang you need to get by in South Africa 
The document is also linked to in the Conference Epic description. If you have any other questions ping me directly on the document, and Iāll add any additional information everyone might need.
As we say in South Africaā¦ lekker guys, check you later!
@DouglasDraper FYI
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@kaustav @DouglasDraper and everyone else who is interestedā¦
Here is the suggested Cape Peninsula Tour Day Tour with costs for anyone who is interested in staying on longer in South Africa (the tour can take place anytime from the 13th July). Table Mountain has replaced the wine tasting as we might do that around Hermanus during the co-work week. Iāll let you guys liaise directly with Cay
Cape Town Peninsula Day tour .pdf (1.2 MB)
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@pooja Pinging you here as @cassieās guide covers a lot of what you and I spoke about in our call.
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If you need a visa for attending the conference and would require an invitation letter from the organizers for the visa application, could you please fill in your details in this Google Form.
I will then send along all the information to Eden, so they can issue the letters.
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A quick reminder to add your details in the Google Form if you would require an invitation letter for visa purposes. I am planning to forward this to Eden on Monday (19th Feb).
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