Favorable Exchange Rates

It seems wherever we travel the last few years, the exchange rate has risen dramatically and never in our favor … until our arrival in South Africa, that is. Americans don't think about how strong or soft the dollar is. Why would you if you're always dealing in the same currency? If you're traveling abroad, however, the dollar exchange rate is very important to your budget. It's the difference between dining out and eating aboard or taking an inland trip or not. When we were in Australia, the American dollar was weak. Australia is an expensive country to start with and adding a premium of 10-15% on top of that to account for the exchange rate was painful. Every Australian dollar we spent really cost us US$1.12+. Ouch! Now that we've left Australia, the exchange rate has dropped to about 75¢ to the US$1. Goes to show how our spending in a country contributes significantly to their national economy.

South America was one of our favorite places to be when it came to favorable exchange rates. We could eat out in Ecuador for US$5 per meal and the national currency was the US$! In Venezuela, diesel cost us about 12¢ a gallon … delivered to the boat. Our haul-out and boatyard bill totaled over a million bolivars, but the cost was actually around US$600. In Colombia, the exchange rate was ~2500:1.

There are several currency converters available on line. I tend to use the same one, Oanda, all the time and we check it regularly if we're making big purchases. When we were in South Africa in 2007, the exchange rate was about 7:1, rand to US$. When we arrived in Durban last December, the rate hovered around the 11:1 mark. Today, we saw over 12:1, heading towards 13. Great for us; not so good for South Africans trying to buy imported products. The largest denomination, R200, is worth about US$16. That said, we've been spurring on the economy with all of our boat repairs … very good for local merchants and tradesmen.

South African money is great, by the way - very colorful with pictures of Mandela on one side and the Big Five on the other. I learned that the abbreviation for the rand, ZAR, stands for Zuid-Afrikaanse Rand … South African Rand in Dutch. The bills are in R10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 denominations and become about 1/4” longer with each denomination increase.

They've also got a nifty bi-metal R5 coin.

The Namibian dollar, at our next port of call in Lüderitz, is tied to the South African rand, so we'll be doing okay and we don't have to spend our last rand before leaving South Africa since they accept rand as well as dollars. Heading across the Atlantic, however, will not be to our advantage as our US$ is only worth 62¢ against the St. Helena pound, the currency of both St. Helena and Ascension. Our dollar won't go very far there, but hopefully we'll be all stocked up and won't have to spend much. On the other side of the pond, who knows?

Money Matters

Taking money out of an ATM in a foreign country is like getting Monopoly money out of the bank. The bills are colorful compared to our singular, drab green and they sport portraits of people and events we don't recognize. Foreigners complain it's hard to tell one bill from another in the US since all of our bills are the same color and size. I tell them we look at the numbers … there's no color-coding in America. That said, here we are in Australia and it's hard to know what our American dollar is worth any more. A few years ago, the American dollar was worth about $1.50 in Australia. We arrive and it dips to 95¢. I remember being in Canada when the exchange rate was at 50%. Those were the days. I check currency exchange rates frequently now because it can make a big difference. When we charge something on Master Card, for instance, they first convert from the Australian dollar which at the moment is $1.05, so right off the bat, everything we charge costs us 5% more. Then add to that the fee they charge for doing the currency conversion and it really adds up.

When we first arrive in any new country, it takes time to figure out the currency and the coins. This confusion is enhanced when a foreign language is involved. We've held up many a checkout line trying to pay for our purchase. At some point, you just hold out your hand and let the cashier take what she needs. Luckily, the Aussies speak a form of English, so it's been easier here.

The Australians like some jingle in their pockets, I think. They have lots of coins to deal with. There are the 5, 10, 20 (not 25) and 50 cent pieces. There are also $1 and $2 pieces. When they ask for a gold coin donation here, it means they're after a $1 or $2 coin. The $2 piece is smaller than the $1 piece which doesn't make sense to me. So when you get $4.95 in change, you end up with a heavy pocket. By the end of the day, your pants are falling down from the weight.

Another thing I find interesting is that though Aussies have short, cute names for everything, e.g. Tasmania is Tassie and breakfast is brekkie and afternoon is arvo, they don't use terms like penny, nickel, dime, quarter and half. They're just 5, 10, 20 cent pieces...you get the picture.

I can understand why they don't use the word penny. They don't have any. All prices here are rounded off to the nearest 5 cents. They might advertise $9.99, but it's really $10. That said, they always include the GST (general sales tax) in the price. So $10 really is $10 when you check out at the register. I find it odd, however, that the GST applies to everything. If you go to the doctor, your office visit includes GST. If you pay a traffic violation, your ticket includes GST. If you buy a new yacht...well, you should be paying GST.