Options for keeping in touch with home?

[BWH]

Lot's of great comments on here..... couple of things.

1) Call your provider, tell them where you are going... they can sell you a 1 month international data plan.... depending upon how much you need
2) you can reset your data calculator on your phone so you can monitor
3) turn roam & data off, when not using
4) use wifi every chance you get, when needing data or connection.
5) Use WhatsApp...... I still use it to visit with friends in Mexico, Panama, Africa..... hell even @PHOENIX PHIL in Arizona!

I have done this twice. The charge was like $50..... no extra charges/surprises when I got home.

 

[Mekaniks]

I have a standard US plan with AT&T and an I phone. I had roaming coverage in JNB when we landed. I made a phone call home, checked my FB and emails, and then did it again from the airport when we were leaving at the end of the Safari. The rest of the time we just used the lodge wifi for texting, iMessage, and basic email and FB. My roaming charges were less than $20.
Since then I have Whatsapp which works great especially if you don't have iPhones, but it doesn't function much differently than iMessage if you are communicating with apple devices.