Who makes the travel arrangements?

This should already be settled. You may have opted for the group arrangement but here are some links that will be useful for making domestic trips if you need it.

What about electricity?

South Africa works on 220 volts as opposed to our 110 volts. Depending on what appliance you want to use, you will need two items:

Adapter
This piece simply converts your two-prong U.S. plug into the three-prong South African plug. IT DOES NOT CONVERT THE VOLTAGE! People get this wrong every year and blow out their appliance. It will cost you about $3-20 USD, but it will only work for dual-voltage appliances like most laptop computers, electric razors, some blow dryers.

Before you go this route, make sure your appliance specifically says 110/220 volts. The guy at Brookstone will try to convince you that their fancy worldwide adapter set (about $20) will work in South Africa. It will, but not for converting voltage.

Voltage Converter
This piece costs about $13-30 USD. Teboho might have one or two to lend you which previous students left behind. This piece will allow you to use ANY appliance when coupled with the adapter (above). It converts South Africa's 220 current to 120 volts.

If you have lots of appliances you want to use, I would suggest taking one surge protector ($6-10) and one voltage converter. This way, you can plug in about 6 appliances without having to buy any adapters since the surge protector will plug into the voltage converter.

How cold is it?

It is mild most of the time. But the cold mornings surprise most people. You are unlikely to see freezing temperatures but it will be quite cold in the early morning and during open-air safari game drives. It might be cold in the morning but it warms up quickly. The operative strategy is layers, layers, layers! The other rule of average is that Capetown is warmer but wetter than Pretoria.

Average July Precipitation:
Capetown 3.3 inches
Pretoria 0.2 inches

Average July Temperature:
Capetown 50/60 F (Record High 84.2F; Record Low 30.2F)
Pretoria 41/68 F (Record High 78.8F; Record Low 24.8F)

How do I call home?

Many students chose to get a cell phone at the airport. You get a better rate for a full 30 day rental, but you cannot return it earlier than the 30 day term. They are very useful while in the country but you do not want to use them to call home. The cheapest way of talking to people back home is for them to buy a calling card in the US and have them call you. You can get about 500 minutes for $20, but only to a landline. Otherwise it's about 150 minutes for $20 for calling a cell phone.

A cell phone call to the U.S. is very expensive. Don't do it! You can use a calling card but this is also very expensive. Good for emergencies though. The access codes when calling from a South African public phone are:

AT&T 0-800-99-0123
MCI 0800-99-0011
Sprint 0-800-99-0001