To Visa or not to Visa?

The thought that I might need a visa hadn't occurred to me until recently. I immediately set about looking for the answer.

You can always count on the simplest thing becoming impossible to find right when it's most urgent to have them! I could not seem to find a website that had a definite answer for me. I was mainly focusing on South African governmental websites, figuring these would have the most accurate and real information. The only thing I could find was the United States on a list of countries that DO require a visa. No stipulations however, so I quickly downloaded the forms and began filling them out.

What I was reading told me I needed to collect what seemed to me an absurd amount of information, including proof that I had enough money to make the trip, and photos. I would have to send my passport in also, which worried me. Somewhere I read that it would take up to ten days to get all of this back with my visa stamped in it.

Shortly after emailing my host to ask for his identification number (more information I couldn't imagine needing) I uncovered the website for the South African consulate in New York:
http://www.southafrica-newyork.net/homeaffairs/visitorsvisa.htm

Finally I had the answer I expected all the time, which was that for a visit of less than 90 days I do not need a visa merely for tourism.

I also learned, however, that this means there are certain things I can't do under certain circumstances. For example, the semi-informal linguistic research I had been thinking of doing, with an eye toward possibly publishing an article, comes much too close to "studying", for which I need a special visa. Volunteer work and certain participation in church services would also be technically be prohibited.

That's okay, it's just something I had to learn, and better to do so now than when I've screwed up, right?

I was also duly chastised via email by my dear host for knocking SA's government websites. Should have more accurately criticized myself for failing to employ my best Googling skills properly.

So, conclusion? Because I am going for not-quite-thirty days, which is definitely under 90, I do NOT need a visa. I hope I'll still get a stamp in my passport though!