Adventurers Spot Rhinoplasty On Scalpel Safaris

Sydney Morning Herald

Saturday August 4, 2001

Ed O'Loughlin

South Africa's low-cost plastic surgery is attracting tourists seeking more than wild animals, writes Herald Correspondent Ed O'Loughlin in Johannesburg.

Most tourists who visit South Africa hope to experience the big five lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo.

Recently, another five items have been added to the list lipo, nose-job, face-lift, breast implant and tummy tuck.

Over the past few years, South Africa's tourism industry has begun to benefit from a strange new phenomenon, the ``scalpel safari".

Lured by favourable exchange rates, wealthy foreigners are jetting in from Europe and North America to undergo First-World plastic surgery at near-Third World prices.

The practice is now so popular that several companies have begun marketing special holiday packages, combining trips to the clinic with wildlife safaris and five-star hotels.

First among these is a Johannesburg company with a no-nonsense name. Trading as Surgeons and Safaris, Lorraine Melvill was the first South African entrepreneur to begin putting patients, doctors, hotels and game lodges in touch with each other.

``I was looking for a marketing opportunity," she said, ``and I love turning things around to work in our favour. South Africans are always complaining about the falling rand and I thought, `Well, it's not going to get any better'.

``I knew South Africa was already an attractive place to come for surgery and for holidays, so I thought, `Let's put them both together'."

For around $A25,000, depending on the package, she can arrange for a client to undergo, say, a facelift, liposuction and eye surgery, followed by up to two weeks in a five-star hotel, a visit to an upmarket game lodge or a tour of the Cape's famous wine region.

So far no-one has any hard figures for the rise in South Africa's surgical tourism, since many doctors and clinics have begun offering services of their own, usually on the Internet.

Ms Melvill reckons she now handles around 10 clients a month, and that this number will grow rapidly as media coverage spreads.

Internationally, doctors have long noticed a rise in the number of people shopping abroad for cosmetic surgery, which is usually paid for by the patients themselves. South Africa is doing particularly well on this international market because it competes strongly on quality and price.

Never an expensive country to visit, South Africa has grown cheaper as the rand steadily declines. Meanwhile, its private doctors, surgeons and nurses are still among the best in the world.

A weekend visit to any shopping mall will provide firm evidence that South Africa's own women have long provided a robust market for the more upfront cosmetic surgery. So plastic surgeons clearly get lots of practice around these parts.

Costs vary greatly, according to the surgery undertaken, but, says Lorraine Melvill, a typical face-lift would cost between #5,000 ($13,800) and #10,000 in London, but only #3,000 in Cape Town or Johannesburg.

According to Ms Melvill, the holiday itself is a big attraction to many who come. Despite its large variety of dangerous animals, the African bush is a remarkably relaxing place.

``Most of my customers end up with a real love of Africa and the bush," she says.

``The visit to the bush is a healing element in itself."

It is also a difficult place to run into people, you know. Most facial surgery is followed by days of heavy bruising, which many patients much prefer to hide.

``I had one lady say to me she couldn't have gone through with the surgery if she had had to go home afterwards. She would have had to face her husband and her kids and get on with an ordinary life. This way she had time to convalesce and get used to it."

According to Ms Melvill, Surgeons and Safaris usually works with luxury hotels and guest-houses, where clients can slip in and out without passing through a central lobby.

By the time the black eyes have healed and the stitches are out, it is time to return home. Getting off the plane, the patient looks relaxed, tanned and remarkably rejuvenated from her or increasingly his holiday in the sun.

© 2001 Sydney Morning Herald

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