If you have never attempted to optimize your day then this blog will be of no interest.

If you are still reading – we know the feeling!

As we are discussing Safari Apps you might question why we feel the need to also hone our downtime?

Here’s the thing: We know from experience that the right Apps will increase your enjoyment of a Safari. It will also help you learn more (+ maximize what you know) and elevate your exposure.

Did you know Safari Apps

11 Apps we use regularly when we travel to Africa

1. Africa Travel Guide

Africa Travel Guide Icon

The beauty of this is that no Internet connection is required! You can access it in the most remote parts of Africa and happily explore all the major cities (hotels, bars, restaurants, nightlife, entertainment, transportation, sights), discover places off the beaten track, and learn about everything in between. You can also add your own notes to each location and keep a list of your favorite places for easy access.

Android

2.  Travel Africa

Travel Africa Magazine App Icon

Explore the world’s most exciting continent with the only magazine dedicated to travel to Africa. Whether you have never visited or are a regular safari-goer, Travel Africa is packed with inspiration, ideas and advice from top writers, travel experts and photographers to help you to plan your next safari.

With over a dozen features on all the main safari countries, plus articles on wildlife, culture, and history, interviews with guides and conservationists, and sections on conservation and safari planning, Travel Africa is packed with great content on every page.

The app has replica pages so you can enjoy the same great design layout as the print edition, as well as text-only and mobile versions to make it easy to read on any device. Additional rich content such as image galleries and video is embedded in the app to allow you to further explore this extraordinary continent.

iOS / Android

3. iTrack Southern Africa

iTrack Icon

This app has information that will allow you to track 57 southern African mammals from an Aardvark to a Zebra.

Developed by Dave Hood, a South African Field Guide and Naturalist with a passion for tracking and Jonah Evans – a wildlife biologist, the Texan State Mammologist and a CyberTracker track and sign specialist and evaluator. Jonah is also the producer of iTrack Wildlife – the definitive North American digital mammal track guide. The app also uses Louis Liebenberg’s drawings which are broadly considered to be the most accurate depictions of Southern African animal tracks.

Android

4. Sasol eBirds of Southern Africa

Sasol birding guide icon

An interactive version of the best-selling Sasol Birds of Southern Africa field guide. This application has specific features that will enhance your birding experience.

With detailed text and a user-friendly navigation system, it gives you the opportunity to listen to calls and songs and is illustrated by the superb work of Normal Arlott and Peter Hayman.

Do remember to back your list up regularly.

Available on iOS

Available on Android

5. ParkSpotter Africa

Parkspotter icon

High-quality pics and great info detailing flora, fauna and local attractions in a number of parks in South Africa and Etosha National Park in Namibia. It allows you to track your trip and save and share your wildlife experiences on social media instantly. Locate your wildlife sightings with easy swipe functionality that includes the latest, most up-to-date mapping as well as the latest park contact details, facilities, and information. It also has park contact details, gate opening times, accommodation options, lists of waterholes and points of interest and hiking routes.

Available on iOS for free

6. HerdTracker

HerdTracker Icon

This one does what it says on the tin. Now you can know where the Great Migration is every day. A real-time web-based app – as long as you have a cell phone signal you can follow the migration on a map and update other safari goers with your sightings. It is publicly and freely accessible from desktop, mobile or Twitter.

Online and free

7. The Kingdon Guide to African Mammals

Kingdon Guide to Mammals App Icon

Interactive access to information about all major land mammals and generic information about the smaller mammal groups. You can filter by country or region and you can save your sightings to your device (remember to back up your information).

It covers all the following regions and countries:

  • Southern Africa – South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique
  • East Africa – Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Rwanda, and Burundi
  • North, Central & Western Sahara – Niger, Mauritania, Mali, Morocco, Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Sudan
  • Central Africa – Chad, D.R.C, Congo, Angola, Central African Republic, Cameroon, and Gabon
  • Northwestern Coast – Togo, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Liberia, Senegal, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Ghana, and Nigeria

iOS / Android

8. Africa: Live App

Africa Live App Icon

A live map of interactive game sightings in various safari areas, such as Kruger Park with extensive reference materials including safari animal field guide, tips and contacts for safari travel, Live social media streams of relevant sightings, maps, photos and sighting locations as well as a dynamic Q&A.

Contribute to our citizen-scientist research database: we catalog, analyze and will share sightings data with conservation bodies to support wildlife audits.

The app also includes, as an in-app purchase, extensive reference material including the Phone Ranger Safari Field Guide with more than 90mins audio-commentary from an expert ranger.

(Rhino sightings do not display due to the poaching crises but you can report any signs of poaching activity.)

iOS

9. Kindle

Kindle App icon

For everything you want to read.

10. XE Currency Converter

XE Currency converter app icon

Download it across all platforms

11. Star Walk

Star Walk App Icon

Locate and identify over 200,000 stars, planets, constellations and satellites. It will even show you the past and the future of our night sky.


A Bonus App for little people:

Wonder Safari

Wonder Safari Icon


And a little extra
(because at Rothschild Safaris we are all about the extra)
for anyone who is curious about the clever Apps that work to change Africa for Africans

To understand Africa you start with the facts that the continent is developing very quickly. But it is also suffering from poverty, inequality, natural disasters, and unstable politics. There is a great need for better infrastructure, more efficient health care and in many cases, access to basic necessities like water is a daily struggle.

In this special environment, Apps provide an easy way to bypass bureaucracy and deliver solutions directly.

For Health Education

Helping users diagnose symptoms and providing directories of doctors and hospitals with the aim to revolutionize how people in developing areas, particularly on the African continent, access and use health information. In countries such as Kenya, where on average 14 physicians must serve around 100,000 people, this kind of accessible, self-serve information could be vital in improving national health and wellness.

Providing people with a platform to ask about sexual and reproductive health and sexually transmitted disease anonymously and receive answers without judgment. They get answers from medical professionals, for free, 24/7.

For Safety

Weaving together existing resources to provide an end-to-end emergency response ecosystem. It shows availability and whereabouts of emergency vehicles and ambulance companies, hospitals, and insurance companies are integrated into the platform.

For Easy Payments

Free apps can be linked to a user’s credit and/or debit cards.

For Farming

Real-time market prices for crops matching farmers with buyers transparently. Also a virtual veterinary nurse and midwife for cow farmers.

For credit

Instant loans via mobile phone

For refugees

Providing aid and a way to find family members

2018 shortlist for Best African App

Farmcrowdy for Farmcrowdy App

Farmcrowdy addresses issues surrounding food production, circulation and security in Nigeria by empowering small-scale farmers with technology, The Farmcrowdy App is designed to address issues around accessibility, credibility, and accountability of investments, making the process of empowering these farmers seamless.  The app makes it simpler for farms to be discovered, activities monitored and payments to be made on time.

Fedgroup for Impact Farming

Fedgroup’s Impact Farming lowers the barriers and allows all investors to participate in the lucrative sector of commercial farming. The global presence of mobile and the low entry costs for the app makes farming assets available to investors who previously would not have access to this sector. In addition, the mobile platform means that, apart from a 1% platform fee and payment of the service providers, the majority of the income goes to the asset owner. This is done in contrast to most financial services models that may have complex fee structures, hidden fees, large administration requirements, and layered fees that eat up much of investors’ returns.

Inzone Adlink for Hey Jude App

Hey Jude is the fastest, most affordable virtual assistant app backed by humans, assisted by Artificial Intelligence. The App is available 24/7/365  as it was created with the hope of making life easier and giving subscribers something money cannot buy, more time. In an on-demand economy, availability and response times are key. With automated BOT responses to first placed requests followed up but the use of AI and humans our service is responsive and robust enough to also understand the nuances of human emotions.

biNu Africa for Moya Messenger

Moya Messenger is a world first data-free messaging app. The Moya app provides a similar messaging experience to market leader WhatsApp, but with the distinguishing feature that text messaging is data-free across all four major mobile networks. Moya is available exclusively as a mobile app and has arrangements with South African and Nigerian mobile network operators so their advertisers can pay for the mobile data that you use.

SafeBoda (The winner)

SafeBoda recognizes there is a need for the professionalization of drivers and the financial inclusion for passengers as they want a reliable, safe and convenient mode of transport. SafeBoda’s app conveniently connects passengers with a trained SafeBoda driver. The app enables you to get a fair price without bargaining and paying cashless with mobile money such as M-PESA in Kenya, MTN and Airtel in Uganda. The app enables transparency for the driver and passenger allowing the passenger to rate the driver.


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