You have more than sufficient technology, when I did that trip 38 years ago all I had was the two Michelin maps (still have them in my study, actually).

Crossing the Sahara involved sighting up from the top of a sand dune the next cairn of rocks, or empty 44 gallon drum 2-3 kms away and aiming in the general direction - the locals navigated by stars, and only drove at night with their lights turned off, so it was advisable to camp well off the piste if you didn't want to wake up flattened.

Often when there were no obvious markers I would end up navigating using the sun knowing that if I continued in a south westerly direction I would eventually cross a set of tyre tracks I could follow.

So, yes, learn to use all the latest technology but recognise there are times when it fail, for various reasons, and be prepared to revert to more traditional methods of getting to your destination.

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Garry from Oz - powered by Burgman

Sun compasses are in short supply nowadays!

Night navigation; now there's a different ball game. Even orienteering type games change their character.

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Dave

Mapsource is discontinued. It is now Basecamp, which is also available for Mac.
But there are bucketloads of programs out there (google-search "JaVaWa") which can do all kinds of geeky stuff for your digital navigation needs - and most of these are Windows only, not for Mac.

But you will see that T4A and Maps.me will cover pretty much all your navigation needs.
The T4A, OSM and Maps.me Africa map is about 700Mb (since they all use the same source, OSM)

But wait, there is more...
Tomtom is now available as an app for both iPhone and Android, and the Africa map which you can download for free (since only the app is paid, not the maps) is surprisingly good and clearly based on OSM. I just used it driving down thru Morocco, Western Sahara and Mauritania and it was at least as good as Maps.me. And the interface is Excellent!

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Our website: tenhoope.net
Not all those who wander are lost. Usually, however, I am...

This is getting confusing. Map apps are named in the same list as map sources. Maps.me state that they use OSM maps. There are tonnes of mapping apps. Most use OSM data.

I agree with the before mentioned opinions that if you have some tech, phone or GPS and a paper backup you're covered. Spend more time in considering what mapping data to bring. T4A also have paper maps now and iphone and android apps. Not sure how to interpret the reviews the apps get compared to the GPS data. I presume it's the same data but I'm not sure. It's often more important to have an idea on fuel locations than whether there is a hwy or a dirt road. The latter is now easier than ever to establish before you go.

Some apps allow for custom maps which means you can scan in any paper map, georeference them in some GIS software like Global Mapper (much easier than it sounds. You just pick the a minimum of 3 map grid points and enter the coordinate of that map grid point). There are a few conversion software options to convert a GeoTIFF (georeferenced image) into something usable with your end use software. I use Backcountry Navigator (android) so I use MAPC2MAPC for the conversion which also does Garmin. It's really dead simple and will give you all the maps you need on a small device. Lots of really good phones are now really cheap. The S4 is now chump change and still "current".

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

Pooratrek to the rescue



Andy