I never used a GPS in all of Africa. It makes sense if you want to cross the desert in uncharted areas. Otherwise there is enough tracks, signposts, guides, bystanders even in the remotest corners of sub-saharan Africa.
I never used the satphone either, but often carried it as a safety back-up on my trips. It felt great to carry the phone, every time the car got badly stuck on rough tracks or every time one of us got sick in a remote area.
Just organise one clever friend back home who you can call to organise everything from medical jet to helicopter, from spare parts to embassy support.
Thuraya now supposedly works all the way to Northern Namibia and is relatively cheap to buy/rent in Europe. You can even use it with a regular o2-sim-card (pls try before leaving). It is more expensive or impossible to get in Africa (at least where I tried).
In many central African countries you cannot call with your European GSM-phone per se (no roaming), therefore it becomes a real hassle to buy and change local sim-cards every couple of days. Another reason to have a satphone with you, even if you don't rough it on the side roads.
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