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North Africa Topics specific to North Africa and the Sahara down to the 17th parallel (excludes Morocco)
Photo by Marc Gibaud, Clouds on Tres Cerros and Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia

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Photo by Marc Gibaud,
Clouds on Tres Cerros and
Mount Fitzroy, Argentinian Patagonia



Trans Sahara Routes.

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  #1  
Old 4 Oct 2008
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I'm in your position too, mind you my travel has to date been in densely-populated regions with access to high-quality maps of the folding variety! But the areas you're planning are what gps was designed for so yes, get one - but i haven't a clue as to the technicalities/models etc, sorry! I'll be watching this thread with interest... it's gadgettastic!
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Old 4 Oct 2008
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They are only useful if you can get a map loaded for the area you are traveling in. I have no idea about the country that you mentioned. However here in North America they are wonderful to take you right where you want to go. If you have ever looked for a place in a large city at night and had trouble reading the street signs and finding your way that is what a GPS unit shines at. No more need to see where you are as the unit know where it is and can tell you the way to your destination. I wish I had had one years before.
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Old 4 Oct 2008
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I got chucked out of a party at 4am once in Khartoum, and since I'd marked my hotel that evening I could find it - we were a sad collection of drunks staggering down the dirt roads in town in the dark, but we got the 2km home and we'd have been really hopelessly stuffed otherwise! I Love GPS!

in Tashkent I used to get into random cars, tell the drivers where to go with my awful Russian - Leva, Prima Prava (left, straight & right) and gradually circle in on restaurants, hotels etc.

I always wonder what the people I used as taxis made of me - "you know dear,a strange westerner waved me down, got in my Volga, put a mini TV on the dashboard and then told me to drive round in circles until we got to a restaurant, then he gave me a dollar, picked up his TV and got out - they are very strange people these westerners..."

Don't bother with a road directions version, get a 'hiking' version - far more useful when you are out of europe, and get one which takes SD cards for putting maps on - then google for Garmin Maps (insert country name here..!)


Tony
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Old 5 Oct 2008
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Personally I hate the things; there was one in my clients car the other day when I was in the UK, driving on the 'wrong' side of the road & then having a machine flash messages at me every damn second was enough to cause an accident.

Talking of which I've seen 2 GPS-caused accidents in France & I had a very near miss with someone who was watching the GPS having turned accidentally onto a slip road & then re-joined the main road because his GPS was telling him to!

As for Africa, I still wouldn't bother, possibly if I was crossing the Sahara from Algeria to Libya off-piste for instance but for places like Mauritania - no, I don't think it's strictly necessary. I've met a lot of people in Mauri who've gone & had a lot of fun WITHOUT a GPS!

Horses for courses, personally if you've never had one, why get one now??? - a compass always does the trick!

Kira
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Old 4 Oct 2008
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Out there on the highway obviously they're less useful than a good map and even off-road in these places, 99% of travellers follow clearly-defined tracks marked on maps and even a route description; GPS is just a positioning aid.
We all managed fine in the pre-GPS era (the odometre was very important) but these days - AQ-M etc notwithstanding - we are able to be more adventurous off piste with the back up of GPS alongside maps.

In remote areas of UnTomTomed/UnOlaffed countries like Mauri and Mali you need to relate your position to a precise point on a map or GPS'ed route description and then act accordingly. In this way GPS helps eliminate the element of doubt and is these days also used as a very effective 'address' for a hard-to-find place like a consulate, campsite or rock art site. They can save time.
IMO a good paper map and a bit of nous is always far more useful. There are excellent paper or CD maps of Mauri and Mali too, right down to 200k scale.

Ch
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