Is there anyone who is travelling through life these days without a fairly modern smartphone? Not only are these nifty devices making life easier by helping us to all stay in touch, but with the various apps that are available out there, which cover just about every topic you could imagine, smartphones can help us to be smarter (pardon the pun).
In the past, when visiting Africa, the only way that you would have been able to get a hold of information would have been through a series of books, which you would have had to either buy or lend from your local library. And even if you read as much as you could about your African destination, you probably wouldn’t be able to remember it all, just like the books would probably not be able to give you all of the information you would need.
And here enters the app.
With the modern advancements of the web, and with apps being such an everyday staple, helpful and interesting information is quite literally in the palm of your hand. A quick search through an app store will produce a huge number of options relating to Africa, wildlife, and even plant life. With such apps, you can leave the books for your leisure reading and make use of the apps for when you are on your holiday.
When you have planned out your trip to Africa, and you plan on heading to our wild corner or the world, you should have a look at some of these apps.
- Newman’s Birds of Southern Africa
Spring and summer are the best times of the year to come to the Balule area if you are a bird watching fanatic! At this time of the year, the trees are alive with birdsong and you can hear the likes of Loeries and hornbills all throughout the day. But if you don’t know much about what these birds look like, you will have a tough time matching their calls to their looks.
With this app, which includes over 1000 high quality images and up to 975 bird species, you are going to learn a whole lot about the birds to be seen in our area.
- Woodhall’s Butterflies of RSA
South Africa is home to some beautiful, colourful butterflies. And to be able to easily identify them, you can use this app. It includes all of the best known butterflies as well as a few little known ones, giving you an extensive guide to use when you want to learn more about the butterflies you encounter.
- iNaturalist
A fairly popular app, this one relies on a community of collaborators who upload images and help each other gather information about what it is that they are looking at. This app tracks wildlife and insects and even plants from all over the world, making it a highly valuable resource.
The app also includes a map which pinpoints where certain plants, animals or insects can be found.
- LeafSnap
Another community project, this one is for those who are fascinated by plants. To identify the plants you come across, all you need to do is take a photo with your phone, or upload a photo to the app and you will be given a list of similar plants which you can compare to the one that you have come across. The app will also provide some information about the plants or at the very least it will give you a name.
- eSnakes of Southern Africa
Being in the wild means occasionally coming across snakes. And having an app to identify the snake can be the difference between staying safe and getting hurt by something venomous. With this app you can identify some 171 snakes and you can also learn more about whatever kind of snake it is that you have encountered while on your African holiday.
