Android GPS Apps - Part 3

Mapping, tracking & export features are important for any smartphone GPS app.  Waypoint management should be easy with a quick 'create' button handy the main screen.  In Part 3 of the Android GPS app test, I spent time with Locus Pro, OruxMaps and BackCountry Navigator.

My device was the Google Nexus 7 (4.1) with a wifi connection to a 3G personal wifi device.  All applications relied on a data connection to download the maps.  I did not test the offline capability.
Read the summary of the apps and the first test.

Android GPS Apps - Part 2

GPS Apps on Google Play

Do Android tablet GPS actually work or is it simply better to use a dedicated GPS?  I used time travelling between two cities to experiment with a few of the apps I downloaded and mentioned a few weeks ago - read about the few apps I downloaded.

The apps I randomly tested throughout the day included Maverick, MapMyHike+, My Tracks by Google and Androzic.
My primary test was mapping, tracking and export capability of each application.

My device was the Google Nexus 7 (4.1) with a wifi connection to a 3G personal wifi device.  All applications relied on a data connection to download the maps.  I did not test the offline capability.

Africa Overland in a classic Porsche

Ever considered trans-continental overland travel with a Porsche?
Throughout the decades of overland travel there have been a many unusual overland vehicles which have completed full trans-Africa overland journeys... these unique vehicles include a tractor, Quad bikes, a Rolls Royce, a Smart car and now a classic Porsche.

Ben Coombs, driver and author of his book 'Survival of the Quickest' departed the UK in the autumn of 2008 heading South to Cape Town via the East coast of Africa.

The UK Telegraph magazine published a few photographs of this epic overland journey. The photos are available here: Across Africa in a classic Porsche.
These are a few my favourite photos:

I highly recommend reading his book and to get a feel for his journey watch the video from Northern Kenya:

The AfricanPorsche Expedition - Northern Kenya from Ben Coombs on Vimeo.

Interested in more Porsche content? Read all about Ben's trip via his website Bencoombs.net or his previous misadventures in a blog called 80breakdowns.
His Flickr stream via Flickr: fivetenben

His book 'Survival of the Quickest' is available on the Kindle via Amazon UK.



Additional reading:
Unusual overland vehicles
Mercedes Benz 300d

Android GPS Apps for Overlanding

Digital Maps

GPS devices have evolved considerably since the introduction of mobile 3G data networks... gone are the days of a dedicated GPS device mounted in your overland prepared vehicle. In certain instances, the trusty GPS device is now being replaced by the smartphone or tablet device powered by iOS, Android and Windows 8.

eBook: Overlanding Central America & Mexico by LifeRemotely

Life Remotely website

Just a quick shout out to the team from LifeRemotely.com for their free eBook  "OVERLANDING
Mexico & Central America".

The team have published an eBook specifically for overlanding Mexico and Central America with half of the book dedicated to planning and trip preparation and the 2nd half on country specific information.  There are enough nuggets of good advice for all overlanders to fill a Land Rover Defender roofrack! Topics include budgets, travel time, paperwork and staying connected (plus heaps others).

I will leave you to download and read the eBook (available as a PDF and Kindle version) yourself but will quote one essential piece of advice:

Stretch the Timeline
There is never enough time. Never. Even if you give yourself a year to travel,
you will want more. The key is to stretch your schedule as much as possible.
Add extra time that you can use up when you find a perfect place to hang out
for a week.
Consider that you may reach a point where you need to stay in one place for
a while. You can’t hold a steady pace forever. Eventually your car will break
down, you will get sick, have family visit, or just plain get tired of the road. You
don’t want to have to skip a country or go home early because you caught
Guatemalan bird flu or your car needs a new transmission.

 Source: LifeRemotely.com - pg15

Enjoy the read and a big thanks to the team from LifeRemotely.com for the hardwork in writing the book.

Route Planning Tool

How do you plan your itinerary for your upcoming trip?  Do you use Google Maps to calculate the distance and then add it manually into a spreadsheet?

I generally create a spreadsheet which includes date, departure town, arrival town, distance and a notes section.  I have also been using a spreadsheet created by Francois Visagie which allows for multi-currency itinerary planning and budget planning.

My biggest frustration is calculating the distance between two towns... it's easy enough to do with Google Maps but just time consuming when working out an itinerary.

I began to ponder... what if there was a spreadsheet which could do that automatically for me?  A quick search on Google revealed the answer...

 A Google Map distance calculator has been created by Winfred van Kuijk.

The spreadsheet uses Google Docs (Google username required) to link to Google maps and will calculate the distance between two cities.  It allows you to add to a trip log, which you could copy to your favourite tip planning tool.

It has a few limitations which is primarily around the route planning.  It presumes, via Google Maps, that you always want to do the quickest and shortest route, rather than an alternative route.  The work-a-round is to create more 'hops' between the smaller towns.

My tips on using the spreadsheet:
Create a copy of the template to your Google Docs account.

Distance Calculator - Settings

First change the settings for your region i.e. country code and units.
Be very specific of your address i.e. Nata, Botswana

Let me know if you think its useful...

To Africa & Beyond...

She was my first Land Rover.  A well equipped 1968 Land Rover Series II 109 with an awfully noisy 2.286l diesel and gritty Fairey overdrive.  Her brakes needed pumping, her gear box double-clutching and her radiator topping up with fresh water, but she looked the place in Southern Africa and for me, she was just perfect.

Her downhill speed was 80km/h and her comfortable cruise control was a ample 60km/h (hand throttle engaged). Time was not an issue for me... I had four months to cover Southern Africa before heading North to Europe.  

Her homemade rooftop tent was unique and offered a panoramic view of ones surroundings as you lay under the stars.  

The open roads took time, especially when a head wind blew.  Her tubed 7.50x16 tyres hummed along the gravel and tar roads.  New cars whizzed past, a few hooting a hello.  Conversation between the passengers was limited due to the grinding overdrive and tractor-like engine.  Contemplation of the journey occupied each passenger.

In 1999, my attempt to keep an internet diary was limited due to internet access and a decent photo scanner but the memories are still vivid including the smell of EP90 oil dripping constantly from the gearbox (that smell still makes me shiver!).   Thankfully a few memories were recorded on video camera (which had a dead microphone) so all that remains is me talking about my trip...

You can read more via my very first overland website - excuse the lack of high resolution photos: To Africa and Beyond

World Trip in a 1928 Graham-Paige car

The Zapp family, from Argentina,  have been travelling the world in a vintage 1928 Graham-Paige car. 

You can follow the Zapp family adventures via: http://www.argentinaalaska.com

The Zapp Family with their Graham-Paige car

You can watch a short TV interview of the family via NZ TV

The family have just arrived in South Africa and will be heading North to Cairo.  A news report via: IOL
Read the book:

Expedition Portal Video Contest

The Expedition Portal website has been hosting an overland video contest for amateur and professional film makers.  The entries were open to anyone who felt they had a good video story to tell... I thoroughly enjoyed most of the videos and loved the enthusiasm people have for the overland travel. 

Watch and vote via the Expedition Portal forum.  My two choices are listed below...

Jungle Junction, Nairobi

Jungle Junction Photos (Google Search)

Jungle Junction Campsite in Nairobi has to be one of the most popular campsites for majority of overlanders visiting Nairobi.   Reading the blog post from ‘Tin Can in Africa’, I was reminded of the many memories I had whilst traveling overland around Kenya and staying at Jungle Junction.  I arrived in Nairobi in August 2005 having heard rumours of an open house run by Chris Handschuh which was named 'Jungle Junction'.  The internet was young in 2005 and attempting to find the GPS coordinates for this campsite proved pretty difficult.  Eventually, I found the coordinates and headed out to find the house.

Jungle Junction Campsite

October 2013 Update:  I have added the new GPS waypoints as Jungle Junction have moved to Karen, Nairobi.  The remainder of this blog post focuses on the previous campsite...