I asked for travel app suggestions from the teams in our Hampshire and Scotland offices. From the many ideas I’ve chosen the five most passionately argued for, or those recommended at least twice. All the following are available on iThings and Android and are free, except where noted.

Vamoos – all the staff at Aardvark Safaris recommended this one

Our clients can opt to have all their travel documents stored digitally. Everything from itinerary, destination information, hotel information, sightseeing lists, car hire documents and boarding passes. Clients can view everything offline without the expense of data roaming direct to their mobile or tablet.

Just one Vamoos reference unlocks all their documents. Entirely personalised, an event ticker counts down to the beginning of their trip.

Maps.Me

This mapping app is ahead of other mapping apps as it’s completely offline. Download your maps when you have free internet access and you can access your maps without internet connection, saving money and hassle on roaming charges.

It is easy to use, zoom-in and out smoothly, the map never freezes. It is highly detailed and you can discover many relevant points of interest with an auto-suggestion search tool. You can bookmark your favourite locations.

Rotate maps with your fingers, and while it is on the map automatically orients itself to the direction your onward direction. The GPS positioning and compass shows you were you are on the map.

XE-Currency Converter

XE currency converter is a reliable site for currency conversions on the web, and its app is just as popular, with over 20 million downloads since it was launched.  It’s very useful for the leisure traveller as it is able to convert every world currency.

It also functions offline by saving the last updated rates, which is useful if you’re in a place with limited connectivity or trying to save on data roaming charges.

Google Translate

This app translator can be a useful tool to help with foreign language learning, but it’s also very useful on a practical level rapidly translating everyday words and phrases for travellers. Google translate has over 100 languages covered including Afrikaans and Swahili.

One handy feature you can hold your smartphone camera up to a sign, or a menu – and Google will translate it for you instantly in its ‘seeing’ feature. Also, you can speak into, listen how to pronounce the translation, draw letters or characters with your finger and have a bilingual conversation as well as offline text translations.  It’s an essential app for any traveller.

Wolfram Sun Exposure

This safe tanning app offers detailed information to keep you informed of safe tanning limits – essential in the African sunshine. You enter your skin type and it calculates how long you can spend in the sun before getting burnt.  The app calculates this  based on the time of day, where you are, and the strength of sun cream you’re wearing. It also provides Ultraviolet light forecasts for your location.

Not free, at time of press costing £0.79 but well worth it to prevent the dreaded sunburn and skin damage with can be a deeply unpleasant experience.

Any questions?

If you’ve got this far and not found an answer to a question you have that we should have included, please ask in the comments section below, or pop us an email. We’ll be sure to reply and may amend the article to include our answer.

What next?

We would be delighted to help you plan a holiday, or answer any questions if you’re at an earlier stage. Our team of experts have travelled widely throughout Africa. They can offer expert advice on every type of safari from family and beach holidays to riding and primate safaris.  If you would like to talk to someone who has been there and done it, please just send us an email or give us a call.

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