Are you interested in visiting South Africa? Travelling enthusiasts can have a gala time at the places of their choice with the South African travel apps available these days to explore the unique and adventurous spots of attraction. With these apps, you can feel like having your own personal travel guide in your pocket. Lets us find here the apps available for South African travel to make it easy!
Table of Contents
8 Useful Apps for Travelling in South Africa
1. Africa: Live
The love for nature and national parks and to spot as many wild animals as you possibly can, and make your dream of seeing the Big Five (elephant, rhino, buffalo, leopard and lion) come true there is The Africa Live app is perfect for you, The live game-sightings map shows you what animals are near you at any specific moment and allows you to immediately share your sightings with other safari-goers.
You can also purchase detailed offline maps of the major parks in South Africa within the app, including the Kruger National Park, Pilanesberg, Add Elephant National Park, Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and Madikwe Game Reserve. The maps include 10 000km of tar and dirt roads, 4×4 routes, footpaths, waterholes, viewpoints, picnic spots, gates and other points of interest.
The location-based software allows users to have information available on both the app and website platforms. The updated app also includes a new marine mammal category.
But the app is not just about helping people get more out of their safari. It is a critical anti-poaching tool where users can alert the authorities about suspicious activity. Although the updated app expands the number of animals that can be identified, developers continue to hide sighting reports of animals such as rhinos that are targeted by poachers. The platform also serves as a valuable data-generation tool for scientists at the Endangered Wildlife Trust and the University of Cape Town. The free app is available for Android devices on Google’s Play Store as well as Apple devices on the AppStore. The mobile-friendly website serves other devices.
2. Gauteng Travel Guide
This Gauteng Tourism mobile app is ideal for all tourists who’d like to experience the best this province has to offer. Produced by the Gauteng Tourism Authority and Tourism Radio South Africa, the Gauteng Travel Guide is the perfect tool for the independent traveller to explore the province.
The Gauteng Travel Guide contains detailed travel information about more than 460 points of interest, helping you find museums, nature reserves, art galleries, restaurants, and adventure activities including contact details, opening hours, prices, local ‘GeePee’ discounts, and links for more information more in Johannesburg, Pretoria and surrounds.
This includes about an hour of high-quality audio content on some of the most popular attractions. Once you’ve set up the Gauteng Travel Guide online, the map becomes available to use completely offline, so there are no data costs while you’re out exploring! Available for Apple and Android devices.
3. A Walking Tour of Central Cape Town
Would you like to go on a hike or a wine-tasting tour in the Cape Wine lands? Or how does spending the day on a beach in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, sound? Or do you feel like discovering Port Elizabeth, also known as the Friendly City?
Tourism Radio South Africa and Cape Town Tourism have teamed up to bring you a helpful travel companion that will guide you through the natural beauty, enchanting spirit, and creative freedom of the Mother City. A total of six South African areas feature on the Tourism Radio City Guides app – Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, the Cape Winelands, Port Elizabeth and the West Coast. The app includes a map with points of interest in each area, a description of each of these points, and contact info. It’s available for Apple, Android and Windows devices.
4. Road Tripper
Using the best of Google Maps, Foursquare, and Facebook, Europcar has created the exciting Road Tripper Facebook app where road trippers can share their experiences, offer tips and suggestions, and plot their next incredible journey across South Africa.
Become a fan of the Europcar SA Facebook page to find the Road Tripper app link. You can submit your own routes or browse routes compiled by other travellers and well-known travel bloggers such as Andrew Brauteseth, who shares his thoughts and photographs on ‘Guy with Camera’. Why not experiment with themed routes, like ‘The Coffee Lover’s Guide to Cape Town’ or the ‘Girl’s Night Out in Sandton.’
5. South African Airways
With South African Airways App you can check SAA flights and travel information on the go by downloading the two new South African Airways apps through iOS or Android cellphones, and tablets from the Apple App Store and Google Play stores.
View your booking information, check in for a flight, track your luggage, and view information on lounges, flight schedules, and SAA destinations. You will also find special fares, view your Voyager status and miles, use a currency converter, and get an updated 10-day weather forecast for any of SAA’s destinations.
6. Flymango
Since the launch of Mango Airlines’ mobisite in 2012, it has logged over 30,000 flight queries via the platform. In response to this growing need for mobile accessibility, Mango has become the first African airline to launch a booking, payment, and brand engagement app.
The Flymango app enables you to search and book flights, receive push notifications, and browse airline news, among other things. The app is available on BlackBerry World and allows you to make payments with Edgars and Jet account cards. This app is free and can be downloaded via the iTunes, Android and Blackberry app stores.
7. Go Travel South Africa
This app enables those with an iPad, Android 10 tablet or Android smartphone to navigate South Africa, plan their trip and explore the accommodation and activities available on their adventure. This map-based resource even allows users to book accommodation, meals and event tickets.
The app is easy to use, implementing a pin system, whereby relevant attractions, activities, restaurants, hotels, guest houses etc are plotted by pins along the route selected. The user always decides what info they need and to what extent. The database of resources has been gleaned by using comprehensive sources like go!
This app is also integrated with Expedia, gotravel24 and ComeDine’s online booking systems. After downloading this free app, select the “Explore Map” option. You will then be directed to an interactive map. From here, you may choose your route Then, you can select various accommodation facilities along that route. By selecting a pin, a pop-up will appear, providing all of the necessary information on the selected facility. The same applies to attractions, activities, national monuments, Wi-Fi hotspots, and so on.
The app will add those facilities that you select to your specific route. Several routes can be plotted, planned and saved simultaneously. The distances between each place are provided, giving you an indication of the time and travelling required. The go! The Travel South Africa app was developed by Touchlab, a division of South African media giant, Media24.
8. Madiba’s Journey
This app, which was launched on 1 April 2015, allows you to walk in the footsteps of this global icon. The app guides you to 27 significant historical locations (one for every year of Nelson Mandela’s imprisonment) across the country, providing details on each place and audio narratives on the significance of each site.
These locations include the Nelson Mandela Capture Site close to Howick in KwaZulu-Natal, where he was arrested in 1962; Robben Island, where he spent most of his time as a prisoner; and the Union Buildings in Pretoria, which became his office after his election as the first president of democratic South Africa. It’s available for Apple and Android devices.
