You will find it ( card instead of cash) to be much the same here in Oz when you get here shortly.

I finished Kim's journal. Thanks for letting me know about it. Now, I am on to the next one!

I finished Kim's journal. Thanks Mike for letting me know about it. Now, I am on to the next one!

Hi Dino, how is the planning going for your route. In case you've not seen this is the link to our route Nairobi to Capetown. African Map

Racpat

Thanks guys. Still gathering information and reading various journals, books, and other sources. I'm going through one of your journals at this time. Great map. Thanks for sharing. Hope all is going well for you both.

Your map prompted a couple questions. Is using a bike computer, to track where someone goes and create a map upon completion, legal in the countries through which you passed? Are there any other countries, of which you might be aware, where it is illegal to use a bike computer to perform these functions? 

Not sure. I assume you are talking about a modern bikecomputer with GPS that gives you directions and track your route. We just use an old-fashioned distance and altitude bike computer. The GPS routing was done on a tablet using googlemaps. 

I guess it would be smart to do your research and find out if any countries have a problem with you GPS tracking, but I wonder how far that carries. Many tablets and cellphones also have built-in GPS radios, even my camera has one.... I guess if they take it very serious somewhere it would make sense to bury the bike computer on the bottom of a pannier for a while.

Thanks. I'm thinking of some countries where foreigners are detained and accused of spying. Using a device to create a map of where one has gone might be thought of in such a manner by a suspicious government. This will be another thing I'll have to look into. All the Best to you.

I don't think you will have any problems with any of the southern African countries. The majority of overland travelers in this region travel with GPS logging systems.  IIRC the main guidance system for overland travelers in southern Africa, Tracks for Africa (tracks4africa.co.za) populates its data from GPS tracks provided by users.  Many travelers carry sophisticated GPS tracking devices, satellite phones, two way radios etc without issues.  Another resource you might use is the well-known 4x4 Community Forum (https://www.4x4community.co.za/forum) which is focused on 4x4 vehicles and vehicle based overland travel but may also have useful advice about countries in which you want to travel.

Thank-you for these other resources. I'll definitely check them out. 

Here in the states, I use a XOSS Sprint computer. It's small, inexpensive, uploads to Strava, and simply keeps on working. It doesn't do heart rates, step counts, or tell me how well I slept last night but does give me a pretty good map of where I've gone and a few other basic metrics. That is all I need (I usually know how well I slept!). 

Using Google Maps or Ride with GPS to try and plan a route through some African countries does not yield much in the way of street views. That got me thinking that maybe some of those governments aren't too keen on someone mapping their way through. It wouldn't surprise me if that was the case.

I don't know if Riaan Manser was using any such device or not. He was hassled significantly in some of the countries through which he passed... which is getting to be close to 20 years ago. In any case, I'm not looking for any of that kind of trouble.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond and all the best to you.