TRACKS4AFRICA VERSION 10.05 NOW AVAILIBLE!!
About T4A and the environment
Tracks4Africa (T4A for short) is a organisation run by ‘Environmental users’.
What lies at the core of our business? Our core business is MAPPING AFRICA. More specifically, Community Mapping because the only way to map Africa accurately, reliably and environmentally correct is to put the task of land surveying in the hands of experienced and responsible eco-travellers who are in touch with conditions at ground zero.
What’s the main focus? Our main focus is the GPS mapping of eco-destinations in rural and remote Africa. Outdoor activities including hiking, mountaineering, mountain biking, river rafting, scuba diving, bird watching, flower viewing, paragliding, skydiving and the off-road users (the bikers, the quad’ers and the 4x4 people), all have an environmental impact on the diversity of plant and animal life.
Eco-mapping requirements are of utmost importance given the increase in human traffic to eco-destinations. Most of these destinations are outside the National Parks, Nature Reserves and Protected Areas, and as such, they don’t enjoy the relative benefits of research, legislation and access control. Moreover, many of these destinations are home to historical, cultural and religious heritage.
The responsibility for protection and preservation of our environment rests with ‘Environmental users’. The birth of Tracks4Africa in 1999 was indeed a manifestation of this responsibility.
To support our extending family of ‘Environmental Users’, we at Tracks4Africa have come up with…
Our mission:
To Foster and Contribute an understanding to a “CODE OF CONDUCT” when utilising natural resources for leisure purposes, especially in remote and eco-sensitive areas
To establish a complete and accurate spatial record of ALL the eco-destinations in the safe reaches of Africa.
To develop a high quality, reliable and continuously updated GPS navigational system for travelling to these eco-destinations. ”Let’s get the wheels back on track”
To develop an en-route INFORMATION toolkit which must meet the information needs for solo and first-time travellers to these sensitive eco-destinations in the remotest parts of Africa.
Jan Joubert professed, “INFORMATION” and “to INFORM” as the only mechanism to preserve and to protect environment for the next generation to do the same. CONSERVATION == INFORMATION
Information needed not to expose oneself, travel companions, assets and environment to unnecessary risks.
Information needed to make informed decisions on the spot. “First time travel as if I knew the place”
Tracks4Africa has become the NAVIGATIONAL STANDARD for GPS assisted travel into remote and eco-sensitive areas in Africa.
Our vision: Our vision is driven by the current realities and future trends in tourism in Africa. On the Tourism Conference Nov 2006 (Windhoek) it was said that in 10 years 65% to 70% of tourists in Africa will be ‘self drive’. We believe by that time high quality GPS maps will be freely available. What will not be freely available is high quality and timely travel information.
To chance our mission and core-business from ‘mapping’ to ‘information’. The 4th dimension of eco-travel. To make true the concept of ‘virtual travel’. The decision ‘not to travel’.
To empower the touring public with information. Tourists to become the eco-custodians of the places they travel to. To leverage on the professional skills of tourists and to employ this skills resource to make a difference where and when they travel.
To change the core-business of lodges and rest camps from ‘lodging’ to become information centres.
T4A GPS Maps
T4A GPS Maps are a set of 14 regional GPS maps covering most parts of the African continent. If you are a tourist or business traveller and looking for a GPS map to guide you through Africa then you would appreciate the accuracy and detail of T4A GPS Maps.
Our maps are constructed from GPS data sourced from the T4A Community of travellers. People just like you who record their travel experience and share it with the community via our maps. Tracks4Africa collects, catalogue and process these data submissions in order to create a very reliable GPS map. We link a name of a data contributor to a place or a road and this gives our maps integrity. Read more about our T4A quality standards.
Our uniquely African GPS maps are routable in most parts of Southern and Eastern Africa and can in fact give you turn-by-turn directions from Cape to Cairo. Do not expect complete wall to wall coverage from our maps. We only map places that are relevant to travellers and we endeavour to construct the safest routable GPS maps in Africa.
We have the most comprehensive and accurate list of protected areas such as nature reserves in Africa and we support the Mapa project in order to keep this resource the most relevant and accurate inventory of conservation areas in Africa.
T4A GPS Maps will take you to the most incredible places on the African continent and we boast a very comprehensive set of tourist destinations. Be it the Ngorongoro Crater or Gorilla trekking in Rwanda or simply a very good restaurant in Cape Town you are after, we have them mapped.
We have an incredibly rich set of points of interest which is absolutely relevant to the independent traveller in Africa. Our maps cover more than 65 000 points of interest ranging from activities, attractions to fuel stops and emergency services. We have accommodation such as hotels, guest lodges, backpackers as well as the most comprehensive listing of camp sites in Africa. For each point of interest we have a little landing page on www.padkos.co.za where people can share photos and details about these places. The maps carry a reference between the POI and its landing page and in return the landing page will take you to where the place is on Google Earth.
Release Dates: T4A GPS Maps are released twice a year in May and October. The release number of the map corresponds with the release date. For instance, version 9.05 would be released 2009 May and version 9.10 would be released 2009 October.
Free Upgrade: You are entitled to a single free upgrade of your purchase. This upgrade will be for the very next release following the one you have purchased and is not transferable. This would mean that if you buy version 9.05, then you would receive version 9.10 free of charge.
Compatible GPS Devices: T4A GPS Maps are compatible with Garmin map capable GPS devices only. We will very soon launch our maps for HandyMap as well as RoadAngel GPS as well.
Garmin users: please note that Garmin users must have MapSource in order to view or load T4A GPS Maps to their devices. Refer to the FAQs for more information.
Another unique feature of our maps is the fact that you do not have to buy all of them at once. You could make a selection of only the regions or countries you are interested in from the table below or if you would like to take advantage of a great discount buy the lot.
The T4A Map is a GPS map constructed by travellers for travellers, people who are serious about travel safety and even more serious about their environment.