GPS and my Driving Experience in Botswana and South Africa

When I wanted to drive to South Africa (SA) recently, a breath of fresh air from my usual flying, I was naturally concerned about how I would find my way around, until a friend told me to get a GPS device (I wish to assure you this is not a sale's pitch or an advertisement even though it sounds like one; one of the few times when it walks, sounds, quacks and taste, yummy, yummy like a duck but it is not one). Now where was I before that long digression? My trip to SA. So I abandoned the road maps; really, a candidate for the museum in this days of IT.

I shell out two thousand five hundred Pula (about $400) for the device mount it on my dash board and off I go. "Turn left at the rotary and follow A1 for 400 kilometers (Kms)" and similar commands in a female American voice (my preference over and above the stodgy British and Afrikaans laced English accent) until a matter of fact: "You have reached your destination" statement; which, if you ask me, is stating the obvious being on the lookout anyway.

You can't but be impressed with the device as it plots your way to your destination giving the approximate time you would arrive (provided
you are not involved in an accident; my life is in your hands, O Lord). It recalculates the arrival time if there is a traffic jam or other delays. It also gives a clear indication of the road with various twists and turns so you know when to overtake that annoying truck billowing thick, black smoke in front of your car for the past thirty minutes.

Even when you need to drive around a foreign town, you have no need for those annoying persons who tell you "go straight ahead, turn right at the intersection and then left again', instead of admitting that they do not know the street you are looking for. Also, the GPS unit tells you where all the speed traps are so that you drive within the speed limit in those places. You can plot a route that avoids all the SA toll gates; but be ready for some not-too-smooth road for your troubles.

Now, to it's weaknesses. It is not able to inform you of the mobile speed traps like the ones used in Botswana. It tells you to go on even if the road has been temporarily closed. And when you follow the digression, it annoyingly reminds you to "turn around as soon as you can" while the arrow points out that you are going in the wrong direction for the past twenty Kms, for good measure.

And a friendly advice: Don't use it in Botswana if you do not want to get lost. Let me share a personal experience. I was invited to Molepolole and told to use the first Engen Petrol station as a landmark to get my bearings. I dutifully typed in Engen, Molepolole. Guess where the GPS Unit led me to? Engen Petrol station, Mogoditshane. Based on this experience, I limit my use to finding the main road from tricky side roads and then switch it off and follow the road signs. So far, I can tell you, so good.

The manufacturer expects you to go on the Internet to buy more up-to-date road maps so that you can drive with greater peace of mind because as they say "7% of the road has since changed". "Tell me something new",I quip. I will make do with the road as it is until it hit the 50% mark. I mean, the world is just coming out of recession and every thebe, kobo, shilling and cent counts!