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South Africa Maps: Touring & Hiking Maps of South Africa... Map Datums and Tracks4Africa Maps on DVD


Maps. Mapping and GPS... Why You Still Need a Map in Practice! Never Get Lost Again.

More and more people are owning GPS units and by far the greater majority own Garmin GPS units for the simple reason they are the market leader and have pioneered marketing of the GPS and because they also produce the widest range of GPS units. However GPS units fail, batteries run out and for these reasons and if for no other reason working with a GPS should always be done in conjunction with a good map.

Maps for Africa... Exactly What You Want To Explore South of the Sahara

Africa Maps Collage

You can buy a wide range of the best maps available in Southern Africa from this site. Each map is explained in some detail and can be accessed using the links to the left. In purchasing maps we take credit cards online or by telephone. You can make direct bank transfers via the web shopping cart or you can fax all your details and we'll come back to you as required. Alternatively email us with your requirements (pondprof(at)gmail.com) and we'll respond quickly.  List of all maps and guides . You can also review our bundled map specials here

List of all maps and guides

Journeying Beyond the Borders of South Africa?

If you're planning a journey to other African countries there is no doubt whatsoever that the best map is the Track4Africa electronic map. This map set, updated twice annually, now covers a very large part of Africa as a whole and is particularly suited for use in neighbouring states and East Africa.

The simple reason why Tracks4Africa is the best is that all the roads and tracks have been verified by actually driving the roads and tracks and driven by at least 3 people who have then pooled GPS information to ensure the most accurately possible route planner. These maps are not drawn using traditional mapping techniques.

And let's face it getting lost somewhere between Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Angola is not for the normal person (you and me).

In addition to the GPS, and right map when taking long journeys into the unknown a compass is also indispensable.

A compass and a good map will get you out of trouble when the GPS fails.

Do not leave South Africa without Tracks4Africa installed on your GPS and THE RIGHT MAP!

How to Enjoy The Great Outdoors of South Africa with Useful & Beautiful Maps...


Day Drives from Cape Town mapGet a detailed, large scale, beautifully produced waterproofed and protected map. Use the map to plan your trip or South African adventure. Be happy to stray off the beaten track knowing that map details are accurate and verified by the cartographer himself.
Correlate map details with GPS listing on these amazing maps.
These are maps to be enjoyed and used. You'll never want to be without them

How do you really plan for that exciting holiday or trip to South Africa?

Ours is a country of so many contrasts, exciting places to visit, splendid views of landscapes, mountains and oceans, long interesting coast lines, mountainous passes, winelands, game and nature reserves and so very much more...

To experience all of this and to make sure your planned holiday goes exactly according to plan there is no substitute for using "real" maps.

Peter Slingsby has for many years created the most beautiful and detailed maps of the prime locations in South Africa particularly focused on the enchanting, scenically magnificent world famous Western Cape... places such as The Fynbos Floral Kingdom Road, the world famous Garden Route, the Overberg & whale watching routes. the Cape Winelands, the Cederberg and Baviaanskloof regions and so much more.

Garden Route MapPeter has amassed a wonderful collection of touring and hiking maps and this site has the pleasure of putting these amazingly practical and detailed maps at your disposal. Use them at home, on the road or outdoors or wherever you like. That's what they were made for... quite simply to enjoy and make use of.

For more information on each touring or hiking map click the links below or to the left...

You can arrange (by appointment please) to pick up maps at our office here...

The Geoshop Location... see us on Google Maps

J6 Hingham Field Office Park, 79 Boeing Rd East, Bedfordview, 2007

Tel 011-454-0105

Never Get Lost Again! Take a Walk on the Wild Side, Climb Every Mountain...But Don't Forget Your Map

The following are a few examples showing the amazing details of the maps available. The maps are truly works of art yet created with the utmost precision by real people who know South Africa well. These are not mass produced maps whose accuracy is in so many cases questionable. The scale of the maps available are ideally suited to the touring or hiking purpose and are protected by plastic sleeves and waterproof coverings.

Click the thumbnails to ENLARGE examples of map details

Detail Baviaans Map Cederberg Map Detail 101 Day Drives from Cape Twon Detailed Garden Route Map Detail Table Mountain Map
Baviaanskloof
Touring Map E.Cape		 Cederberg Touring
Map Western Cape		 Day Drives
From Cape Town		 The Garden
Route Touring Map		 Table Mountain
Hiking Map

The more recent versions of Peter's maps are fully GPS compatible and all road intersections are GPS marked.

GPS Map 60CSx

Fantastic Touring Maps of the Western Cape

Amazing & Beautiful Hiking Maps of the Cape & Drakensberg

Peter Slingsby has produced a set of 5 hiking maps covering the walks and hikes on and around Table Mountain...

Drakensberg Hiking Maps... series of 6 covering

  • Rugged Glen
  • Cathedral Peak
  • Giant's Castle
  • Highmoor
  • Cobham
  • Bushman's Nek ... see all 6 maps here

Great books on CD

Sought After Pocket Guides


Robben Island Drakensberg Mapungubwe Cape Floral Kingdom Cradle of Humankind Vredefort Dome St Lucia

A Bit About GPS

Garmin Oregon GPS Personally I own 2 GPS units... one purely for street and general navigation (Nuvi 760) and the other is a handheld unit (Garmin 60Cs) which I can use for almost any activity in the car or outside the car. The Nuvi is just incapable of doing all the things a handeld GPS can do. For example if I go hiking it's important to create a track (a breadcrumb trail) so that if I get lost I can always "track back" along the track I created on the way out. This way I cannot fail to get back to where I started.... after all who wants to get lost in on the Drakensberg or Cederberg mountains? Being able to backtrack means you will never get lost again.

Synchonising my 60Cs with electronic maps is a breeze.
Image shows latest handheld product from Garmin... the Oregon.

What might surprise you is that  you just cannot get the most out of these GPS units without the right maps. Some GPS units come bundled with excellent maps available on CD. For others you need to buy the maps to be able to download into your GPS and also use on a PC to plan a journey.

In my experience it is very difficult to truly plan a complex journey using the GPS unit itself... it is a cumbersome, slow process, many of the desired points of reference will not be easily found (if at all). I'm sure as a GPS owner you will have experienced the kind of problem I'm relating to.

Important Information for Serious Map & GPS Users... Setting Map Datums

Datum list When it comes to journeying outside South Africa the GPS may, without the right map set, not be as reliable as you think. So BEWARE! Exactly the same co-ordinates on two different Datums will not show as the same spot. If you ever provide coordinates to any other GPS user (eg if you're lost and phone for help) you MUST state the datum used as well as the co-ordinates themselves. A typical reference would thus be...

WGS84,  S 33.66843   E 019.42151 where WGS 84 is the Datum in use.

The image here shows an excerpt form the long list of possible Datums used around the world.

If you refer to the Drakensberg Hiking map series you will note that the Datum is clearly shown on the bottom of each map as CAPE DATUM. If you want to match up GPS coordinates accurately with the hiking map then you must set the GPS datum to CAPE (it was probably pre-set on WGS 84).

VERY IMPORTANT especially if you're traveling outside South Africa... you need to know a bit about Datums. Click here for more datum information

NOTE: Because Tracks4Africa is based upon actual logging of coordinate data using WGS 84 you don't need to worry about any other Datum no matter which African country you visit..

In summary you definitely need the right maps to get the most out of your GPS in such a way it becomes a really valuable investment and gives you a great sense of security and safety as you enter the unknown... be it on foot or by vehicle. The right map for use in Africa is Tracks4Africa supplemented by good paper maps of the various countries and regions.

How I use Maps with my GPS... And the Importance of a Paper Map

I use both paper maps and electronic maps. I use paper maps as a quick and easy reference source and for emergencies. I use electronic maps for planning both short and long journeys including local drives to specific street addresses. Paper maps are also back-ups for those times when a GPS might fail (eg battery failure).
Ideally I would take along my laptop already loaded with the maps I need but this can be a bother especially on holiday. So do a good job of planning and take along a good paper map together with the GPS properly set up before you leave home.

My reason for using electronic maps is that I can easily and accurately get co-ordinates for any place I wish to include in my trip. Entering coordinate data into a GPS is my preferred way of navigating. It becomes especially easy when there is a need to create a route with numerous waypoints.

My paper maps have a secondary use especially if I don't have an electronic map (for this I really need to travel with a laptop). An example could be for a planned journey to Namibia. In this case with a good map (not your normal road map from the local garage)  it becomes possible to lift off the map coordinate points with quite good accuracy. These co-ordinates can then be fed into a GPS as waypoints which then form the basis of route planning. The paper map makes it easy to get orientated.

Good maps these days such as those by Peter Slingsby or Infomap have co-ordinate information built into them so extracting coordinates is made easy.

Top GPS Tips... visit this page to see the really important GPS points...