Essential Gadgets and Apps to Have For the #UGTravelMonth

Travelling, I might say, is everyone’s wish come true. It’s a Friday morning, and you feel like, after work, you might want to move out for a weekend relaxation, not to a shopping mall to have a cup of coffee/drink or in a bar to catch a game but to travel out of, I might say your area.

Here’s what I can recommend to you, last month, MTN Uganda officially introduced a new smartphone app dubbed “MTN Uganda Guide” that guides incoming travelers as well as local tourists with recommendations on accommodation in Kampala and beyond, restaurants & bars, adventure activities such as; museums & monuments, modes of transport and so forth.

MTN Uganda went a head and introduced the Uganda Travel Month; a new and exciting domestic tourism drive scheduled for October 2016, where Uganda’s much deprived urban millennial middle class will get to tour and experience the gems that make Uganda a much coveted destination including; Queen Elizabeth National Park, Murchison Falls National Park, Lake Mburo National Park and Jinja, East Africa’s renowned adventure capital.

However, you need to have preparations on your finger tips, from knowing what to wear to gadgets you ought to go with to mobile apps that will help you out, if you are to be part of the Uganda Travel Month.

Whatever the case might be, a few tech gadgets and mobile apps can make hitting the road altogether less grueling. We rounded up some that might help you out during your #UGTravel Month. Check out the list below;

Gadgets

1. Laptop/ Tablet
If you really must, you can bring along your laptop or tablet for the trip with you. You wouldn’t want to miss out a perfect moment in the wild, while you are busy replying that long email from work. However, a tablet may come in handy if you want to read a nice book on the long highway.

2. Camera or your smartphone
Perhaps the most important. If you can’t afford a Canon EOS-1D X Mark II then don’t forget to carry your smartphone. However, to really bring life to your pictures, you need to have a really good smartphone like; an iPhone, or a Samsung Galaxy S7 or Huawei P9 (it has a dual camera, this is really awesome) or any other smartphone that really gives you quality pictures.

So, as you prepare for your journey, at least get a Sony point & shoot camera, or Nikon Coolpix, or Kodak PIXPRO which are worth not more than UGX 600,000 on many local online shopping sites.

3. Smartphone Camera Lens
Smartphones have come a long way since their humble beginnings, and so have their cameras. That being said, Instagram filters and native editing tools aren’t always enough to transform mobile photos into true works of art. For this, you might need a smartphone camera lens.

Smartphone camera lenses can go beyond what you get with a traditional phone camera. For example, they can capture shots in fisheye, or hone in on the tiny details of a subject — some which may be naked to the eye (and a standard smartphone camera lens). They come in all shapes and sizes, and many companies manufacture them.

Be sure to choose what’s compatible to your smartphone.  

4. Extra SD Card
Worst thing that can happen to you on such a trip into the wild is running out of storage. Of course you are going to take a lot of good (and bad) photos, but they are yours. You want to keep them at least until the trip is done then you can decide to delete the ones that don’t measure.

So carry an extra preferably 64 GB SD Card with you.

5. Power Bank
Okay! one gadget you ought not to forget is the ‘Power Bank’. You’re probably going to be tweeting about the #UGTravelMonth or sharing your pictures on Facebook, or Instagram, or Snapchat – whatever case it might be. But what if you run out of battery, what you going to do? unless when you’ve a spare one in your bag (Okay, we also recommend you go with a spare battery).

6. Mi-Fi/Modem/Wireless Router
Running out of data isn’t an option, you can probably load a monthly data package, or weekly package. However, looking at the possibility that you data package has expired or the siganl strength on phone is bad or maybe the hotel/motel/camping area. have maddening Wi-Fi – it can be congested or its slow, and you really wanna finish up something really quick.

Why go through the hustle and yet you can your a Mi-Fi/Modem/Wireless Router, this will save your life. It’s portable and are explicitly designed to make traveling more convenient.

Head out to any preferred store, and grab yourself MTN Huawei Mobile Mi-Fi/ as you prepare for your journey.

Mobile Apps

So we’ve looked at what gadgets you might need for the #UGTravelMonth, but how about you look on the other side of mobile apps. Let’s see what we have for you;

1. Travel App
Definitely you need a travel app, since you’re going for the #UGTravelMonth, you will definitely need to have the MTN Uganda Guide app since it has all the schedule for the event. The app is free and available for download for Android, iOS and Windows Phone users. The app is so user friendly and ease to use from locating where to Stay, Eat, Shop to having phrases translated from English into Swahili and Luganda in case you might meet people that don’t know English and so forth.

Thus, download the app to your smartphone and get ready for your journey.

2. SnapChat
An easy way to share quick photos or funny videos with friends and family, users can even save snaps and upload them later when internet is available. Share those amazing selfies with the giraffes at Queen Elizabeth National Park and make those who stayed behind jealous enough to travel on the next trip.

Similar to Instagram, Snapchat also lends itself to exploring areas and learning more about a location.

Photo Credit: Pearl Guide