Considering how we birders like to “get away from it all’ and head out into the bush looking for birds, we sure do use a lot of technology!
PREPARATION
Do your homework and find out what kind of powerpoints are at your destination and make sure you have the right ones. Nothing worse than wasting time chasing around electronic stores looking for adaptors!
HAVE ENOUGH OUTLETS TO GO AROUND
Odds are that you will have several items that need charging – laptop/tablet, cameras, phones so it’s best to have one multi-outlet charger to accommodate them all. Then you only need one adaptor for the destination. Newer models also have USB outlets.
KEEP EVERYTHING TOPPED UP
Many eco-lodges don’t have electricity, they may have a generator that only runs at certain times. If you have transit points in city hotels, make sure you top up all your batteries before heading out into the bush.
SMARTPHONE APPS
Download and update any travel apps you have as internet may be spotty in certain locations. Here’s a few that I use:
Tripadvisor – For check up on hotel reviews and posting questions in the forums. I only pay attention to reviews by people who have several reviews at least in different destinations.
Google Translate – Many birding guides don’t speak English or if they do, they charge double that a local guide would charge. I’m usually happy with a local guide as long as he knows the birds. I use Google Translate quite a bit while booking guides and lodges and sometimes on the road. The latest version translates and speaks the translations!
Skype – Make sure you have Skype installed on your laptop/tablet and smartphone and have the toll free numbers of all the airlines you use loaded. If anything goes wrong, all you need is wifi and you can contact your airline free of charge from anywhere in the world.
Airline & Hotel Apps – Sign up for notifications so you know when a flight is delayed or they change the gate. Hotel apps can show you maps and other local facilities near the hotel and you sometimes get a bonus if you use an app to book a hotel.
Weather Apps – I always check the weather daily for my current destination and the next one so I can be forewarned of any nasty weather that impacts on birding.