At last: Google Maps directions in South Africa

At last Google Maps has gained the ability to provide directions in South Africa! This small but very significant feature was always missing for South African maps. A while back I wrote that hopefully the 2010 World Cup will bring this functionality soon enough, and thankfully here it is now. It is currently available on the Google Maps website, but also on mobile platforms like the iPhone and Android. Here you can see it in action on my iPhone. The interface is simple enough, and the guidelines are clear, turn by turn. No voice navigation though, but its still great. It integrates neatly with your contact’s addresses as well.

Of course the website is even more powerful – here is a screenshot:

PS: To my overseas readers, sorry that I get so giddy about something so small. We South Africans are not used to it yet – we had to rely on dedicated GPS devices or expensive add on software to get this functionality.