No, not a story about picking soft fruit, but proof that you don’t need to be out of touch even on the most remote vacation.

Mobile communication is opening up Africa’s wilderness regions. Once going on safari meant disappearing from contact for days on end, but now it is easy to stay in touch. Most of the 50 or so countries that make up the African continent are increasingly abandoning wired telephone systems and switching to mobile phone networks. Less sophisticated mobile phones won’t immediately work in Africa – you’ll need a triband phone to ensure you receive mobile phone calls in the bush – but with triband your phone will ring just as if you were around the block from your home or office.

Even in the most remote safari regions you can still stay in touch. John Spence of Aardvark Safaris says lodges and camps that used to rely on weak radio signals now have internet access, and their speeds often rival what you’ll get back home. You won’t know there’s a computer there – it’ll be hidden away in a back office – but if you need to get online you can. This is especially good news for businessmen and women, who crave a vacation, but don’t necessarily want to be out of touch for 10 days or longer.

It’s also now possible to rent a satellite phone for just $15 per day – and that will work even in the middle of the Sahara. Spence advises organizing that before you leave home.

“You want to make sure you’re up and running with your rental satellite phone while you can still easily sort out any problems. The middle of the African bush is not the place to realize your phone isn’t set up correctly.”

Some think it’s sad that modern communications have now filtered through to Africa’s great wildlife regions. But for businessmen and women who do not want to surf through hundreds of emails upon their return to work, or return dozens of missed phone calls, increasing communication across Africa is good news.