If your idea of a vacation involves perilous activities and specialist equipment, Live the Adventure might be exactly the app you’ve been waiting for.
It's the beginning of the year, and you need something to look forward to, right? So start planning your next holiday!
For some, that means putting their feet up with a book in one hand, and a colourful drink with a miniature umbrella in it in the other. For others, it’s a time to do the sorts of things that make insurance brokers tremble. If you’re the latter sort, Live the Adventure will offer you plenty of things to get your heart rate climbing (but hopefully not your insurance premiums with it).
Live The Adventure is designed to get its users outdoors and undertaking the sorts of adventurous activities that suit them best, wherever they are. Open the app and you’re presented with a long disclaimer that basically says you need to make sure you’ve sufficiently fit and, if travelling for the activity, have the necessary paperwork, to take on the activities on offer. It also indemnifies the app and its makers should something go wrong, which is fair enough, considering it merely lists the activities and isn’t responsible for actually running any of them.
Choose your own adventure
Once you’ve accepted the Ts&Cs you’re asked to choose from the following categories: 'Land', 'Water', 'Air', or 'Family'. The first category includes options like abseiling and rock climbing, bungee jumping, hiking trails, mountain biking, quad biking and more. Within each category you can further refine your search by either distance or rating, or you can switch to the map view and look for things to do that way, especially if you’ve got an upcoming trip and want to look for adventures in the vicinity of your destination.
At the top of each category screen you’ll notice the app uses your smartphone’s GPS to work out where you are, which it then uses to work out the nearest activities that meet your criteria. When we chose 'abseiling and rock climbing' with our location set to Randburg, for example, the first option was Soul Adventures, a rock climbing company with offices in Sandton (we suspect the actual climbing they offer, meanwhile, happens somewhere else).
For each activity you’re offered contact details for the company in question, a map of where they’re based and, if anyone has reviewed the activity, user reviews. See something you like and the bookmark icon in the top right of the screen lets you save it for later. Alternatively, if you’d like to get some friends involved, you can also share each activity’s page on Live the Adventure via email, messaging or social media.
Spoilt for choice
What’s really impressive about Live the Adventure is the enormous range of activities on offer. Digging around in the app we found everything from kiteboarding and shark diving to cliff jumping, hot air ballooning, paintball and skydiving.
Though the family section of the site is pretty limited at the moment (for Joburgers, at least), we expect the listings will grow in time. At the moment the only options are Acrobranch (the zip lining and canopy tours company), Bounce (the trampoline park), Jozi X (the inflatable obstacles and climbing facility in Bryanston) and paintball.
Even if you’re not an adrenaline junkie yourself, Live the Adventure offers plenty of suggestions for the family members or friends you know who are, which could make it an excellent place to look for that last minute gift voucher for the person who has everything, or values new experiences over new kitchen appliances.
Get Live the Adventure
Download it for Android or iOS.
Please note that the app may be free to download, but you will need data to download and use the app. Buying data bundles on Vodacom Online is quick, easy and affordable, and a surefire way to make sure you've got enough data on your smartphone. Simply log into My Vodacom to buy data bundles »
