Now this is REALLY cool – even if I have to say so myself.
We recently took and compiled the biggest (highest definition) picture ever taken of Cape Town.
For those curious as to how we did it, I will post a ” How we did it” later in the week – so drop your email in the subscribtion box to the right if you want to get an email notification.
We will also have some very exciting news about how this picture can help you win a week for two in the fabulous Thornybush Game Reserve…… exciting !! {update: go here for more info on the competition}
But before we get to that, we know you’d like some time to explore.
Zoom your heart out!!!
If you need some more space to explore – we created a dedicated page just for you.
Seeing that we’re busy with a series on South African sport stadiums, I thought I’d share this panoramic image taken at the recent rugby test match between South Africa and Australia at Newlands Rugby Stadium.
I created it without a tripod – so the standard is not as high as usual – but it does give one an idea of ‘life on the Railway Stand’.
(By the way: the weather did not allow us to complete the Gigapan.)
Second: a Google Earth tour showing a model of the stadium in 3D.
You need to install the Google Earth plugin to view this, it’s highly recommended!
Simply click on the ‘play’ button to view the Google Earth fly-over.
This is not a video, it’s a fully interactive browser version of Google Earth, so feel free to explore the rest of Cape Town...
(If you’re on a slow connection, replay the tour a few times to allow the satellite imagery to load.)
Thirdly: A collection of 360º images linked with interactive hotspots, allowing you to explore the stadium.
The hotspots taking you to 8 different spots in the stadium are active in the Full Screen version
The Shamwari Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape of South Africa has been voted Africa’s leading Safari and Game Reserve for the 11th consecutive year.
Virtual Africa have now created virtual tours of all 7 lodges in the reserve and take pride in being able to give the world a 360º peek into the facilities at one of the most recognized luxury reserves on the continent.
South Africa is getting itself ready for the 2010 Soccer World Cup and all around the country we see magnificent new sport stadiums rising in preparation for what promises to be a spectacle of note.
Seeing that Virtual Africa has had the privilege to shoot quite a few of the existing (and even a few of the new) stadiums, we thought it to be a good time to write a few posts on some of our brilliant sporting facilities.
This then is our series on: South African Sport Stadiums in 360º.
First up is my personal favourite: NEWLANDS RUGBY STADIUM
Above we have a Google Map with integrated 360º virtual tours of both the rugby and cricket stadiums -two of the most majestic and historic sports grounds in the world.
Seeing that it’s winter, we zoomed in on Newlands Rugby, but simply pan a block to the South to find the cricket stadium – with some 360º virtual tours of its own.
Instructions:
1. Click on the icons in the map to see 360º images
2. then on the ‘Go Full Screen’ link to see the good stuff.
3. zoom out to explore 360º images of the rest of Cape Town
4. click on the ‘ShareThis” button below to share the map with your online community
5. subscribe to receive a notification of our next post, Greenpoint Stadium
For a bigger version of this map, click on Google Maps in the top menu bar of this site.
Table Mountain has been nominated to become one of the New 7 Wonders of the World and the World (that’s us) has until 7 July 2009 to cast their votes.
Unlike party political elections, voter intimidation is totally acceptable when it comes to the Wonders – and we’re getting into the act.
So, here’s how it’s going to go down:
If you’ve been to Table Mountain before, it’s a bit of a no-brainer and no intimidation will be necessary, simply click here to vote and then enjoy the virtual tour of the mountain below.
If you confirm that you’ve done so in the comment section, we’ll send you on a 5 star holiday to an island paradise.(**There are some Terms and conditions to this prize, but you really don’t need to scroll down to read it. Do that after you’ve voted.)
If you haven’t been to Table Mountain before, read the rest of this post, explore the virtual tour and then vote.
The virtual tour is fully interactive and has numerous informative video’s for your enjoyment.
Off course Table Mountain should be one of the New 7 Natural Wonders of the world! As a matter of fact, they should have called the competition the 6 New Natural Wonders of the World, seeing that the number 1 spot is such a sure thing.
That would have allowed other mountains like Everest and Kilimanjaro to say “Well, they’ve made up there minds – we’re not even going to take part in this”, and spared them the embarrassment of being whipped by a stocky city dweller who has her head in the clouds most of the time.
Let’s get the most obvious reasons out of the way then:
Number 1: Table Mountain is MAGNIFICENT!I mean look at it!
Number 2: Table Mountain is Accessible.
Not only is it beautiful and unique, but quite a few people get to enjoy its beauty every day.
What’s the point in making Aldabera Atoll in the Seychelles a Natural Wonder if only 0.00000000000000001 % of the world population will ever be able to enjoy it?
Don’t get me wrong, it’s on my list of places to visit before I die, but I’ll be one of only a few people who would have had the privilege to visit this island paradise in the middle of nowhere.
Table Mountain, on the other hand, receives more than 800 000 visitors a year, via the Cable Car alone – not to mention the millions of people enjoying the view from every part of Cape Town, every day.
Number 3: Table Mountain has some SERIOUS eco-credentials
It is part of the Cape Floral Kingdom (read more on this) – which is a World Heritage Site. That’s right, you heard it: WORLD Heritage Site , like in 7 New wonders of the WORLD.
It has more floral species than the whole of Britain!
(Loch Ness , cry your heart out.)
Number 4: It’s the mother of all lungs. New Yorkers are always going on about how Central Park forms the ‘lungs’ of their city – and you have to give it to them, it is a great spot. It really is.You can just escape the the chaos of the city: sit on a park bench and watch the people walk by, go to a concert, go ice skating in winter or visit the animals in the New York Zoo.
But the reality is that Central Park has a bumper sticker somewhere on the upper West side, which reads:
“When I grow up I want to be Table Mountain”.
Table Mountain is the mother of all ‘urban lungs’.
I know of spots you can reach within 15 minutes of the City Centre, where you can’t see a building or hear a car. Honestly: 15 minutes from the city centre and you can drink cold water from a mountain stream.
Brilliant!!
Bottom line: New York got Frederick Law Olmsted to design their lung. Cape Town got God to do the job!
(I know Central Park is not in the running – the point is not that Table Mountain is better than Central Park, it’s that Central Park is great!! And Table Mountain is UNBELIEVABLE.A Natural Wonder ‘co-existing’ with an urban community!!One of a kind! Truly unique. Deserves your vote. If you phone now ……..got it?)
OK, with that settled then, there are just two things left to do :
Go here to vote for Table Mountain as one of the 7 New Wonders of the World.
Go here to explore the fullscreen virtual tour of the mountain.
We created the virtual tour with embedded video on request from the guys at SmartGuide.
We used our pictures and embedded their videos to create a complete ‘users guide to Table Mountain’. Check it out – and explore the mountain like never before.
Also, if you know a teacher – send them the link, it’s a great tool to show kids what the mountain is about. (and kids can vote too ….. nudge-nudge-wink-wink)
We recently had an opportunity to interview and photograph Simon Back from Backsberg Wine Estate near Paarl.
Simon took us on a tour of the estate and gave us a glimpse of what it entails to be a environmentally conscious farmer in the 21st century.
He showed us ‘Footprint Park”, their Eucalyptus Research and a very interesting Parabolic Reflector they are experimenting with.
It was great to see someone who genuinely cares for the environment and who has obviously been putting a lot of time, effort and money into doing their bit as responsible farmers.
The virtual tour below we created has embedded video in it.
It’s a relatively new way of doing it and we think it works well to communicate information.
Click on the video icon in the virtual tour to see what Simon has to say and use the drop down menus to go to other scenes.
You’ll find more videos in “Eucalyptus Research” and “Conservancy Projects” spins.
Go to the Backsberg website for more information on their wines, the estate, the wedding venue, the restaurant and some general news on what they’re up to on a day to day basis.
We have some more content which we created for Backsberg and we’ll be sharing some of it here in the coming months.
Simply drop your email address to the right, to get automatic updates on when something new is posted.
Ok, it’s apology time. …. I haven’t blogged in quite a while.
The reasons are multiple:
1) top secret project – soon to be revealed;
2) lots of requests for virtual tours from accommodation venues;
3) a very busy and successful South African Tourism Indaba and, off course;
4) we have a new addition to the Le Roux family – our second son, Tiaan is now 5 weeks old and doing what babies do best (keeping his parents awake at night)
Anyway, the good news is that the rest of the team have been getting enough sleep and that we’ve been able to create some very cool content in the past month or so.
You can therefore expect some regular posts and interesting panoramas in the weeks to come.
Let’s get the ball rolling with a panoramic image I shot today, while having a business lunch in the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.
This shot was taken from the balcony at ‘Upstairs @ Quay 4′.
I like it, not only because I managed to shoot it without a tripod, but because it’s one of those typical Cape Town views.
There were seagulls flapping about, tourists with camera’s in hand and great prawns to go with tranquil scenery.
In the past 20 days, more than 400 South Africans came to our site because they were searching for information on Google Maps.
We know this, not because we have great contacts in government, but through the very effective (and very free) Google Analytics.
Now although we spend most of our time creating virtual tours and other interactive images, we do know quite a lot about Google Maps.
We help clients embed Google Maps into their own sites, we try and make cool interactive maps of interesting places and we experiment with things like the Google Earth plugin.
Thus, seeing that we know a few things about Maps, and so many people come to our site because they seek more information on the topic, we thought we’d try and help… with the GOOGLE MAPS FAQ post.
You are invited to ask any question related to Google Maps or Google Earth by leaving a comment below and we will try and answer as best we can.
If it’s a good question, we’ll add it to this post.
That’s the plan, here are a few questions, answers, tips and links to get you started:
1. Google Maps of South Africa: click here
- we’ve created a map which centers on South Africa – just for you.
2. Google Maps Official Home Page: http://maps.google.com/
- unfortunately the home page is not centered on South Africa
4. Are there any limitations to Google Maps in South Africa?
- Yes, unfortunately we are a bit behind our brothers and sisters over the waters
- American and European users have access to great features like
- The good news for South Africans: none of these features are workable without detail street map data and this is why we’re so excited about the recent update to Google’s South African street maps – it paves the way for the cool stuff!
5. How do I put my own content/information/pictures on Google Maps
- It’s easier than you might think, simply follow this video tutorial and use the ‘My Maps’ section on the Google Maps Home Page.
- Be nice and share your creation with us by posting the URL (link) in the comments section.
