Google Street View South Africa's National Parks.........Amazing! Isn't it?

I know I said in my #Introduceyourself post the I'd tell you the tale of how a Scottish TV director came to meet American #cryptocurrency guru @heiditravels on a beach in Cape Town, South Africa but you're going to have to wait. I have a more pressing topic I want to discuss.

Long story short but I just happen to work in the the same shared office space as the guys behind a project that has opened up the world. Google Street view gone wild. They're an incredible team of people who spent close to a year trekking through South Africa's breath-taking scenery with a 22kg Google Street view camera called 'Gary'.

Using technology that feels like part of the fabric of the internet, they've brought "...170 new trails, six UNESCO World Heritage Sites and all 19 National Parks..." to our screens. We can now access "...a large 360-imagery collection of the country’s wildest regions.." at the click of a mouse. It really is beautiful stuff and I think my co-workers have done an amazing job.

So why is my gut feeling to dislike it, intensely?

Here I am, planning to write blogs and post pictures so others can enjoy the same incredible country, through my eyes, and I feel like a raging hypocrite but it really doesn't sit well with me and I'm genuinely not sure why.

Maybe I'm jealous?

I don't think so. Well, maybe a little as they've explored places I'd love to see and had adventurous encounters I'd love to experience but I really do admire their work and the creativity that's gone into it. I don't think my dislike stems from jealousy.

Maybe I want to keep it all for myself?

Then why would I be so passionate about taking pictures and sharing them? Definitely not a desire to exclude others from enjoying the beauty of the world. In fact I feel quite the opposite. The more people who can step out of their comfort zone and experience what the world has to offer, the better.

I spent three months working with an NGO in Madagascar, living and breathing the local culture, and it taught me more about sustainable conservation than three years at University.

Might that be where the problem lies?

I love technology. I love being connected to the wonderful wide web. I love what it's allowed people to do and for the connections it's opened up, but it highlights the connections I fear we risk losing. The connections to one another.

At the click of a button we're magically transported to the top of Table Mountain, the starlit skies of the Drakensberg or trekking with lions Kruger and they are simply spectacular.

https://www.discoverafrica.com/southafrica360/

But the one thing that's missing are the connections to people. The ones who make the journey memorable and hopefully life changing. The friends you make for just a day or for a lifetime. From the joy and challenge of living a different life. From the good times to the terrible times. All of those are missing when we explore the wonders of the world through the eyes of an inanimate object.

The whole process of questioning my emotional response has helped me to understand that sharing my #photography is great but what's more important along my #Steemit journey is sharing the stories behind each and every one of those images.

I hope the Google Street View of South Africa really will inspire people to get out there and explore what the world has to offer, it really is worth it and that's certainly what I hope to achieve by sharing my blog with you.

#teamsouthafrica