A (Google Maps) Tour of Pretoria.

by Chris Kamalski

(Picture Mr. Rogers singing: “Won’t you be my neighbor?”)

Several weeks ago I was talking to my parents on Skype when we suddenly had the brilliant idea to jump on Google maps as a way to use their satellite imagery to show my parents the physical layout of where I am now living in Pretoria North as an Apprentice with NieuCommunities South Africa until late November this year.  We had a blast trying to stay on the same (literal) page, clicking left/right/up/down/east/west etc for almost an hour.  In the end, I had shown them the bunch of trees under which I lived, the local high school, the white roof of the first gym (Virgin Active) I have EVER belonged to in my almost 30-years of life, local haunts throughout downtown Pretoria, and even the Block that I am doing mission within in Soshanguve!  It was wild to say the least.

One thing led to the next, and as I have been (too slowly) working on a massive update to send out to friends, families, and donors, I created:

WAIT. FOR.IT.

A (GOOGLE MAPS) TOUR OF PRETORIA!!!

I’m stealing a bit of my own thunder, as this is coming out in a newsletter update soon(ish), but this simply couldn’t wait, so follow these simple steps to take a tour with me (via Google’s greatness).

  1. Open your Web browser and type in http://maps.google.com.
  2. Search in the Maps function for “A (Google Maps) Tour of Pretoria.”
  3. My created journey for you will pop up as the top search result, so click on that.
  4. Adjust your map settings to SATELLITE imagaery (not map view), and click the + BUTTON until you are 2 clicks from the top.
  5. Enjoy my rambly comments…