Google Street View available in South Africa

Google Street View has finally launched in South Africa, enabling internet users to view images of streets and surrounding buildings at street level. All faces and car number plates are blurred to protect your privacy. Considering that the FIFA World Cup tournament starts on Friday, this will undoubtedly assist tourists since they'll be able to view sights and stadiums before they arrive.

Of course, the first thing I did was to see if a Google Street View Car captured me in front of my home. Luckily not, but you can see my car in the driveway. I'm a fan of Google and use a lot of their online services; Google Maps with Street View is fantastic.

A view of Chapman's Peak Drive in Cape Town

Google Street View in South Africa is currently available in the major cities and a few other towns. I assume the rest of the country will be mapped during the rest of the year. All the major soccer stadiums are available in 3D with a 360 degree view inside.

3D model of Cape Town Stadium

Video: Street View on Google Maps



A lot of websites are dedicated to displaying funny images that have been captured on Google Street View. Here's a few interesting images.

The only downside to Google Maps and Street View is that it tends to use quite a lot of bandwidth so if you have a slow connection, good luck.

Related links
Google Maps with Street View - Google Read more on "Google Street View available in South Africa"!

Circumnavigating the world in an autogyro

Norman Surplus, departed on 22 March from Larne, Northern Ireland, to attempt to circumnavigate the globe in an autogyro called "Gyrox". It has never been attempted before. An autogyro (or gyrocopter) uses an unpowered rotor in auto-rotation to develop lift and an engine-powered propeller, to provide thrust.

Challenges

The trip is expected to take approximately four months and cover over 43000km, stopping over in 26 countries along the way. Considering the nature of the adventure and proposed travel route, some severe weather conditions should be expected along the way. It's quite a brave attempt considering that an autogyro has an open cockpit! Not to mention the long stretches of open water that need to be covered. To make this possible, Norman's gyro was fitted with extra fuel tanks which will extend the normal 300 mile range to 800 miles. Then there's the challenge of relying solely on the pilot's own visuals since he's not allowed to use instruments to navigate (gyro rules). Finding fuel in remote parts of the world may also present to be a problem.

Video - Gyrox autogyro circumnavigation of the globe


Gyrox Goes Global from Gyrox Goes Global on Vimeo.

Motivation

Norman recently beat a bout of cancer and this motivated him to embrace life more intensely. He will raise funds for Bowel Cancer UK during the trip.

You can track the Gyrox via the SPOT GPS.

Related link
Autogyro circumnavigation of the globe - Norman's website
GyroxGoesGlobal - Norman's blog
Norman Surplus - Facebook Read more on "Circumnavigating the world in an autogyro"!

Cape Town Stadium ready for action

Construction of the Cape Town Stadium has been completed and was handed over to Cape Town's Mayor, Dan Plato, on Monday during the opening ceremony. The stadium has been erected for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in June and will host five first round matches, one second round, one quarter-final and one semi-final.

The modern stadium seats 68 000 and is located in Green Point with spectacular views of Table Mountain. Brilliant setting. It took 32 months to complete at a cost of R4,4 billion.

Read more on "Cape Town Stadium ready for action"!

Bushmans Kloof voted world's best hotel and Cape Town second best city

Bushmans Kloof was voted the no.1 hotel in the world, in the 2009 US Travel + Leisure Best Awards survey. The results were announced on the american TV network NBC's Today Show on Friday.



Bushmans Kloof is a five-star wilderness retreat at the foot of the Cederberg Mountains, about 270km north of Cape Town. It's also a sanctuary to several endangered species as well as host to over 130 Bushman rock art sites.



South Africa's presence in the top 15 of the World's Best Hotels for 2009 is quite evident with the Sabi Sabi Game Reserve placed third, Singita Sabi Sand sixth and The Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa 15th.




Cape Town voted second best city in the world

In the 14th annual World's Top Cities poll, Cape Town was voted no.2! Cape Town has consistently featured in the top 10 of most travel destination polls for a number of years.



Apart from the already mentioned Twelve Apostles luxury hotel in Camps Bay, the Cape Grace Hotel placed fourth in the Top 5 City Hotels in Africa and the Middle East category. Incidentally, the UK Telegraph also recently voted Cape Town their Favourite Foreign City.

Cape Town, also known as the Mother City, is by the far the most popular destination in South Africa due to it's scenic beauty and tourism industry. These sort of international accolades definitely helps in promoting Cape Town's readiness for hosting the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup.

Guess who's proudly Capetonian!

Related links
US Travel + Leisure magazine - 2009 Best Awards survey
Image sources - Bushmans Kloof, Chris Johns Read more on "Bushmans Kloof voted world's best hotel and Cape Town second best city"!

Cape Town's new Integrated Rapid Transit (IRT) system

Cape Town is the most popular tourist destination in South Africa and recognised as one of the most beautiful cities on earth. Public transport is therefore key to sustain the city's role as South Africa's leading holiday destination. The City of Cape Town has therefore decided to implement an extensive Integrated Rapid Transit (IRT) sysatem to alleviate traffic congestion, reduce transport times and stimulate new developments in the Cape metropole.

According to Kylie Hatton, City of Cape Town media manager, the proposed IRT system will include a rail plan, a bus rapid-transit (BRT) system, improvements to conventional bus and minibus operations, cycle ways and bicycle parking, pedestrian and urban space upgrades, metered taxi 
integration and park-and-ride facilities.

The IRT project consists of four phases and is expected to take 10 to 15 years to complete. Construction of the first phase has started and is scheduled to be completed in time for the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup.

Phase 1A: Includes airport - city link and city to soccer stadium link
Rest of Phase 1: West Coast link along the R27, including Du Noon, Doornbach, Atlantis and Mamre, will be rolled out in 2010.
Phase 2: Cover areas south east of the city, including Khayelitsha, Mitchell's Plain and the southern suburbs
Phase 3 and 4: Cover northern surburbs e.g. Bellville and Durbanville, the Delft and Blue Downs areas, extending all the way to the Helderberg
Details of phases | Map

This project will undoubtedly cause major traffic disruptions during the construction period and the existing taxi assocations are not happy about the proposed plans but the benefits of an integrated public transport system far outweighs the negative. Roll on IRT!

Related links
Cape Town implements Integrated Rapid Transit (IRT) - Cape Town Partnership PDF brochure
Cape Town's Integrated Rapid Transit site
Cape Town's rapid-transit system begins taking shape - Creamer Media Engineering News
Image source - City of Cape Town Read more on "Cape Town's new Integrated Rapid Transit (IRT) system"!