14 DAY TRIAL // What does the desert look like? Well, Google has decided that if you don’t ever get a chance to see it for yourself, you should at least get a virtual tour of it.
Not only is the search giant taking you on a backpack ride along the dunes, but it’s actually giving you the full experience you’d get if you went visiting with a guide – riding atop a camel.
“Imagine sitting atop a camel looking across a vast expanse of desert dunes. A glimmer of green flashes in the distance. It could be a mirage or a bountiful oasis just awaiting your discovery. Now with Google Maps, you can see for yourself and journey across the sands of the Liwa Desert, one of the most breathtaking landscapes in the world,” writes the company’s Najeeb Jarrar, product marketing manager for the Middle East and North Africa.
They explain that you’ll find sand dunes that reach 25-40 meters (82-131 feet), which were once home to early settlers back in the Late Stone Age. This makes Liwa one of the oldest sites in the United Arab Emirates.
The place is rich in history, especially so in the Liwa Oasis, which is the largest oasis in the Arabian peninsula.
“Many people across the UAE can trace their origins to the first tribes that settled there and established the region as a trade center. The oasis is also home to date farms, whose trees and fruit are important cultural symbols—the trunks of the palms were used to weave the walls of Bedouin tents, baskets and more, while the fruit was a treasured treat for the locals. Now, the oasis is a sought out location for tourists around the world and those who live in the area,” Jarrar explains.
The camel trekker
Unlike on other occasions, when the images were recorded via the Street View cars or with the help of the backpack trekker, this time around the company fashioned it so it could rest on a camel. As it walked, the images were recorded and you can even view the pictures with the proper tilt as the camel moved around, just as you would on top of one.
Google says that it hopes the new collection will manage to give people a glimpse of what it may be like to travel the deserts as caravan merchants have for the past 3,000 years.
Once more, Google has managed to bring some really cool images to Street View from a place many of us may never get the chance to visit in person.
