Africa

Google Maps is on fire! Or at least it seems that way, considering the number of fires Google imagery has captured over the years. Take a journey with us as we travel the globe in search of flames and smoke.

Since 1871, the city of Kimberley in the Northern Cape has been at the centre of the diamond-mining industry in South Africa. The city instantly grew around the burgeoning mines, eventually surrounding many of the giant pits dug into the ground, which have become tourist attractions in their own right.

The term "blue hole" is given to sinkholes filled with water where the entrance is below the surface; but they are perhaps more accurately described as "vertical caves". These caves were formed through normal erosion until the end of the…

More than three years in, the folks at Google have amassed a healthy roster of countries covered by Street View. Alas, there are still those places where the Street View cars must turn around at the border. Luckily, they often get close enough to at least give us a glimpse at what lies on the other side.

As we wave farewell to another successful year of Google Sightseeing, let us cast our minds back to some of the best posts of 2010, all summarised neatly into some arbitrary made-up categories!   Most comprehensive sightseeing tour We like…

It may be hard to believe, but the Earth is struck with more space debris (meteors, comets, etc) than the moon. To be fair, our planet is much bigger, but from above, doesn't look as scarred as the surface of…