Google is constantly sending its StreetView bubble — called a Trekker — around the world to document every last nook and cranny of the planet.
This has led to some fairly interesting deployments of StreetView, especially for those areas so far removed from a street that it makes the StreetView moniker sound insufficient. Case in point: ziplining through the Amazon.
As part of its Earth Outreach branding, the team tied its Trekker photo apparatus to ziplines high above the Amazon to deliver a wholly unique experience of flying through the treetops — and with none of the fear of heights that might come with such an adventure.
The StreetView captures were a part of an ongoing partnership with the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation, which first worked with Google to document the Rio Negro Sutainable Development Reserve three years ago. This latest effort continues to highlight the partnership's mission, of which the ability to loan out the Google Trekker equipment was vital:
Their hope is that sharing the imagery of their local communities, rain forests and rivers with the world will raise awareness and support for their efforts to conserve these areas.
Collected through the Trekker Loan Program, this new imagery is the result of boating down 500 km of rivers, walking 20 km of forest trails and ziplining through forest canopies.
We hope it inspires you to embark on your own virtual expedition of the Amazon (you can leave the bug repellent at home!).
Below is a video montage of the various experiences documented by the team, followed by the various new perspectives of the Amazon.
Above the canopy, exploring the tree tops:
Exploring the old growth trees from below:
No longer in the trees, this is the Rio Mariepauá:
These are the villages that form the communities of the Amazon:
The StreetView team also logged another adventuresome content victory earlier this year, with a full-on documentation of the world's largest island in Greenland. Explore away!