Google photographed the Liwa Desert using a camel with a Street View camera strapped to its back

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Google photographed the Liwa Desert using a camel with a Street View camera strapped to its back

We’ve seen the great lengths Google Street View Trekkers have gone to digitize the far reaches of the Earth for Google Maps. Whether it’s climbing to the tops of volcanoes, or swimming the great barrier reef, this it typical done by brave men and women willing to traverse the world with giant 360-degree cameras strapped to their backs. But in order to traverse the great vastness of the Liwa Desert, Google had to employ help from the most unlikeliest of places — a camel. The camel’s name is Raffia and after strapping Google’s huge panoramic camera to his hump, became Google Street View’s newest contributor.

But why a camel and not, you know… the guy actually pulling the camel through the desert? Apparently it was for authenticity. Google wanted to give viewers a real sense of traveling through the dessert on a camel’s back like it’s been done for thousands of years. You can check out the full gallery of images on Google’s Street View site here. If you’re curious to see Raffia doing his thing, check out the video below.

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