Thank you to GEB reader ‘ecksemmess’ for letting us know about new Street View imagery in Kampala, Uganda. It was added at about the same time as the Turkey, Ukraine and Macedonia imagery and can be seen in the Street View changes map that we did for that post.
Street View extent for Kampala, Uganda.
When your property is in high demand you need to post a ‘not for sale’ sign. See in Google Maps
Practically every shop in Kampala is advertising one or both of the two main mobile phone companies (MTN in yellow and Airtel in red). For a challenge see how long it takes you to find a location that does not have at least one cell phone reference in view. See in Google Maps
Sign reads “Sky Guest House, executive accommodation” but the arrow appears to point between two buildings. See in Google Maps.
You may also wish to stay at Mama Claire Hotel & House of Bread. “We serve you break fast lunch with all kinds of dishes” See in Google Maps
About Timothy Whitehead
Timothy has been using Google Earth since 2004 when it was still called Keyhole before it was renamed Google Earth in 2005 and has been a huge fan ever since. He is a programmer working for Red Wing Aerobatx and lives in Cape Town, South Africa.
Wow, this is pretty amazing. I never imagined street view coming to a place like this!
This is great that people living in Kampala now have this capability when looking for directions. On another note, I feel like I need to comment on the disrespect that I have read from the comments below the pictures. It appeared to me that the author was making fun of the signs that he was reading in the pictures which is unacceptable. I live here in Kampala and it is nothing like any city in the United States of America. English is not the first language for the majority of residents here so there are bound to be mistakes in grammar or spelling. With that said, I think the point of the article was to show how great it is that Google Earth now offers street view in the city but the images that were commented on were used to demean the lifestyle and conditions that many of the Ugandan citizens are forced to live in. In the future, it should be a good practice to make sure the article is staying on topic rather than trying to make a comedy routine about something that isn’t a laughing matter.
I (the author) come from Zambia which is not unlike Uganda. Exploring Kampala in Street View certainly reminded me of home. I do find the signs entertaining and would hope that residents of Kampala enjoy them too. This is not to make fun of the sign writers but rather to laugh at the results. I was not focusing on the spelling or grammar but rather the concepts expressed. The first sign suggests the owner gets a lot of people bothering him who wish to purchase his land so the sign is understandable. It is however very unusual to see what looks like a ‘for sale’ sign just to find out that it is a ‘not for sale’ sign. The cell phone adverts suggests there is little difference between the two companies and advertising is the main driver for gaining customers. It also tells us that, just as in richer countries, cell phones play an important role in peoples lives.
I am a Tanzanian currently in Tanzania but I have lived in Kampala for about 6 years. As a tech enthusiast I was fascinated by the fact that Kampala now has Street View – the first country in East Africa. Navigating through different streets brought back a lot of memories, this is indeed great.
I hope the people of Kampala are and will enjoy this too.
Btw streets are looking much cleaner now from the four years that I was there. 😉
Great stuff!