Being a local guide is interesting. Imagine living in a world where you are more conversant with an area more than the inhabitants. You now of all the passable routes, can advise about the restaurants in the area as well as give other useful information about schools, hospitals and other amenities in the said area. That’s what local guides offer. Every day you think of exploring a new place, you don’t need to have someone who has used the route, or have to make a million calls to the residents. Maps got you covered. They provide information about the distance you are about to undertake, the time it will take as well as inform the road users of the fastest routes they can take. Apart from that, the provision of essential services provided in the area makes maps interesting.
I remember one time we set out for a road trip and decided to traverse all the counties in Western Kenya and also visit a friend in Vihiga County. We started off in Nairobi, through Nakuru all the way to, Vihiga to meet Clarence. We had never visited Clarence before, we gave him a call and instructed him to share his location pin, to his amusement we arrived at his house without having to call him inquiring about direction. We explained to him how he could use Google maps to help him in a number of scenarios and also avoid the risk of getting lost. Because he was new and his place was small meant he didn’t know a place that we could spend a night and neither could he have hosted us. Thanks to Google maps, we were able to look for the restaurants in the area and the conditions surrounding each and we made a decision regarding a place that we would sleep meeting our expectations.
The next morning we were bound to travel to Kisii. Of course, Google maps was vital to make this happen as we were not familiar with the routes. However to our dissatisfaction, one of the routes that were recommended to us by maps from Kisii to Kisumu was a C26 road between Oyugis and Kendu Bay. This stretch was bad news that we thought it shouldn’t have featured in maps and if it appears then it should with a caveat. It took us more than 3hrs to cover an approximately 20km distance, making the matter worse, it was getting late and the night was befalling. Our car wasn’t spared either, it was really damaged due to the bad road. That’s when I resorted to writing to Google to request either its removal or inform motorists of the current condition of the road. This was meant to help the next person so that they do not waste a lot of their time on an ‘unpassable’ stretch.
Furthermore, from the accumulated damages our car sustained, it broke down in Nakuru. It took us three days to fix our car. Google maps played an important role in finding available hotels to accommodate us for the two nights we spent in Nakuru.
Google maps makes it easier for humanity to explore the world, local guides make this possible by availing the information.