2022
Hi!!
I am Ann-Marie and I am from the beautiful tropical island of Zanzibar, Tanzania.
I am a level 8 local guide with just over 21,000 points.
I began contributing to Maps since the Map Maker days where I mainly added roads and missing places which is still badly needed on Google Maps for Tanzania. I remember having the Tracker App on my phone turned on when I was driving so that later I would be able to add that road on maps!
My biggest contribution to Google Maps as a local guide is adding missing places and fixing misinformation.
I am a Construction Engineer and my work entails me to spend 50% of my time on the road visiting the most rural parts of Tanzania. And when I am not travelling for work, I am travelling for fun.
Recently I went to Pemba Island where I was looking for a place to stay and found that there weren't many hotels and not a single restaurant shown on maps. For visitors such as myself having such information is quite important when travelling which is why I have been contributing to maps. In my opinion reviews are important, but not as important as having to look for a gas station on maps when your car is running low and you need to know where the nearest gas station is. (this has actually happened to me in numerous occasions!!).
I do also add reviews and photos, although this is not my biggest contribution. For a level 8, I only have 2.5mil views on my 750 photos! But I do rely on reviews and photos contributed by others to make decisions and that is why I feel i need to repay back the same by also writing quality reviews and adding photos. Many times i go to a restaurant and order something on the menu only because it was suggested by a local guide!
I have also found the question & answer feature on map quite helpful (if you ignore the fact the there are a large number of people who still don't get it..). I was amazed by how quickly I got a response when i posted a question.
In 2017, I attended the Local Guides Summit where I met so many other Local guides from across the world and are still keeping in touch (on Instagram!) and still will on our Post LG17 meet ups!
