Google now allows you to explore South African national parks on street view

It features 360-degree photos of hikes like the otter trail taken every metre of the route, which internet users can navigate through.

JOHANNESBURG - Nature enthusiasts can now trek South Africa's famous hiking trails from the comfort of their own homes.

SANParks has announced that it's made 170 of its hiking trails available on Google street view.

It features 360-degree photos of hikes like the otter trail taken every metre of the route, which internet users can navigate through.

Andre van Kets, co-founder of Drive South Africa, who co-ordinated the project, says he hopes this would "bump South Africa up the bucket list of international tourists".

“People had street views of our cities for many years now but now for the first time, every single national park in South Africa is on street view. Anyone can go online and explore the wonders of South Africa’s natural heritage.”

This past week SANParks announced all the trails were successfully uploaded.

This means people can follow their favourite nature trail through a series of 360-degree photos from the comfort of their own computer.

Van Kets says this is a win for South African tourism.

“I think, from a tourism perspective, international tourists can kind of get a taste of what South Africa is about and certainly, once they’ve seen how wonderful our parks are, they might just decide to bump South Africa up their bucket list. Maybe it will entice them to come to South Africa sooner.”