Ever wonder what it would be like to walk in the footsteps of Jane Goodall? Now you can follow the same path that the famed primate researcher took during her groundbreaking research into the lives of chimpanzees — without ever leaving the comfort of home.
Google on Tuesday launched a new Street View collection offering 360-degree views of Gombe National Park in Tanzania, where 26-year-old Goodall first arrived in 1960 to observe and record the behavior of chimpanzees in the wild.
"It was here that Dr. Goodall first witnessed chimpanzees fishing for termites using a blade of grass as a tool to dig them out of their mounds," Google Earth Outreach Program Manager Allie Lieber wrote in a blog post Tuesday. "Using tools was an act previously believed to be unique to humans. Her observations revolutionized our understanding of chimpanzees — animals that share 98 percent of our DNA — and redefined the very notion of 'human.'"
Getting the stunning new imagery wasn't exactly a walk in the park, however. The Street View team took four planes and a boat ride to reach the shores of Lake Tanganyika. Then, using the Street View Trekker, the team carefully made their way through the brush, collecting thousands of 360-degree images along the park's narrow paths.
"We first stopped at a location Jane calls 'The Peak' — her favorite vantage point," Lieber wrote. "I could imagine her looking out over the canopies, peering tirelessly through her binoculars, writing in her notebook, and observing these beautiful animals as they swung through the trees."
The Jane Goodall Institute plans to use the imagery as an archive of the park, Google said.
"Wherever you are, take a moment to experience what it's like to be Jane for a day: peek into her house, take a dip in Lake Tanganyika, spot the chimp named Google and try to keep up with Glitter and Gossamer," Lieber wrote.
For more on Google's journey in Tanzania, check out the video below.
Meanwhile, Google also recently took its Street View equipment to Iceland, the Colorado River, and the Taj Mahal. Check out more in the slideshow above.