Jan van Bever Donker and I have been working on a number of different Virtual Field Trips (VFTs) covering several critically important geological sites within the Western Cape, one of which we have provisionally entitled "Cape Granite and Malmesbury Shale Virtual Field Trip".
This is still in DRAFT format and we are busy adding additional tour nodes (e.g., Cape Columbine, and additional nodes at Paarl Rock).
However, for now, we invite you to use the GoogleEarth platform to "fly" between the different points of interest by clicking on "next" in the Table of Contents. At each geographical location you can click on the links provided to view fully interactive 360 degree imagery, where different hotspots take you to scientific papers, narrated video-explanations and 3D "Lidar" scans created using both Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max and DJI Mavic 3 Pro Cine drone-generated imagery. If viewing on a mobile phone, turn your device to "landscape view".
Herewith the link to our VFT which focuses on key Cape Granite exposures of the Western Cape:
https://earth.google.com/earth/d/19KPEmOaoZEzFD1fcJpRMEiN_msmAwkj1?usp=sharing
I will soon be posting an update regarding another VFT focusing on Cape-Karoo sedimentary rocks in the Laingsburg (and soon to be added Robertson and Tanqua) Karoo areas, as well as a VFT of outcrops at Blouberg Strand created specifically for our 3rd-year field school course at the University of the Western Cape. This latter VFT includes a linked quiz (the online quiz will only accept responses after 27 August '25).
We welcome any inputs and suggestions for improvement of any of our VFTs!
All the best,
Charl Cilliers and Jan van Bever Donker