I noticed something interesting on Google Maps today. I had followed a link giving driving directions between Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil. I changed the “from” address to Charlotte, NC. I was expecting either a “no routes found” message or a path taking me along the Pan-American Highway (although that is apparently not complete). Instead what I got was a joke from the Google Maps developers:
Very clever, guys. :)
Interestingly, I couldn’t reproduce this behavior with any other destinations. I tried London, Paris, Honolulu, Tokyo, Sydney, Havana, and San Juan. All said they could not calculate driving directions. Must be the work of a Brazilian programmer.
July 20, 4:50 pm
Apparently this was something they added in April for North America to Europe directions, but then they later took it out. Someone must have forgotten to take out the link to Brazil though.
Also, the travel time is estimated at 48 days. That’s a lot of swimming, especially since you’re traveling directly into the Gulf Stream the whole way.