Author: Andrew

The Sharajat-al-Hayat or Tree of Life has stood alone in a brutally harsh climate for over 400 years in a remote desert location. It is an approximately 400 year-old, 9.75 m (32 ft) high Prosopis cineraria tree located 2 km (1.2 mi) from Jebel Dukhan, Bahrain. The tree stands on top of a 7.6 m (25 ft) high sandy tell that formed around a 500-year-old fortress.

The tree is a local tourist attraction, as it is the only major tree growing in the area. The tree is visited by approximately 50,000 tourists every year and the tree often is damaged by graffiti carvings. It is also believed to be the site for cults practising ancient rites. Since October 2010, archaeologists have unearthed pottery and other artefacts in the vicinity of the tree.

Trees and shrubs of Prosopis genus are extremely well adapted to arid environments with one of the deepest known root systems.

Found before the hint:

• Graham Hedley
• Lighthouse
• hhgygy
• Eloy Cano
• Garfield
• Phil Ower

And after the hint :

• Paul Voestermans
• LawnBoy
• Martin de Bock
• Robin
• C K Watkins

This week we went down to Zimbabwe to visit the Great Zimbabwe ruins

This place is actually the genesis of the country’s name. Dzimba-dza-mabwe, means “Stone Houses” in the indigenous Shona people’s language.

The site was a central governing and trade location from about 1200 to about 1500 CE.

Those who found the site before the hint:

• Eloy Cano
• hhgygy
• Phil Ower
• Garfield
• Martin de Bock
• Paul Voestermans
• Lighthouse

And after the hint:

• Declan
• Graham Hedley

This week was a visit to western Colorado in the US and, to be more specific, the Tank Centre for the Sonic Arts in Rangely.

Constructed around 1940 as a railroad water-treatment facility, this seven-story Corten steel water tank was moved to Rangely in the mid-1960s for use as part of a fire-suppression system for the local utility company. The plan was never realized, though, as the underlying shale proved unable to support the weight of the filled tank. So it remained empty. However, the bed of gravel upon which the tank was placed bowed its floor into a gentle parabola, giving it an extraordinary internal acoustical resonance.

https://tanksounds.org/the-tank/ has all the details on why there is a Sonic Centre in a huge tank.

A short film made in the Tank

Those who found the tank:

• Phil Ower
• Garfield
• Lighthouse
• Eloy Cano

And after the hint:

• Martin de Bock
• David Kozina
• Paul Voestermans
• Graham Hedley
• hhgygy