Author: Charley

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Contest #437 Ounianga Kébir/Fort Lagriom, Lake Yoa, Chad

As far as any of your current admins know, this turned out to be the toughest quiz ever. If anybody remembers another one that got no answers until the hint, please let us know in a comment. The hint, as some of you doubtless realized, was full of qualifiers and made some assumptions that might not have occurred to everybody, or even be right. We had Beau Geste in mind from the get-go, but Fort Zinderneuf turned out to be problematic. A web page (Where is Fort Zinderneuf ) suggested “far north of Zinder” Zinder being in present day Niger. There is not a lot to go on in that part of of Niger, so we decided that Agadez was “far north” and did the measurement, and compass bearing from there. Long story, we know.

Anyway, here are some pics of the place:

French soldiers overlooking the lake:

Looking north along the lakeshore

The gas station at Ounianga Kebir:

Chadian soldiers, goofing off, Lake Yoa in the background

Ounianga Kebir

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Contest #433: Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was established on August 18, 1908, by President Theodore Roosevelt as the Lake Malheur Reservation. Roosevelt set aside unclaimed government lands encompassed by Malheur, Mud and Harney Lakes “as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds.” TR eventually created 51 such refuges during his Presidency.

TRex his own self, probably saying “Bully!”:

And the other clue, the Brewer’s Sparrow:

All the birds aren’t little. The Great Sandhill Crane:

A wild and somewhat desolate part of the world. Steens Mountains seen from the Refuge:

Welcome Visitors:

Well, almost all visitors.

And how about this gang?

Wildlife in the area includes as many as 320 species of birds and 58 species of mammals. Searching “Malheur National Wildlife Refuge” on Flickr (https://www.flickr.com) produces an astonishing number of images of birds and critters.

Found without a shot being fired:

  • Lelie
  • Lighthouse
  • Eloy Cano
  • Jesus Rodriguez
  • Garfield
  • hhgygy
  • LawnBoy
  • Luis Filipe Miguel
  • Jason Hatterman
  • Mehmet DURMUS
  • steve willis
  • donaaronio
  • David Kozina
  • Rob de Wolff
  • ej
  • Phil Ower

Needed some help:

  • Joe9000
  • RicardPG
  • Junebug
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Contest #431 Abandoned Land of Oz Theme Park, Beech Mountain, North Carolina

Open 1970-1980. The Yellow Brick Road isn’t what it used to be.

The place opened in 1970, closed in 1980, and as you can see from the #431 image a lot still remains. Here’s a pretty good article on the park: http://www.littlethings.com/abandoned-wizard-of-oz-park/

A fun fact: According to at least one source Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher’s mom, owned the endeavor.

Re-enactors from back in the day:

20,000 visitors a day used to show up:

There are three of them now!

Apparently there is still some activity there. The place is open one or two days a year, depending on what source you are looking at.

And, as the grand finale, a video:

 

 

Those who found their way over the rainbow by themselves included:

  • LawnBoy
  • Eloy Cano
  • steve willis
  • Garfield
  • Lelie
  • Lighthouse
  • Jason Hattermann
  • Phil Ower
  • hhgygy
  • Steve J
  • steven simmons

And those who had to wait for Glenda to tell them about the shoes (post hint):

  • donaaronio
  • Junebug
  • Paul Voestermans