Contest #731: Mac the Moose, Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada

Built in 1984, Max the Moose was designed to be a tourist attraction for the city of Moose Jaw. The construction process involved a steel frame covered with metal mesh and four coats of cement. Max is over 10 metres tall and weighs in around 10,000 kg.

For those wondering g about the name Moise Jaw, it comes from a Cree name for the place, moscâstani-sîpiy, meaning “a warm place by the river”. The first two syllables, moscâ-, sound remarkably like “moose jaw”.

Finding Mac before the hint:

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

And after the hint

  • Alison C Emann
  • Graham Hedley
  • Robin
  • Tommy Ny

Contest #730: Cristo Rei of Dili, East Timor, Indonesia

This weeks contest was the Cristo Rei of Dili, East Timor which is part of Indonesia. Unveiled in 1996, it was a gift from the Indonesian government to celebrate the 20th anniversary of East Timor’s integration into Indonesia.

It took almost a year of working to create the body of the statue and is made of 27 separate copper sections. Installation of the statue, including the globe and a 10-meter-high cross, took three months.

Found before the hint:

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

And after the hint:

  • JLPicard
  • Graham Hedley
  • Bas van Limpt

Wow, it seems like this series JUST started. Congrats to the 4 intrepid searchers with (yet again) perfect scores: Phil Ower, Eloy Cano, Lighthouse, and Garfield.

Contest #729: Sharajat-Al-Hayat (Tree of Life), Bahrain

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

Contest #725 – Dushanbe Flagpole, Palace of Nations, Dushambe, Tajikistan

The Great Flagpole, Dushanbe, Tajikistan

This flagpole, the 2nd largest in the world as of the date of this post, is located at Tajikistan’s President’s residence, The Palace of Nations in Dushanbe. The flag on the top is 30M x 60M and weighs about the same as a small sedan.

Trident in San Diego, US has built the largest flagpoles on the world, in case you want one for your backyard.

Those who flew from this height before the hint were:

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

Contest #723: the Great Zimbabwe ruins, southeast of Masvingo, Zimbabwe

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

Great-zim-aerial-looking-West.JPG

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

Contest #722: the TANK Centre for the Sonic Arts, Rangely, CO, US

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

Contest #721, the Revelstoke Railway Museum, Revelstoke, BC, Canada

This week’s destination was the Revelstoke Railway Museum, located in the town of Revelstoke, BC in Canada. Revelstoke is located just west of the Selkirk Mountains near Rogers Pass and is an important location on the Canadian Pacific Railway route across Canada.

The museum was set up to tell the story of the CPR in this part of Canada and show off some of the rolling stock that that CPR has used over the years. Among them is CP 5468, a 2-8-2 Mikado steam locomotive. The museum’s main building is practically built around this locomotive, with lots of room around it for viewing plus a second level “balcony” so you can see it from any angle. CP 5468 was built in 1948 by the Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW). The locomotive weighs 124 tons (without tender). This beast is 89′ long and is 15′ 6″ high at the smokestack.

Revelstoke is a change of crew location, with train personnel boarding trains going west to Kamloops and east to Field, BC.

Found before the hint:

  • Phil Ower
  • Eloy Cano
  • Martin de Bock
  • Robert
  • Paul Voestermans
  • Garfield
  • hhgygy
  • Joel
  • Graham Hedley
  • Lighthouse
  • Glenmorren

And after the hint:

  • Robin
  • Lawnboy
  • Luis Filipe Miguel
  • ashwini agrawal

Contest #720: the planned location of the Grand Inga Dam, Democratic Republic of Congo

Contest 720 was the last in a series of dam locations (either existing, demolished or planned). We hope that you had some fun scanning the world for the nine locations.

This location is the planned location of the Great Inga Dam on the Bundi River in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It’s part of a large complex project that involves damming the Bundi River and redirecting the Congo River into a huge reservoir to supply water to one of several power generation facilities in the area. Each generation facility is forecast to generate up to 8 GW, with the total for the entire complex up to 40 GW. This power would be used by several countries in Africa. However at this time, construction of the complex is not finalized.

Will it be the biggest hydro-electric complex in the world? perhaps.

Are the falls the biggest in the world? Perhaps – depending on how you define “big”.

Have the falls been run in a kayak? Perhaps.

Found the last dam before it was built:

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

And after the hint

  • Joël

Contest #719: the site of the Glines Canyon Dam, WA, US

This week’s image was the location of the now-removed Glines Canyon Dam on the Elwha River in Washington, US.

The dam, also known as the Upper Elwha Dam, was originally built in 1927 to provide power for industries on the Olympic Peninsula.

But it blocked access for salmon to upper reaches of the Elwha River, reducing the number of salmon runs from up to 400,000 to near 4000. As a result, the dam was demolished in 2014 as part of the Elwha River ecosystem restoration project; as of 2015 it is the tallest dam ever to be intentionally breached. The Glines Canyon Dam was the largest dam removal ever.

Before the dam was removed:

After the dam was removed:

Found the dam site, even though it no longer exists:

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

After the hint:

  • Robin
  • Robert
  • hhgygy

Contest #717: Loch Mullardoch Dam, Scotland

The Loch Mullardoch Dam is located in northwest Scotland was constructed between 1947 and 1952 to provide a source of water for power generation. Water from Loch Mullardoch is taken via a 5 km tunnel south to Loch Benevean where it ends up at the Fasnakyle power generation station.

The reference to Munros is to mountains or hills above 914 metres / 3000’. There are 282 Munros across Scotland, with 10 of them around Loch Mullardoch. Climbers of these 10 Munros park at the dam and can start climbing from there or can take a boat down the lake to avoid walking down the lake.

The dam:

The tunnel:

https://canmore.org.uk/site/81412/mullardoch-dam

Found this smaller dam:

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

After the hint:

  • Gillian B
  • Graham Hedley
  • Robert