The Online Geography Game
Our request to find folks to take over the game was a success. Long-time players Ashwini and hhgygy have stepped up and Paul and I are in the process of showing them the ropes.
Paul and I have two more contests then we will hand things over to Ashwini and hhgygy.
Please thank them for taking on this new role and give them the same level of respect you’ve all given Paul and I over the last 630+ contests.
Andrew and Paul
Por Cverascuderi – Trabajo propio, CC BY-SA 4.0, Enlace
This week, we visit a country we’ve only been to a couple of times in the past. Behold Monday Falls — named from a compounded Guarani word meaning “to steal water”. As one site said, had this been anywhere else in the world, it would be surrounded by hotels, casinos, and whatever else you put near big waterfalls (I’m looking at you Niagara Falls, Canada). But, this is only about 30KM from Iguazu Falls, which sucks all of the air out of the room, tourist-wise.
To help combat this lack of interest, the local government changed the name of the feature from “Saltos del Monday” to “Cataratas del Monday”. No word yet if the throngs have relocated from Iguazu yet (I’m not holding my breath).
Those who found this spot, all before the hint:
To help boost tourism, in June of 2024, the name was changed from a “small waterfall”. It is now known as a “waterfall” (without the small).
This is a quokka. They have a quirk of their facial structure that makes it look like they are smiling. They aren’t, but I don’t care — they are so amazingly cute.
Rottnest Island is one of a handful of places on earth to find quokkas in their natural habitat.
I’d say more about the island, but why? I can just post more quokka pictures.
(ok, clearly not a quokka, and not taken on Rottnest Island — it was taken at Featherdale Wildlife Park in Sydney — but since we’re talking about cute Australian animals, I coudn’t resist)
Those who found this place before the hint:
And after the hint:
And to all of you who found it, I’d just like to add:
By Andrii Gladii – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link
Grimsey Island is a tiny spit of land about 40KM off the north coast of Iceland. It’s one claim to fame is that it (currently) staddles the Arctic Circle. Part of the Municipality of Akureyri, it is a relatively popular day trip by boat or air from that city in the same way that the 4 corners area of the southwest USA is a relatively popular day trip — the novelty of human boundaries.
In 2017, the Akureyri city government decided to place a monument on the island, an 8-tonne stone sphere called “Orbis et Globus”, along the line where the Arctic Circle crosses the island. Of course, with the tilt of the earth shifting ever so slightly, the location of the circle also shifts. To compensate for that, the city sends out engineers once a year to move the sphere to the circle’s new location (about 14.5 M north per year).
As mentioned previously, the island is pretty small, meaning that there are only so many 14.5 M increments available. In 2047, the Arctic Circle will move north off the island completely. When that happens, the plan is to roll the sphere in to the ocean for one last move.
Those who found this before the hint:
And after the hint:
The image in GE is from 2024. Today, the thing in the picture is about 15 meters north, and next year it will be another 15 meters north. In about 22 years, it’s going to get a final bath.
After being the administrators for the game for over 10 years, Paul and Andrew have decided to retire – we will leave at the end of January.
If you are interested in taking over, comment on this post. We will offer training and remain available for assistance.