Deep in the the Atacama desert in Chile emerges a giant sculpture of a hand. A popular photo spot for tourist visiting the Atacama. The hand was constructed at an altitude of 1,100 meters above sea level. The work has a base of iron and cement, and stands 11 meters tall. The sculpture was inaugurated on March 28, 1992. The sculpture is located about 70 kilometers to the south of Antofagasta, Chile. The artist behind Mano de Desierto, The Hand of the Desert is the Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrázabal. 

                

Hand in the Atacama desert, by Mario Irarrázabal

Mano del Desierto is located 75 kilometers to the south of Antofagasta, take Route 28, to Route 5. The sculpture is located 300 meters from the side of northbound Route 5 which is part of the Panamerican Highway.75 kilometers to the south of Antofagasta,

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Mario Irarrázabal has also produced several other bizarre pieces In Madrid, Venice and Uruguay.

Monumento al Ahogado, constucted in 1982, a sculpture of five fingers partially submerged in sand, located on Parada 4 at Brava Beach, Punta del Este, Uruguay.

The Inspiration behind Monumento al Ahogado, was to make a sculpture of a hand “drowning” as a warning to swimmers, as the waters at La Barra up the beach had rougher waves which were better for surfing only, while the other way, waters at Solanas were much more suited for swimming practice and windsurfing activities.

 

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Source  13 above., Wiki

The Underwater Sculpture Park is the work of sculptor Jason Taylor from England, who has a passion for creating fantastic and unique pieces of work depicting Grenada’s colourful history and folklore and placing them underwater. All of the sculptures are in beautiful clear shallow water easily accessible by divers and snorkelers. The sculptures end up creating artificial reefs, and enhancing the marine environment.

The response from visitors diving the site has been reported as nothing short of amazement and fascination on the whole concept.

“the artist’s interventions promote hope and recovery, and underline our need to understand and protect the natural world.”

(La jah-bless) from the French, she-devil. Based on Caribbean folklore, the Devil Woman roams at night. Her face resembles that of a corpse, hidden under a beautiful wide-brimmed hat.

The Lost Correspondent

The desk is laminated with original newspaper articles dating back to the 1970’s.

Moilinere bay is now home to sixty-five sculptures, covering an area of 800sq metres. It is located two miles north of the capital St Georges on the west coast of the island, within an area designated a National Marine Park. 

Accommodation:

When staying in Grenada, The Underwater Gallery would highly recommend Blue Bay lodge. Located on the West coast, near the small fishing town of Gouyave.

Bluebay Lodge

For sculpture and print sales contact: info@underwatersculpture.com

For more info visit source

 Its amazing that there are still places like this still out there waiting to be explored. A British caving team have just recently explored the world’s largest cave passage in the heart of the Vietnamese jungle. 

Called Hang Son Doong (Mountain River Cave) it is believed to be almost twice the size of the current record holder. Son Doong has replaced the Deer cave in Malaysia to become the world’s largest cave. 

‘It is a truly amazing sized cave and one of the most significant discoveries by a British caving team,’ said Adam Spillane, a member of the 13-man expedition team.

Using a laser measuring device known as the LaserRace 300, which measures height and width, the team are now back in the UK analysing their readings.

The cave was originally discovered in 1991 by a Vietnamese Jungle man called Ho Khanh. However Mr Spillane said no-one had entered if before because: ‘it emitted a frightful wind and noise which was due to a large underground river.’

They spent five days exploring the cave in Vietnam’s Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park through mid-April.

‘The cave is 6.5km long at present but the end of the main passage still continues with a calcite wall of over 45m high halting our progress,’ Mr Spillane said.’

‘More work on the next expedition is required to make a complete exploration of Hang Son Doong and obtain a complete photographic record of the cave.  ’

The Hang Son Doong cave is believed to be almost twice the size of the current record holder.

More via Daily Mail : Source

Here’s a map if you want to go Spelunking.

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Might need to Zoom out a little…

The Door to Hell, is situated near the small town of Darvaz in Turkmenistan.  Thirty-five years ago, geologists were drilling for gas when then encountered a very large cavern underground filled with a poisonous gas.  They ignited the gas expecting it to burn off in a few hours.  The gas is still burning to this day. Its 60 meters in diameter and 20 meters depth have not been caused by volcanic activity or a meteorite impact.This crater was created sometime in the 50’s when the Soviets were prospecting for natural gas in this area and it’s been burning since then.

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Photographer John H. Bradley has more amazing photos of the Darvaz Burning Gas Crater: Link

Valencia, Spain
La Despertà the beginning of Fallas 2009 -The last Sunday in February boasts one amazingly loud display making this one of the most dramatic festivals in the world. Firecrackers in the hands of thousands of people 7:30 am on a Sunday morning. The aftermath is a cloud of smoke and ringing ears.

“The last Sunday in February is a huge, busy day in the city. Not all Sundays are like this. And in Valencia, the last Sunday in February manages to achieve the polar opposite. It’s 7:30 in the morning, and you’re on the streets, in the middle of World War III.

The Despertà is Valencia’s annual wake-up call for Fallas — the region’s most important festival and one of the biggest in the world. At 7am, thousands of people belonging to organized groups (Fallas Commissions) gather at Parterre Park (location) to collect their ammunition bags for an assault on the city’s sleeping populace. And at 7:30am sharp, all hell breaks loose.”

“These freaks just start throwing firecrackers everywhere.
And I’m not talking cute
cherry bombs. This is the real shit. 15 seconds into the “parade”, a piece of shrapnel caught me just under the eye. An ugly, fat kid laughed at me before throwing a mini-grenade under my feet. A zombie-eyed homeless guy snuck up behind me, then offered me a firecracker. I think I screamed, I’m not sure, my ears were reverberating, reality seemed skewed.”source link

Ivrea Carnival

The Battle of the Oranges, Ivrea, Italy
Italy stages its biggest food fight each  February in the Piedmont town of Ivrea, where thousands gather each year before Lent to re-enact a medieval battle by hurling oranges at each other. By the end of it the entire town is awash with Vitamin C.

Orange fetishists are well advised to visit the northern Italian town of Ivrea, 35 kilometers from Turin, on the Sunday before Lent when the townsfolk stage their annual Battle of the Oranges, the country’s largest fruit fight.

It involves around 3,000 revellers on foot and in carts drawn by decorated horses and lasts for three days, after which everyone is covered in pulp and orange juice, and the streets are slippery with squashed orange peel.
The ceremony, part of the town’s historic carnival, marks the rebellion of the people against tyrannical lords who ruled the town in the Middle Ages. Each year a carnival mascot is chosen from the town’s school children to play “Violetta”, a beautiful girl who in medieval times refused the advances of a lord and came to represent the victory of freedom over tyranny.

More at Spiegel-source.



Ivrea Carnival

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People of Lvov city in Ukraine decided add a really cool art installation to the side of a residential building in hopes of boosting visitorts. According to the project details, a crossword puzzle spanning 100 feet (30 meters) tall at the wall was applied to the sides of a multi-story residential building.

There is one interesting detail about the design of the puzzle. It looks like an empty puzzle during the day, but at night when special black lights turned on, the words in the puzzle become visible with a faint luminescent green-glow.

The questions for this crossword puzzle are located in different point of interests of the city, like monuments, theaters, fountains etc. So people while walking around the city can try to answer the questions and writing down the answers. When the night comes to the city they can meet at this house and check their degree of intelligence. Source

One of the world’s biggest holes is located in Russia.
The giant hole is actually a diamond mine in Eastern Siberia near the town Mirna. It is 525 meters deep and 1.25 km in the diameter. Mirna’s open pit diamond mine closed operations in 2004 after nearly 50 years. According to bizarre reports air traffic has been suspended due to the “suction above the hole” reporting of extreme downdrafts over the pit.

Which some have claimed have resulted in several helicopter crashes.

Kennecott Mine. is actually the world’s largest man-made excavation. “Kennecott mine looks more like a huge canyon than it does a hole, as compared to the nearly-symmetrical pit in Siberia….Started over a hundred years ago, it pioneered open-pit mining operations. It is located 28 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. It’s 2.5 miles across and 3 quarters of a mile deep. The mine is so big that it can be easily seen from space shuttles in outer space with the naked eye. By comparison, the Mirna diamond mine is only about one-third of a mile deep and less than a mile across.” source

Kennecott Copper Mine, the world’s largest man-made excavation and first open-pit, is located 28 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. 2 ½-miles across, and ¾-mile deep, the mine is so big, it can be seen from space shuttles in outer space.

Crocosaurus Cove ” Cage of Death” Not Really…

An Australian  theme park hopes to lure tourists into a “Cage of Death” for a close encounter with a 18ft crocodile.

Just 1.5″in of acrylic separates brave visitors from the jaws of “Choppa” - a feisty saltwater croc.

Top End tourists climb into a clear box before being lowered into “Choppa’s” lair.

They’ll then spend 15 minutes inside the 9 foot high cage and watch Choppa, who lost both front feet while fighting other crocodiles, trying to take a bite out of them.

One of the first people to climb into the Cage of Death, Jim Charles, told the Northern Territory News it was a scary experience.

“You just feel the power when it hit the cage,” Mr Charles said.

“You wouldn’t have a chance (without the cage).”

The owners of the $29 million Crocosaurus Cove theme park, which is scheduled to open in Darwin next week, have described the feature attraction as “a shark cage without the bars”.

Another seven crocodile enclosures will feature underwater viewing windows, and one will have a swimming area next to the viewing window so visitors get a sense of swimming with the crocs.

The most famous crocodile to be housed at the park is Burt, who starred as the beast that nearly ate Linda Koslowski’s character in Crocodile Dundee.

The owners say there will be more than 100 crocodiles, 200 fish, 40 turtles and 76 snakes and lizards on display.

Also check out Cango Wildlife Ranch in Oudtshoorn South Africa.

Cool - Cool articles and resources.

Karni Mata Temple of the Rats

For many Westerners this would seem bizarre and strange to have a place of worship over run by an animal that is commonly associated with pestilence and disease. Since the temple was constructed there has never been an outbreak of disease associated with the vermin.

‘This ornate, isolated Hindu temple was constructed by Maharaja Ganga Singh in the early 1900s as a tribute to the rat goddess, Karni Mata. Intricate marble panels line the entrance and the floors, and silver and gold decorations are found throughout.

“The legend goes that Karni Mata, a mystic matriarch from the 14th century, was an incarnation of Durga, the goddess of power and victory. At some point during her life, the child of one of her clansmen died. She attempted to bring the child back to life, only to be told by Yama, the god of death, that he had already been reincarnated.

Karni Mata cut a deal with Yama: From that point forward, all of her tribespeople would be reborn as rats until they could be born back into the clan.

In Hinduism, death marks the end of one chapter and the beginning of a new one on the path to a soul’s eventual oneness with the universe. This cycle of transmigration is known as samsara and is precisely why Karni Mata’s rats are treated like royalty.”

“Unlike the rest of the world, where rats are commonly killed for inhabiting the same space as humans, in this temple the rat residents are treated with sincere devotion. The veneration is so complete that if someone accidentally steps on a rat and kills it, they are expected to buy a gold or silver rat and place it in the temple as atonement.”

Source

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