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10 Most Extreme Journeys

Published on 4/26/2010 under Strange Stories - by Gracie Murano - 94,572 views

The Baptist minister who crawled 1,600 miles to the White House

In 1978, a 39 year old Baptist minister Hans Mullikin arrived at the White House after crawling 1,600 miles from Marshall, Texas. His legs were wrapped in furs and sheathed in thin galvanized steel; one of his wheels on his armrests was smaller than the other to compensate for road-grade. On the 22nd of November, 1978 he ended his two and a half year crawl only to hear from an aide that President Carter was too busy to see him. “I just wanted to show America that we need to get on our knees and repent,” Mullikin told reporters. “This is something I had in my heart and wanted to do for my country.”

(Link)

The Australian man who circumnavigated the globe with an amphibious vehicle

Ben Carlin, an Australian, took the challenge to circumnavigate the world in a modified amphibious jeep. He set out with his wife Elinore as first mate in 1950. His wife eventually came to her senses and left the expedition somewhere in India at about 3/4 of the journey but Ben continued with other mates finally completing the voyage in 1958. The trip began and ended in Montreal, Canada. It took 8 years, covering 62,000 km on land and 17,000 km on sea.

(Link)

The man who completed 4,115 km pushing a wheelbarrow to raise money for cancer research

David Baird completed his Herculean 112-day journey pushing a wheelbarrow across Australia (that's 4,115 km or 2,557 miles on foot). He did this to raise money for breast and prostate cancer research. The fit looking 65-year-old said he was feeling ‘amazingly good', considering he had traveled a massive 4,115km on foot. He ran the equivalent of one hundred full marathons in just 112 days. Taking in about 70 towns along the way, Mr Baird said he pushed the wheelbarrow for between 10 and 12 hours a day. While he never had any doubts he wouldn't complete his journey, he admitted each day “was hard”. During the charity run well-wishers threw more than £9,145 ($20,000) into the barrow. (Link)

The man who literally ran around the entire globe

British runner Robert Garside, also known as The Runningman, is credited by Guinness World Records as the first person to run around the world. Garside began his record-setting run after several aborted attempts leaving Cape Town, South Africa, and London, England. Garside set off from New Delhi, India, on October 20, 1997, completing his run at the same point on 13 June, 2003. Garside's run has been questioned by other runners and by the press. Due to the inherent difficulties certifying such accounts, Guinness World Records spent several years evaluating evidence before declaring it authentic.

During his run, he updated his online website, wwww.runningman.org, with a portable computer, describing an arduous journey complicated by human and natural hurdles that included physical attacks and imprisonment as well as grueling climate extremes. He also met with considerable assistance, as he was offered lodgings around the globe in such diverse settings as five-star hotels and private homes to prison cells and police stations. In addition to corporate sponsorship of £50,000, he indicated he received £120,000 in donations from individuals. Along the way, Garside also found love, meeting girlfriend Endrina Perez in Venezuela.

It took him 2,062 days to cover 30,000 miles (48,000 km) across 29 countries and 6 continents. He used 50 pairs of trainers. (Link)

The student who did a 3,000 mile walk from Beijing to Germany and made a short film

Christoph Rehage's birthday present to himself in November 2007 was to go for a long walk. The plan was to walk from Beijing, China — where Rehage was a student — to his home in Bad Nenndorf, Germany. An amazing proposition, when you consider the vastness of China.

Along the way, he photographed himself. We've all seen those "picture a day" time-lapse videos. But the five-minute version of Rehage's epic walkabout, eventually covering over 4,000 kilometers, is in a league of its own. We see a young, clean shaven man being changed by his adventure. There's obvious physical hardship: snow and the blazing sands of the Gobi desert, long, empty highways, and the pain of endless plodding. His hair and beard grow wild. People come and go; places spin behind him. Rehage finds love — and maybe heartbreak, too.

After a year, Rehage decided to stop walking and return to school.

(Link)

The 16-year-old girl who is about to finish a round-the-world voyage by herself

16-year-old Jessica Watson is getting closer and closer to the end of her 7-month circumnavigation, a voyage that will make her - for a little while anyway - the youngest ever non-stop unassisted circumnavigator. Born and bred on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Jessica is due to arrive into Sydney around the 9th May to a hero's welcome and a fortune in the rights to her story. The Rupert Murdoch Empire has already purchased the rights to her and her family for an undisclosed sum.

The gutsy teenager is still in waters below the Great Australian Bight, approaching the border between West Australia and South Australia, but has dug deeper southwards, aiming for her rounding of the southern tip of Tasmania. Jessica, who was just 12 when she told her parents she wanted to sail solo round the world, left Sydney on October 18, 2009. (Link 1 | Link 2)

The man who walked 13,000 km backwards from California, US to Turkey

Plennie L. Wingo (January 24, 1895 – October 2, 1993) walked backwards from Santa Monica, California, to Istanbul, Turkey (about 13,000 km/8,000 miles) from April 15, 1931 to October 24, 1932 at the age of 36. He documented his voyage in the book Around the world backwards.

To do so, he wore periscopic eyeglasses, fastened over his ears like regular spectacles, which enabled him to see where he was walking. He walked an average of about 20 miles per day. (Link)

The man who walked 1,830 miles on stilts

In 1891 Sylvain Dornon, the stilt walker of Landes, stilt walked from Paris to Moscow via Vilno (1,830 miles) in either 50 stages (36.6 miles a day) or 58 days (31.55 miles a day). He started his journey on the 12th of March 1891. Although this long journey upon stilts constituted a genuine curiosity, not only to the Russians, to whom this sort of locomotion was unknown, but also to many Frenchmen, walking on stilts, was, in fact, common before the 1870s in certain parts of France. (Link 1 | Link 2)

The man who traveled for 12 years from Africa to Greenland to find a place snake free

Tété-Michel Kpomassie was born in 1941, in Togo. When he was a young man, he was in the jungle when he was surprised by a python, and fell to the ground. His father believed that his resulting illness could only be cured by consulting the priestess of the python cult, deep in the forest, and so he was taken, through one long night, into the heart of the snake-infested cult. The cure worked, but the priestess required a payment. Kpomassie must become initiated into the snake cult and live for the next seven years in the jungle, among the snakes.

It was at this time, recovering from his illness and waiting to be taken back to the jungle, that Kpomassie found a children's book about Greenland. Not only did this strange country have no snakes, but it had no trees in which they might hide. He fell immediately in love with the country and ran away from home, with the sole idea of somehow reaching Greenland.

For the next twelve years he traveled, refusing to stay in one place more than six months, and worked his way through the countries of West Africa, into Europe, and finally, in the mid-1960s, found a boat to Greenland. All the while, he taught himself languages through correspondence courses and made an endless number of friends through his skills as a story-teller and natural charm. The story of his adventures in Greenland can be found in his book, published in France in 1977, An African in Greenland. (Link)

The man who went on a cross country walk over the US to lose weight

Steve Vaught undertook an incredible challenge beginning in 2005 - to walk across the US. He began the 3,000-mile trek from his Oceanside, Calif. home to Manhattan on April 10, 2005, when he weighed 410 pounds and was suffering severe depression after accidentally killing two pedestrians while driving 15 years ago.

Quite apart from attracting his fair share of media attention, he managed to shed over 100 lb in the process. But Vaught's journey was not without controversy. Questions were raised by both the media and fans as to whether Vaught caught rides and did not in fact walk every mile. Vaught was also still morbidly obese upon completion of his journey. In his defense he claims "You can't cheat. There is no possible way to cheat. It was my journey (…) I didn't care about where I was at and where I was going. I don't care if it was 2,800 or 1,500 miles. . . . It's about where your head is." (Link)

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The Greatest Bird Spectacle on Earth

Published on 11/16/2008 under Cool Places - 45,923 views
TAGS: Bird Spectacle, Nakuru Lake, Kenya
Located in central Kenya, the surface of the shallow lake of Nakuru is almost unequivocally pink.

Widely regarded as the greatest bird spectacle on earth, a myriad of over a million flamingos gather there to feed on the abundant blue-green algae which thrive in the warm alkaline waters, with their high soda content caused by intense evaporation in the burning African sun.


The number of flamingoes on the lake varies with water and food conditions and the best vantage point is from Baboon Cliff. Scientists believe that the vast flamingo population at Nakuru can consume as much as 500 tons of algae every day.

They feed with their long necks bent down and their bills upside down in the water, using their tongues to pump in and out to suck in the salty, alkaline water and mud. Filters in the bill catch the microscopic algae floating in the water, as well as the small shrimps which give them their pink colour.


This astonishing picture was taken by specialist aerial photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand.
In 1961, the Lake Nakuru National Park was created around the lake to protect this spectacle. Yet, conservationists are increasingly concerned that pollution from local industries could be causing the flamingo population at Lake Nakuru to fall.

Another 10 Geological Wonders You Didn't Know About

Published on Today 1/10/2011 under Cool Places - by Gracie Murano

Pamukkale (Turkey)

In Turkish the name literally means Cotton Castle and it is easy to see why it was given that name. Yet this geological wonder is also the site of the ancient city of Hierapolis and over the centuries the two have seemed to come together, almost merged into one. In fact some of the old tombs in the city's necropolis have become part of landscape. The site itself is a series of travertines and hot springs. The travertines here have a concentric appearance and are almost sheer white giving the area an ethereal appearance. The hot springs precipitate calcium carbonate at their mouths and produce the strange almost organic looking structures.

(Link | Via)

Ice Towers of Mount Erebus (Antarctica)

Mt. Erebus is one of the largest active volcanoes on Earth. It reaches nearly 4 km above sea level, and is renowned in volcanological circles for its persistently active lava lake, which is sited in the summit crater. The hot volcanic gas steaming from Erebus does more than fuel for the lava lake. Hot gasses traveling up through cracks and fractures in the volcanic rocks surrounding the Erebus summit have created an intricate system of ice caves all over the mountain. (Link)

Fly Geyser (Nevada, US)

These look as if they were taken on another planet, or at least on the set of a new and very expensive science fiction movie. Yet these pictures are of the Fly Geyser which is very much of planet earth (Nevada, US to be exact). The geyser can be found in Hualapai Valley near Gerlach. It is a little seen phenomenon as the land upon which it sits is private. It can be seen from State Road 34 but unless you have permission the view from a distance is all you should attempt. Back in 1916 the owners of the place were looking for water in the hope of creating rich farmland in this desert area of the state. They came across water, yes, and the well worked for decades. However, the drill that was driven down a shaft hit a geothermal pocket of water and the result was a geyser. (Link | Via)

Kasha Katuwe Tent Rocks (New Mexico, US)

New Mexico's Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument, where erosion chisels rock formations formed by explosive volcanic eruptions between six and seven million years ago. While the formations are uniform in shape, they vary in height from a few feet to 90 feet throughout the 4,000 acre monument. (Link)

The Valley of the Moon (Argentina)

Ischigualasto, meaning “the place where you put the moon” is a remote valley in Argentina. It is studded with geological formations left by wind erosion, amazing standing stones and boulders that are so rounded they look like enormous marbles. The valley's once-fertile ground is now arid and contains so many plant and animal fossils that paleontologists come from all over the world to study them.

Erosion over the millennia unearths the fossils as well as other geological formations such as a host of almost spherical concretions. The wind, inexorable and patient, has pounded the local bedrock for an age. Revealed, the boulders that mudstone – in its original wet form, helped to form look as if giants have been playing marbles. (Link | Via)

Danxia Landform (China)

This unique geological phenomenon, known as a 'Danxia Landform', can be seen in several places in China. This example is located in Zhangye, Gansu Province. Danxia, which means "rosy cloud", is a special landform formed from reddish sandstone that has been eroded over time into a series of mountains surrounded by curvaceous cliffs and many unusual rock formations. (Link)

Enchanted Well - Chapada Diamantina National Park (Brazil)

Poço Encantado, or Enchanted Well, is located in the Chapada Diamantina National Park in Bahia state, approximately 400 kilometres inland from Salvador, the capital city of Bahia. This giant sunken pool is 120 feet deep and the water is so transparent the rocks and ancient tree trunks are visible on the bottom. When the sun is just right, light comes through a crevice and creates a blue reflection on the water. Access to this pond is highly controlled for environmental protection of its rare and delicate ecosystem. (Link)

The Stone Forest (China)

The Shilin (Chinese for stone forest) is an impressive example of karst topography. Its rocks are made of limestone and are formed by water percolating the ground's surface and eroding away everything but the pillars. It's known since the Ming Dynasty as the 'First Wonder of the World.' (Link)

Wulingyan, Hunan (China)

The Hunan region is full of dramatic landscapes and the magnificent Wulingyan is one of their biggest attractions. This geological wonder is made up of over 3000 limestone karsts. There are scenic waterfalls and some of Asia's biggest limestone caves.

Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia)

The Salar is one of the iconic images of Bolivia, a massive salt desert in the middle of the Altiplano. It is an expansive, virtually flat desert that reflects the sun in such a way as to create a mirror effect with the sky. There are several lakes in the desert with strange colours from the mineral deposits in the region.

Some 40,000 years ago, the area was part of Lake Minchin, a giant prehistoric lake. When the lake dried, it left behind two modern lakes, Poopó Lake and Uru Uru Lake, and two major salt deserts, Salar de Coipasa and the larger Uyuni. Uyuni is roughly 25 times the size of the Bonneville Salt Flats in the United States. It is estimated to contain 10 billion tons of salt, from which less than 25,000 tons is extracted annually. (Link)www.oddee.com/item_97312.aspx

20 Most Fascinating Prehistoric Paintings

Published on 3/4/2008 under Amazing Art - 104,563 views

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Lascaux Caves: the prehistoric Sistine Chapel

Known as "the prehistoric Sistine Chapel," the Lascaux Caves, a cave complex in southwestern France, contain some of the most remarkable paleolithic cave paintings in the world, from at least 15,000 years ago.

The cave was discovered on 12 September 1940 by four teenagers, Marcel Ravidat, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel, and Simon Coencas, as well as Ravidat's dog, Robot. Public access was made easier after World War II. By 1955, the carbon dioxide produced by 1,200 visitors per day had visibly damaged the paintings. The cave was closed to the public in 1963 in order to preserve the art.

Altamira Caves: as Picasso famously exclaimed, "after Altamira, all is decadence"

The fabulous caves of Altamira are located near Santilliana del Mar in Cantabria, Northern Spain, about 30 kms. west of Santander. As is so often the case they were discovered by chance. In 1868 a hunter by the name of Modesto Cubillas stumbled across them but they were not properly explored until 1875 by a nobleman from Santander named Marcellino Sanz de Santuola but it was his daughter, Maria de Santuola who discovered the wonderful cave paintings of Altamira in 1879. However they were of such astounding quality and so well preserved that specialists doubted their authenticity and sadly the discoverer was dead before they were officially acknowledged as genuine. At the beginning of the 20th. centuary they were finally accepted as authentic after similar remains from the stone age were discovered in the area. However the cave paintings of Altamira remain the most exceptional evidence of Magdalénian culture (between c. 16,500 and 14,000 years ago) in southern Europe.

Chauvet Caves: spectacular artwork

The Chauvet Cave or is located in the Ardèche département, southern France. It became famous in 1994 after a trio of speleologists found that its walls were richly decorated with Paleolithic artwork, that it contained the fossilized remains of many animals, including those that are now extinct, and that the floor preserved the footprints of animals and humans. The Chauvet Cave was soon regarded as one of the most significant pre-historic art sites in the world.





The cave is uncharacteristically large and the quality, quantity, and condition of the artwork found on its walls has been called spectacular. It appears to have been occupied by humans during two distinct periods: the Aurignacian and the Gravettian. Most of the artwork dates to the earlier, Aurignacian, era (30,000 to 32,000 years ago). The later Gravettian occupation, which occurred 25,000 to 27,000 years ago, left little but a child's footprint, the charred remains of ancient hearths and carbon smoke stains from torches that lit the caves.

Magura Cave: peeking into the prehistoric world

The Magura cave is in the Northwest of Bulgaria, some 180km from the capital of Sofia. Pearls of the cave are the unique paintings on stone, done in bat guano. They are multi layered and come from different epochs - The Epupaleolith, The Neolith, The Eneolith, the beginning of The Early Bronze Age. The paintings in the Magura cave represent dancing women, dancing and hunting men, disguised men, large variety of animals, suns, stars, instruments of labour, and plants. The Solar calendar from The Late Eneolith and some later additions, made during The Early Bronze age are quite accurate.



Through pictures information about religous events and feasts along with their smbols and particular personages were saved. Some of the images are very complex compositions and hint about the diversity of ideas in a world extremely rich in intellectual and spiritual aspect. The Magura drawings define its function as a temple for a long period of time - from The Neolith till The Iron age.

Cosquer Cave: an underwater cave from up to 27,000 years ago

The Cosquer cave is located in the Calanque de Morgiou near Marseille, France, not very far from Cap Morgiou. This cave, the entrance of which is located underwater nowadays, was discovered by Henri Cosquer in 1991. Today the cave can be accessed through a 175-meter long tunnel, the entrance of which is located 37 meters under sea level.





The cave contains several dozen painting and carvings dating back to Upper Paleolithic, matching two different phases of occupation of the cave: Older drawings of hand stencils and other related motifs, dating back to 27,000 BP (Gravettian); and newer drawings of signs and animal drawings dating back to 19,000 BP (Solutrean), representing both "classical" animals such as bisons, ibexes, and horses but also marine animals such as seals and what appear to be auks and jellyfish.

Font de Gaume: the best example of polychrome painting

Prehistoric people living in the Dordogne Valley first settled in the mouth of Font de Gaume around 25,000 BC. The cave mouth was inhabited at least sporadically for the next several thousand years. However, after the original prehistoric inhabitants left, the cave was forgotten until the nineteenth century when local people again began to visit the cave.



In 1901, Denis Peyrony, a school teacher from Les Eyzies, discovered the paintings inside Font de Gaume. The paintings date from around 17000 BC, during the Magdalénien period. However, many of the cave's paintings were discovered much later. The cave's most famous painting, a frieze of five bison was discovered accidentally in 1966 while scientists were cleaning the cave. Font de Gaume holds over 200 polychrome paintings and is considered the best example of polychrome painting other than Lascaux, which is now closed to the public. The paintings in Font de Gaume include depictions of more than 80 bison, approximately 40 horse depictions, and more than 20 mammoth depictions.