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In the second episode of The Amazing Race (U.S.) Season 38, teams train-travelled from the NETHERLANDS 🇳🇱 through GERMANY 🇩🇪 and into the CZECH REPUBLIC 🇨🇿. Several teams got off at the wrong train stop in Berlin. They exited the train at Spandau instead of the Gesundbrunnen stop that they needed. After arriving in Prague, teams quickly proceeded to the Žižkov TV Tower to tackle the height-defying “Who Wants a Breath of Fresh Air?” Roadblock challenge. One member of each team had to carefully walk on a scary, narrow plank over 100 feet above the city below and grab a clue at the plank’s end. They were harnessed for safety, but of course it is still scary to be at that height and having to walk a narrow surface.
Amazing Race did not mention this, though: completed in 1992, the tower was unfortunately and haphazardly placed in a part of a historic Jewish cemetery in Prague. One competitor said something like “oh no, not above the cemetery” because his plank was high above the cemetery directly below. The Žižkov Tower has been ridiculed by residents of Prague for being so modern in a historic section of the grand city. Fun Fact: David Ćerný sculpted multiple crawling baby statues that were attached to the tower. Strangely though, these metal babies have a barcode punched on their faces instead of the usual eyes, mouth, and nose!
The next challenge was the Detour task. In one of the two detours, teams gathered four dozen (48) colorful Bohemian glass goblets — then moved the goblets carefully and gave them to three different vendors. In the other detour, teams found Czech city crests on restaurant chairs and learned the pronunciations of each crest’s respective city. Teams then marveled at a statue of renowned painter Josef Mánes and found their Pit Stop clue. They arrived at Žofín Palace and found host Phil Keoghan waiting for them at the Pit Stop. Jag and Jas arrived first again and therefore received a trip to SRI LANKA 🇱🇰. Angela and Lexi arrived last and were eliminated from the competition. The next episode will be Wednesday, October 8th at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time on CBS and soon streaming on Paramount+.
1) Fill in the blank: along the mighty Zambezi River, _________ of ZAMBIA and ZIMBABWE is the world’s largest artificial lake by volume as of the year 2023.
A — Lake Baikal
B — Lake Kariba
C — Lake Tanganyika
2) True or false: The community of Nahwa in the UNITED ARAB EMIRATES is completely surrounded by Madhā in OMAN. Also, the doughnut-shaped territory of Madhā is surrounded by additional land of the United Arab Emirates.
3) Fill in the blank: standing at over 8,281 feet (2,524 meters) in elevation, the highest mountain of SRI LANKA is _________.
A — Dealul Balanesti
B — Pidurutalagala
C — Hombori Tondo
ANSWERS
Question 1:
B . . . . . Lake Kariba
Question 2:
True . . . . . Nahwa is rare phenomenon known as a counter-exclave — in which an exclave (Nahwa) is surrounded by another exclave (Madhā). Nahwa is the “egg yolk” to Madhā’s “egg white”!
Question 3:
B . . . . . Pidurutalagala
According to National Geographic MapMaker (mapmaker.nationalgeographic.org), the following items are major exports of SRI LANKA: animal hides, clay, clothing and textiles, coconuts and coconut products, construction materials, electronic components, gemstones, graphite, limestone, mineral sand, oilseeds, phosphate, pulses, rice, rubber and rubber products, seafood, spices, sugarcane, tea, telecommunications equipment, tobacco, and tropical fruit. Prominent gemstones for export across the globe include chrysoberyl, corundums, emeralds, garnets, rubies, sapphires, and spinels. According to the International Monetary Fund (data.imf.org), countries and territories buying and importing most of those exports (February 2017 statistics) include India (top importer), the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Belgium, the United Arab Emirates, China, the Netherlands, Japan, Singapore, Iran, Hong Kong, France, Canada, Turkey, Russia, Australia, Bangladesh, Mexico, Switzerland, Vietnam, and the Maldives.
Happy Halloween!
According to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™, over twenty (20) species are named after SRI LANKA, a teardrop-shaped island in South Asia and surrounded by the Indian Ocean. These species include the Emerald Sri Lanka Spreadwing damselfly, Sri Lanka Bay Owl, Sri Lanka Gecko, Sri Lanka Grappletail dragonfly, Sri Lanka Highland Shrew, Sri Lanka Leaf-Toed Gecko, Sri Lanka Midget damselfly, Sri Lanka Petite Shrub Frog, Sri Lanka Scimitar Babbler bird, Sri Lanka Short-Horn Shrub Frog, Sri Lanka Shrew, Sri Lanka Thrush, Sri Lankan Bullfrog, Sri Lankan Giant Squirrel, Sri Lankan Mountain Palm Civet (Golden Palm Civet) viverrid mammal, Sri Lankan Long-Tailed Shrew, Sri Lankan Relict Ant, Sri Lankan Rose butterfly, Sri Lankan Shrew, and Sri Lankan Wrasse fish.
The highest mountain in SRI LANKA, the teardrop-shaped island south of INDIA, is Pidurutalagala. This mountain is 8,281 feet (2,524 meters) in elevation. By the way, Happy April Fools' Day!
Colombo, the capital of SRI LANKA, is the largest city with a population of more than 5 million. Jaffna, which is located in the extreme north of Sri Lanka, previously had a population well over 100,000. However, a civil war resulted in major destruction of the city and a drop in population - Jaffna now only has over 80,000 residents. The two cities that do have more than 100,000 people are Kandy, which is located in south-central Sri Lanka, and the tongue-twister-named Sri Jayawardanapura Kotte, situated just east of Colombo. Cities that have at least 50,000 residents include Batticaloa, Galle, Negombo, & Ratnapura.
Ceylon is the former name of the tear-drop shaped island nation of SRI LANKA. The population is currently over 20,000,000. Ceylon is located in the Indian Ocean off the tip of India. Sri Lanka (Ceylon) technically has two capitals. Colombo is Sri Lanka's commercial capital, while the long-named Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte not too far outside of Colombo is the legislative capital.
SRI LANKA is a raindrop-shaped island country in the Indian Ocean and in Southern Asia. India is 100 kilometers and 60 miles north and northwest of Sri Lanka, while the Maldives' northern section is approximately 745 kilometers and 460 miles west of Sri Lanka. The currency is the Sri Lankan Rupee, and its ISO 4217 currency code is LKR.
● ● ● ● ● People and Places ● ● ● ● ● According to Encyclopædia Britannica, Sri Lanka’s population in the year 2020 was about 22,010,000 and was ranked 59th among populations of the whole world’s countries, dependencies, and territories. The legislative capital of Sri Lanka is Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, while the largest city and commercial capital is Colombo. Also simply known as Kotte, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is a suburb of Colombo
● ● ● ● ● Land and Water Features ● ● ● ● ● Did You Know? India and Sri Lanka once may have been connected to each other via a land bridge. In the late 1400s, it is believed that a tropical cyclone dumped enough water to partially destroy this land bridge and submerge most sections of it. Remnants still exist today in the form of limestone shoals, peeking above the water line on a submerged ridge. This chain of small islets is known as Rama Setu (Adam's Bridge) and connects Sri Lanka's Mannar island in the east with India's Pamban (Rameswaram) island in the west. The Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, and Palk Strait geographically separate Sri Lanka from India. The Bay of Bengal is east of Sri Lanka.
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