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Coober Pedy, underground Hostel
The opal capital of the world. Half of the population of this town lives underground in dugout caves. The town is therefore called Coober Pedy, after the Aboriginal word kupa piti, which stands for 'White men's hole in the ground.' The conditions in summer are extremely harsh here. Temperatures vary from 50 degrees sizzling hot during the day to less than zero during the night. The temperatures in the underground caves are, with 20 degrees, very stable and comfortable. Opal mining is the only reason for people to come over and live here.
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Coober Pedy, underground Hostel
The opal capital of the world. Half of the population of this town lives underground in dugout caves. The town is therefore called Coober Pedy, after the Aboriginal word kupa piti, which stands for 'White men's hole in the ground.' The conditions in summer are extremely harsh here. Temperatures vary from 50 degrees sizzling hot during the day to less than zero during the night. The temperatures in the underground caves are, with 20 degrees, very stable and comfortable. Opal mining is the only reason for people to come over and live here.
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Coober Pedy
The opal capital of the world. Half of the population of this town lives underground in dugout caves. The town is therefore called Coober Pedy, after the Aboriginal word kupa piti, which stands for 'White men's hole in the ground.' The conditions in summer are extremely harsh here. Temperatures vary from 50 degrees sizzling hot during the day to less than zero during the night. The temperatures in the underground caves are, with 20 degrees, very stable and comfortable. Opal mining is the only reason for people to come over and live here.
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Coober Pedy signs
Coober Pedy, the opal capital of the world. Half of the population of this town lives underground in dugout caves. The conditions in summer are extremely harsh here. Opal mining is the only reason for people to come over and live here. Together with two other mining towns, which are near to Coober Pedy, it produces over 85 % in quantity of the world's opal production.
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ile de Goree (5)
to Ile de Goree, an island about three kilometres from the coast of Dakar. This small volcanic rock is inhabited by 1200 people. According to a local, there are 800 Muslims and 400 Christians. But when it's Christmas there are 1200 Christians and when a goat is being slaughtered there are 1200 Muslims. The island is an Unesco World Heritage Site. The houses are built in a colonial style and are coloured intensively; there are no cars allowed on this island and everywhere you look you see cactusses.
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Ile de Goree (4)
to Ile de Goree, an island about three kilometres from the coast of Dakar. This small volcanic rock is inhabited by 1200 people. According to a local, there are 800 Muslims and 400 Christians. But when it's Christmas there are 1200 Christians and when a goat is being slaughtered there are 1200 Muslims. The island is an Unesco World Heritage Site. The houses are built in a colonial style and are coloured intensively; there are no cars allowed on this island and everywhere you look you see cactusses.
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Ile de Goree (3)
Ile de Goree, an island about three kilometres from the coast of Dakar. This small volcanic rock is inhabited by 1200 people. According to a local, there are 800 Muslims and 400 Christians. But when it's Christmas there are 1200 Christians and when a goat is being slaughtered there are 1200 Muslims. The island is an Unesco World Heritage Site. The houses are built in a colonial style and are coloured intensively; there are no cars allowed on this island and everywhere you look you see cactusses.
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Ile de Goree (2)
Ile the Gorees history is not light-hearted. In the 18th and 19th century the island is used as a port to transport slaves to North and South America. "La maison des esclaves" is a visable remain of that time. Small stuffy rooms were the temporarily homes for thousands of future slaves. Naked and chained they had to wait for days and sometimes weeks for the boat to arrive, which would bring them to a further life of imprisonment. If slaves would become ill during the waiting they were thrown into the sea where they would eventually drown.
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Ile de Goree
Ile the Gorees history is not light-hearted. In the 18th and 19th century the island is used as a port to transport slaves to North and South America. "La maison des esclaves" is a visable remain of that time. Small stuffy rooms were the temporarily homes for thousands of future slaves. Naked and chained they had to wait for days and sometimes weeks for the boat to arrive, which would bring them to a further life of imprisonment. If slaves would become ill during the waiting they were thrown into the sea where they would eventually drown.
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Mitad del Mundo
Equator in Ecuador.
Close to the capital of Ecuador lays the equator, a line that devides the Northern hemisphere from the Southern.
Due to the gravitational situation on the equator it is possible to balance an egg on a pin. Everybody who succeeds in doing so receives a 'you-have-balanced-an-egg-on-a-pin-on-the-equator'-certificate.
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Gijs Bekenkamp has been a member since 12 November 2007 and goes by 945ontwerp.
Currently in Groningen, the Netherlands.
Subscriber since February 2008!
Hi there, my name is Gijs Bekenkamp.
I'm the owner of 945, a graphic design and photography company in the Netherlands.
The coolest kid on the blog? 15x100
You can also find Gijs at www.945-ontwerp.nl.
