Argungu fishing festival

Argungu is am important Nigerian cultural event, to which thousands of fishermen take part.

Argungu takes place in the North-Western Nigerian state of Kebbi, where an army of fishermen gather with one goal in mind, to catch the largest fish. So at the sound of a gun they all plunge into the muddy waters of the Matan Fada stream, in teams of two, one armed with two calabash (used for flotation and fish storage) and the other with two giant fish nets.

The Matan Fada may not be very impressive but it’s full of fish, because people come here to fish only once a year. After the one our time limit is over, the team who caught the largest fish is escorted by the sultans’s guards to present their prize to him. The winners receive a brand new bus as a prize as well as one million Naira (around $7500).

Nigeria hopes the Argungu fishing festival will soon become an important tourist attraction.

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Buzkashi, sport of the nomads

Buzkashi is a traditional Central Asian team sport, played on horseback. It’s a known fact that the people of the steppes were skilled riders, able to pick up sheep and goats from the ground while riding a horse in full gallop, and this sport is inspired by their extraordinary skill.

The goal of a Buzkashi player is to pick up the carcass or head of a dead goat or calf, get it as far away from the other players and ultimately pitch it across a goal line or into a circle or vat. I know, it sounds a lot like horseback polo, except for the dead animal, but there is another big difference between these sports: players can use any means, except tripping the horse, to stop scoring attempts. Players usually wear thick clothes and head protection to shield them from kicks or whip lashes.

Although some Central-Asian countries have tried to get Buzkashi accepted as an olympic sport, they haven’t succeeded in convincing anyone.

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Paradise can be found in a hangar

Who says you have to go to the tropics to enjoy a tropical vacation?

Open since 2004, Tropical Islands is an indoor resort, built inside a large aircraft hangar, an hour’s drive from Berlin. It’s a man-made micro-ecosystem complete with hundreds of species of plants, sandy beaches, crystal-clear waterfalls and even bird and insect sounds made by speakers disguised as boulders. It spreads over 5 million cubic meters and it is taller than the Statue of Liberty; when the sun shines outside, visitors can actually get a tan, thanks to the effect of the sunbeams penetrating the hangar’s transparent roof, even if the weather is freezing outside.

Malaysian entrepreneur Colin Au says: “My resort means they hardly have to leave home, yet when they’re here it’s like being on a tropical cruise.”

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The Festival of Colors

Now you can see what human rainbows look like.

Holi or Phagwa is a Hindu spring festival that takes place every year in India and Nepal. On the first day of celebrations, bonfires are lit, signifying the burning of the demoness Holika. On the second day, the real Festival of Colors begins; spring and the change of weather are believed to bring illnesses like fever, flews and colds, so people throw colored powders, with medicinal significance, to chase away these illnesses. The powder can now be bought from marketplaces, but there are still those who make it in the comfort of their own homes, using various plants and flowers that give it a mesmerizing fragrance.

The Festival of Colors usually takes place at the end of February or the beginning of March, depending on when the full moon occurs.

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Longest nails in the world

I wonder how this woman bathes, cooks or even wipe her own ass…

Lee Redmond holds the record in the Guinness Book of Records for longest fingernails on both hands. She lives in Salt Lake City, Utah and has been growing her nails ever since 1979. She is frequently referred to as The Queen of Long Nails and she has made appearances on CBS and Ripley’s Believe It Or Not Museum.

Although she had planned to cut her nails on November 22 2006, so she could better tend to her husband, who suffers from Alzheymer‘s, she ultimately decided to keep growing them.

Both her hands’ fingernails add up to a staggering 7 meters and 51.3 centimeters.

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Reach in and touch the inner cow

As weird as this may sound, I mean literally reach in and touch the inside of the cow!

In case you didn’t know animals can live perfectly well with a permanent hole in their stomachs. Scientists call these surgically made holes, fistulas, which are covered by a canulla, a sort of cover from the outside world. They are used to test the digestibility of various cattle food, the cows are fed and as the food passes through her stomachs, scientist can just reach in and see how it is processed. As brutal as it might look, this doesn’t hurt the animals at all, it actually prolongs their life, in case of stomach disease, they can receive helping medicine directly in there.

The one thing I don’t approve of is people sticking their hand in animals just out of curiosity, like the kid in our photo. Sure it’s not something you’d call ordinary, but turning a medical procedure into a circus isn’t very ethical.

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Antelope canyon

One of the most beautiful canyons in the world, Antelope is the most visited and photographed canyon in America.

Antelope is also the place where Britney Spears shot her “I’m not a girl, not yet a woman” video and also the place where many scenes from 1996 motion picture Broken Arrow were filmed.

Antelope canyon has been open to the public since 1997, when the Navajo Tribe turned it into a Navajo Tribal Park. It’s famous for being a place that transforms photography into an art; due to the light reflecting from the walls, taking a decent picture becomes quite a challenge for those who lack the talent or the right tools.

It’s also a very dangerous place, flash floods can fill the canyon in just a few minutes, even if rain falls dozens of miles upstream of the canyon.

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The Crystal Cave of Giants

This is where you have to go if you want to see the biggest crystals on the planet.

Found in Naica mine of Chihuahua, Mexico, the Crystal Cave of Giants is a chamber hosting some of the most amazing crystals you’ve ever seen. They look like silver or golden giants, and reach 11 meters in length, 1.5-2 meters in diameter and 55 tons in weight. Until 2007, the reason for their abnormal size was unknown, but now it’s clear it has something to do with mineral rich water the crystals bathed in for millions of years and the constant temperature than never drops bellow 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

Ever since it was uncovered, The Crystal Cave of Giants has sustained considerable giant from the outside world, so the mining company operating in the mine has installed iron doors to seal off access.

Photo: Alexander Van Driessche/Wikimedia Commons

Unusual collection of furniture

These are definitely some of the weirdest pieces of furniture I’ve ever seen.

Sure, many of these are very original artistic pieces, but still…how many of you would like to have to penis-shaped armchairs in your living-rooms. Still, as I said, they are to be admired for their originality.

Lego-made famous buildings

These little things can turn into impressive looking things.

Many might think that Lego bricks are only toys, but photos like these prove that in the hands of a talented person they can turn into true artwork.

Remote-control Hummer

I think this would make a really nice present for your inner child!

The “ultimate boy toy” as it was called in its press release, is the work of a British engineering lecturer, that managed to transform it from a regular H3 model, to a remote-controlled one. And it only took him one month’s time to do it. Impressive feat if you consider that it can climb a 16-inch vertical wall and maneuver in up to two feet of water.

Creatures of the deep

There are so many organisms that we still know nothing about…

And that’s the way I like it, I’m glad they’re are no ways to explore the dark ocean pits yet, it lets our imagination run wild, we can still believe there are huge monsters living there, that come up from time to time and attack boats, just like in the movies. But just the same, it’s nice to discover things gradually, like these beautiful pictures of creatures I for one didn’t even know existed. And some of them are not hideous-looking at all.

If you want to see even more images go here, there’s a whole book of pictures for sale, I reckon it’s worth it, especially if you have a thing for the unknown.

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Beer-can heaven

Is this where all the beer-cans go when they’re emptied?

No this is just the apartment of a man that’s in-love with beer and hates to clean up. As you can see by looking at this guy, drinking is his passion and he has all those beer-cans to prove it. Drunks makes me sick, but filthy, lazy ones…there’s not yet a word to express what I feel for them.

Two-face baby worshipped in India

The little girl was born with two faces and now the locals think she is the reincarnation of one of their gods.

Ever since she was born in a hospital, in Delhi, the villagers from the little girl’s village have been singing and dancing, offering her money and asking for her blessings.

Doctors say the baby girl and her mother are healthy at this moment, but the parents want to ask help from the Indian government for the problems she will likely be confronted with as she grows up. We wish her well!

UFO house for sale

Ever wanted to live in a flying saucer? Now you can!

If you have at least $100.000 that is, that’s the starting price for this odd looking UFO-shaped house. It is for sale on Ebay so look it up if you can afford it. It’s based in Chattanooga, Tennessee and it was built by the late Curtis W. King because he liked to build unusual things.

The current owner, only had it for four months and he didn’t comment on why he wanted to sell it, but it might have something to do with the interior design options, the side walls are very very short and the ceiling, as you can imagine, is very curved. I wouldn’t want to live there, even though it’s equipped with everything a normal home needs. But then again I’m not that fond of UFOs.

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