Where are we Going Today, Kids? (1) Quiz

Answer: India

The gharial is native to northern India. Critically endangered, there are less than 250 individuals left alive. One of the world's largest crocodiles, they grow to an average of 11-15 feet in length, although individuals as long as 20 feet have been known. India is home to only three native species of crocodile, the gharial, the mugger crocodile and the saltwater crocodile.

Kaziranga National Park is located in the Assam region in the extreme northeast of India. Assam tea comes from here and is named after the state. Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, the park is a designated tiger sanctuary and also home to more than two-thirds of the world's population of great one-horned rhinoceroses. The park covers 170 square miles, an area the size of Barbados.

Answer: Argentina

Located in the Andes mountains, the peak of Aconcagua is the highest point in both the Western and Southern hemispheres. It can be found in west central Argentina, about ten miles from the border with Chile and some 70 miles northwest of the city of Mendoza.

Believe it or not, from the north side Aconcagua can actually be climbed without even using ropes or axes, making it the world's highest 'non-technical climb'. This does not mean, though, that reaching the summit is a walk in the park -- the major challenges are the thin air at such high altitudes and the cold conditions near the summit. In a single month in 2009, five people died attempting to climb the mountain. Only about 60% of those who attempt to climb Aconcagua actually make it to the summit.

Answer: Utah

Bryce Canyon is one of the most amazing sights on Earth. Unlike its southern neighbor, the Grand Canyon, Bryce is not, strictly speaking, a canyon, but more a series of natural, giant amphitheaters. In those cauldrons, apparently rising from the dried river bed, are hundreds of 'hoodoos', formed from layers of different coloured sedimentary rock which has then been eroded by water and frost over many thousands of years.

Bryce Canyon is located in southern Utah, some 8,000-9,000 feet above sea level. Located about 50 miles northeast of Zion National Park, the two parks can easily be visited in a single day-trip by road from Las Vegas, Nevada if you need a break from the casinos.

Answer: Iceland

Haukadalur valley is located north of Lake Laugarvatn, near the town of the same name in southwestern Iceland, to the east of the capital, Reykjavík.

The most famous geyser in the region is Geysir, from which all other similar geothermal features get their name. Scientists believe that this geyser has been active for more than 10,000 years, although it was first documented in 1294, making it the first hydrothermal feature of its type known to Europeans. At the height of its strength, in the mid 1800s, its discharge was known to reach heights of up to 170 meters. These days, Geysir erupts only rarely, but tourists are not disappointed as the smaller but more reliable Strokkur is close by.

Active since an earthquake unblocked its conduit in the 1780s, Strokkur cannot compete with the discharge of its more illustrious neighbor, but plumes of 20 metres are normal and occasionally it reaches as high as 45 metres. It also erupts every 8-10 minutes, ensuring that tourists get plenty of photo opportunities.

Like Yellowstone in the USA, the Haukadalur valley is home to numerous different geothermal features including hot springs, mud pots and fumaroles.

Answer: Ghana

With a diet of mostly young bamboo leaves, branchlets and shoots supplemented by fruit, flowers, shrubs and even the occasional invertebrate, the golden monkey is restricted to a very limited range. They forage daily in groups as small as three and as large as 60, returning to sleeping areas at night.

Most of the world's golden monkey population is concentrated into four contiguous national parks. Mgahinga Gorilla National Park is a 13 square mile area in the extreme southwestern corner of Uganda, near the town of Kisoro. The country's smallest national park, it is important as it is the only Ugandan home of the golden monkey and one of only two parks providing habitat for the endangered mountain gorilla. Volcanoes National Park in northwestern Rwanda is home to five of the eight volcanoes in the Virunga Mountains. Each of these is covered with rainforest that supporting plenty of bamboo. It was in Volcanoes National Park that Dian Fossey lived and studied her gorillas. The two parks in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, both UNESCO World Heritage Sites, are by far the largest: Kahuzi-Biéga National Park covers 2,300 square miles and is one of the last refuges of the rare and endangered Eastern lowland gorilla. Virunga National Park, established in 1925 as Albert N.P. and the first national park in Africa, has an area of 3,000 square miles. Particularly known for its biodiversity, Virunga National Park contains more species of birds, mammals and reptiles than any other protected area in Africa.

Answer: New Zealand

Mount Ruapehu is one of the world's largest stratovolcanoes. Located centrally on New Zealand's North Island, it lies at the southern end of the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Major eruptions have occurred roughly at 50-year intervals over the last 250,000 years, with the most recent in 1895, 1945 and 1995-1996. There have also been at least sixty minor eruptions since 1945. Even the 'minor' eruptions can be quite impressive, though: in 2006 one such event produced plumes 200 metres high not to mention the 2.8 magnitude earthquake it sparked.

There are some eighteen glaciers perched on the sides of Mount Ruapehu, the only glaciers on the North Island of New Zealand. A popular area with skiers, severe weather events are not unknown and can last for many days: numerous people have been trapped in storms on the mountain.

Answer: Iraq

Commissioned in 848 and completed in three years, only the Malwiya Tower, the 175-foot high minaret and the unique spiralling cone of the outer wall of the Great Mosque of Samarra survive today. The mosque itself was destroyed during a Mongol invasion in 1274. Named the 'Malwiya Tower', the name translates to mean "snail shell".

The city of Samarra stands on the east bank of the Tigris River, some eighty miles north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. The city was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007.

Answer: Venezuela

Called 'Kerepakupai Vena', meaning "waterfall of the deepest place" in the local Pemon language, Angel Falls has a total height of 3,212 feet. The water plunges uninterrupted over the edge of the Auyantepui mountain for 2,648 feet and then travels a further quarter of a mile through cascades and rapids, falling a further 564 feet into the Gauja River.

Angel Falls is located within Canaima National Park, established in 1962 in Bolivar state in eastern Venezuela. Although only the second-largest national park in Venezuela, Canaima covers an area of 12,000 square miles, the size of Belgium, making it the world's sixth-largest national park. Roughly two-thirds of the park consists of ancient plateaus of rock called 'tepuis', with their distinct vertical walls and virtually flat tops. Angel Falls topples off one of these ancient plateaus, and down its sheer cliffs to the valley below.

Answer: Swaziland

The House of Dlamini traces its roots back many generations to Dlamini I, who brought the Swazi people from East Africa. The first king of modern Swaziland, though, is considered to be Ngwane III, who ruled between 1745 and 1780. The current king, Mswati III, is a former pupil at the prestigious Sherborne School in Dorset, England. When he became king in 1986 and the age of just 18 he was the world's youngest ruling monarch.

The purple-crested turaco, a member of the family that also includes plantain-eaters and go-away-birds, is found in the woodlands and evergreen forests throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa. It is Swaziland's official national bird.

Answer: The Orkneys

The Old Man of Hoy emerged from the surrounding rock sometime in the late 1700s and at 449 feet is Britain's tallest sea stack. There is now a rock-strewn chasm of 200 feet between the mainland and the sea stack. Despite near vertical sides made of soft, pebbly sandstone and a flat top only a few feet across, the Old Man is still popular with climbers, the first of which reached the summit in 1966.

The island of Hoy itself is the second largest in the Orkney Islands archipelago. The largest island is simply called "Mainland", although the island group lies only about ten miles north of the 'real' Scottish mainland. With an area of 55 square miles, Hoy is about 20% larger than Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands. Hoy, though, has a population of less than 500, compared with the almost 100,000 who inhabit Jersey.