Tuesday Travel Trivia (Week 9)

Yes, it’s only two days before Christmas, but Tuesday Travel Trivia never takes a holiday. (Well, maybe for Mardi Gras.) This week we’ve once again got ten tough-as-nails questions for you to answer in the Comments, in the pursuit of fame, fortune, and a justified feeling of smugness over those who aren’t as smart as you.

Congrats to last week’s winners Eva and Sammy 1022, who prevailed over ten very difficult questions. (Gadling’s own Grant Martin was not so fortunate.) Now on to the questions…

  1. Who wrote the critically acclaimed travelogue The Sex Lives of Cannibals, a book about the author’s time spent living in the island nation of Kiribati?
  2. What western US town is known as the “Biggest Little City in the World”?
  3. Name two of South Africa’s three capitals.
  4. What well-known TV travel host and guidebook publisher is on the advisory board of NORML, the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws?
  5. The three-letter abbreviation for what busy airport comes from its previous name, Orchard Field Airport?
  6. American Airlines acquired what large US-based carrier in 2001?
  7. What large body of water gets its name from the Latin for “in the middle of land”?
  8. The often-mispronounced city of Wroc??aw is located in what European country?
  9. The first Australian aboriginal word to appear in the English language was the name of what animal?
  10. In what Russian town will the 2014 Winter Olympics be held?

For the answers to last week’s brutally-hard questions, look below the fold…

  1. To what well-known sports league do Manchester United and Chelsea F.C. belong? Answer: The Premier League (if you said simply “soccer” or “football,” I congratulate you on your keen eye for the obvious)
  2. Which two Saudi Arabian cities are considered Islam’s holiest? Answer: Mecca and Medina
  3. The 2002 fictional travelogue You Shall Know Our Velocity, about two guys who travel the world handing out large sums of money, was written by whom? Answer: Dave Eggers (Bonus fact: The book was re-issued under the title Sacrament)
  4. What unusual, travel-related distinction do the following celebrites share: Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Harrison Ford, Angelina Jolie, Tom Cruise, John Travolta? Answer: They are all licensed pilots.
  5. Alphabetically, what country comes directly after Mauritania? Answer: Mauritius
  6. The 1993 film Alive was the true story of a rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes, and who were forced to resort to cannibalism to survive. What country was the rugby team from? Answer: Uruguay
  7. True or false: Norway shares a border with Russia. Answer: True (Really, look at a map!)
  8. What is located on the second and third pages (not including the inside cover) of almost every Lonely Planet guidebook? Answer: A map!
  9. The eight-day, free-spirited festival known as Burning Man is located in what western US desert? Answer: The Black Rock Desert
  10. The names of two countries contain the letter “q” not followed by the letter “u.” What are they? Answer: Iraq and Qatar