James' World 2

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El Capitan is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, located on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith is about 3,000 feet (914 m) from base to summit along its tallest face and is a popular objective for rock climbers.

The formation was named “El Capitan” by the Mariposa Battalion when they explored the valley in 1851. El Capitán (“the captain”, “the chief”) was taken to be a loose Spanish translation of the local Native American name for the cliff, variously transcribed as “To-to-kon oo-lah” or “To-tock-ah-noo-lah” (Miwok language). It is unclear if the Native American name referred to a specific tribal chief or simply meant “the chief” or “rock chief”.^[5]

Tutokanula (another spelling) is found in the story The Two Bears as retold by Robert D. San Souci. In this legend, the translation means Measuring-Worm Rock.

The top of El Capitan can be reached by hiking out of Yosemite Valley on the trail next to Yosemite Falls, then proceeding west. For climbers, the challenge is to climb up the sheer granite face. There are many named climbing routes, all of them arduous, including Iron Hawk and Sea of Dreams.

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An image of El Capitan Yosemite National Park

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Las Vegas, often known simply as Vegas, is the 26th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area and is the largest city within the greater Mojave Desert. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city, known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment, and nightlife. The Las Vegas Valley as a whole serves as the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada.

The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World and is famous for its mega casino-hotels and associated activities. It is a top three destination in the United States for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any other city in the world. Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as one of the world’s most visited tourist destinations. The city’s tolerance for numerous forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of “Sin City”, and has made Las Vegas a popular setting for literature, films, television programs, and music videos.

Las Vegas was settled in 1905 and officially incorporated in 1911. At the close of the 20th century, it was the most populated North American city founded within that century (a similar distinction was earned by Chicago in the 19th century). Population growth has accelerated since the 1960s, and between 1990 and 2000 the population nearly doubled, increasing by 85.2%. Rapid growth has continued into the 21st century, and according to the United States Census Bureau, the city had 641,903 residents in 2020, with a metropolitan population of 2,227,053.

As with most major metropolitan areas, the name of the primary city (“Las Vegas” in this case) is often used to describe areas beyond official city limits. In the case of Las Vegas, this especially applies to the areas on and near the Las Vegas Strip, which are actually located within the unincorporated communities of Paradise and Winchester.

The area was named Las Vegas, which is Spanish for “the meadows”, as it featured abundant wild grasses, as well as the desert spring waters needed by westward travelers. Nomadic Paleo-Indians traveled to Las Vegas 10,000 years ago, leaving behind petroglyphs. Anasazi and Paiute tribes followed at least 2,000 years ago.

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An image from Las Vegas, NV, USA

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The Mara Triangle is the southwestern part of the Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya, and is managed by the not-for-profit organisation The Mara Conservancy on behalf of Trans-Mara County Council.

Divided from the rest of the Maasai Mara National Reserve by the Mara River, the Mara Triangle is less visited and less crowded, with a fairly good concentration of wildlife all year-round including the Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant, buffalo, and rhino) and diverse plains ‘game’ such as cheetah, hyena, jackal, wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, waterbuck and many other species.

The Mara Triangle is one of the areas where herds of the Great Migration enter and exit the Maasai Mara National Reserve from the Serengenti National Park in Tanzania, making it one of the prime viewing locations for this wildlife spectacle. Crossings of the Mara River are world-renown for being particularly dramatic, featuring in many wildlife documentaries such as Wild Africa and Big Cat Diary.

The Mara Triangle is one-third of the Maasai Mara National Reserve, with an area of 510 km². It has two natural borders and one political; to the southwest is the Tanzania/Serengeti border, to the east is the Mara River, and to the northwest is the Oldoinyio Escarpment (also called Oloololo or Siria Escarpment).

The landscapes of the Mara Triangle include riverine forest, red oat grasslands, volcanic hills, and the 400-meter high Oloololo Escarpment.

The Mara Triangle is managed by the Mara Conservancy, under contract by the Trans-Mara county council, a local non-profit organization formed by the local Maasai, and contains a number of anti-poaching units.

There are two permanent lodges inside the Mara Triangle – Mara Serena and Little Governors. There are a few camps on the park’s periphery which offer game drives inside the park: Angama Mara, Bateleur Camp, Kichwa Tembo, Kilima Camp, Mara Engai Wilderness Lodge, Mara Siria, and Mpata Safari Club.

it is also possible to take your own camping gear and stay at one of the public or private campsites and a number of seasonal mobile camps are set up to coincide with the arrival of the megaherds of the Great Migration each year.

The Mara Triangle is easy to access by plane with Angama Mara Airfield, Kichwa Tembo, Mara North, Musiara, and Serena airstrips, and with daily scheduled flights connecting it with other parks and reserves in Kenya, the Kenyan coast (Mombasa, Diani, Malindi) and Nairobi (Jomo Kenyatta and Wilson airports). The Mara Triangle is also reachable by road. Wikipedia

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