Author: Ms. R.

A small, open-air concrete building sits beside a palm tree at the east edge of Dharavandhoo’s pocket-sized harbor. A sign announces it as the island’s fish market, but it’s nothing like the bustling trade halls of Tokyo’s Toyosu or Seattle’s touristy Pike Place. Here, no money changes hands, and the diverse customers take whatever they’re offered, no haggling necessary. “Reef sharks, stingrays, sometimes nurse sharks up to three meters long,” says Ahmed Mahzoom, listing the fish that gather in……

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Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we visit the Musk Ox Farm in Palmer, Alaska. The farm aims to domesticate a species that used to roam Earth at the same time as the saber-toothed cat and woolly mammoth. Our podcast is an audio guide to the world’s wondrous, awe-inspiring, strange places. In under 15 minutes, we’ll take you to an incredible site, and along……

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The house is haunted, but not in the way you might think. In a number of quiet family cemeteries in Oklahoma, grave houses or spirit houses, as they are known, dot the landscape: little, physical manifestations of tradition, heritage, family, and grief. Some of these miniature houses are new, made of fresh two-by-fours and with simple thatched roofs, others are so old that they appear rough hewn, from decay and exposure. Some are large and imposing, with two stories……

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During World War II, Nguyen Gian faced a problem: a milk shortage. He was working in a hotel in Hanoi, Vietnam, and his solution was to mix whipped eggs into the coffee. This classic case of constraints spurring creativity is widely credited as the moment that cà phê trứng, or Vietnamese egg coffee, was invented. Over the years, Gian, along with other residents of Hanoi, a highly caffeinated city, developed egg coffee into a drink you want even when……

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Nestled in the lush, verdant hillside, just over five miles from Burundi’s capital, Gitega, is the Gishora Drum Sanctuary. Burundi’s last independent ruler, King Mwami Mwezi IV Gisabo Bikata-Bijoga, founded the sanctuary in celebration of a victory over the rebellious chief Ntibirangwa in the second half of the 19th century. Since its founding, the Gishora Drum Sanctuary has been a place to practice and teach specific ritual drumming techniques.  Drumming in Burundi is an ancient practice that mixes combat-style……

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Visitors to this 1882 general store-cum-post office might wonder if they’ve arrived at a tourist attraction—or some fantasy of Old Florida as it looked when writer Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings lived less than 10 miles from this sleepy, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it town off US-441. Boxes of vintage detergent and canned goods from the 1940s line shelves in an interior virtually unchanged from 1933, when Frederick W. Wood and Paul C. Swink bought the place. Swink sold his shares in the store less……

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As Glasgow developed and standards of living slowly increased, the Paisley Burgh Council went searching for the site of a new park for public recreation. In 1911, the Arthur family came calling and sold the council 55 acres of land on their Barshaw estate. The Arthur family was well-known and owned several successful Glasgow firms. The park was developed before it officially opened on June 15, 1912. The park stands out from others in Glasgow due to the sense……

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When Catrice Hixon worked as a barista in college, she would create off-menu beverages for customers, playing around with the different syrups, beans, and milks to create the perfect cup. She knew, even then, that she would open up her own coffee shop one day.  Melanin Cafe is a Black-owned coffee shop in Opelika, Alabama, that celebrates coffee, culture, and Blackness. The café features local Opelika history on its menu, and the drinks are named after important African-American leaders,……

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Dedicated in 2o03 to those who died while working in Maryland’s seafood industry. Shortly after the Civil War the seafood industry in the Chesapeake Bay boomed and by the turn of the 20th century, nearly a quarter of all boats registered in the United States were harvesting seafood on the Chesapeake. These boats harvested fish, crabs, oysters, and clams. But by the 21st century, climate change, pollution, and overfishing had decimated the industry. Commercial fishing is one of the most……

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