Home Background: Itinerary: Travelogs & Reflections: Photo Gallery: Planning & Preparation: On the Road resources: Trip sponsors & thanks: Travel links In the News!: Post-Trip Events: Order Notecards & Prints Contact Us!
On the Road resources > Trip Trivia
Trip Trivia For answers to the questions below, fill out the Contact Us form and we'll let you know if you got it right. We'd also just enjoy talking to a penpal. So, please try out our Trip Trivia Quiz and drop us a line!

Portugal:

  1. Who was the infamous dictator of the 20th century, from 1926 to April 25, 1974, Portugal’s Independence Day?
  2. What is the oldest university in Europe?
  3. Which Portuguese navigator discovered the maritime route to India from Europe?
  4. What famous poet wrote about Portugal’s golden age of discoveries in the epic poem, Os Lusiadas?
  5. Where are Vasco da Gama and the famous poet Luis Vaz de Camoes buried?
  6. Where in Lisboa would the king and queen send off ships on their way to expeditions?
  7. What is the population of Lisbon, the capital of Portugal?
  8. What beach town is known for its striped houses of primary colors?
  9. What is the starting line-up of the Portuguese national team?
  10. What place did Portugal win in the 2006 World Cup?

 

Spain:
  1. Who was the infamous dictator of the 20th century, from the end of the Spanish civil war in 1939 to his death in 1975?
  2. What language do people regularly speak in Barcelona?
  3. Who started La Sagrada Familia in 1883, one of the world’s most magnificent cathedrals still in progress?
  4. Who built Casa Batllo, best characterized as the singularly unique “Gingerbread Gothic” Art Nouveau style?
  5. What geometrical neighborhood contains La Pedrera and Casa Battlo, Gaudi’s architectural designs?
  6. Which Spanish team won the 2006 Champions League cup?
  7. Which 2 players scored in the Champions League final in Paris in May?
  8. What is the name of the home of FC Barcelona?
  9. Who is #10 on FC Barcelona and for the last two years was voted The Best Player in the World?
  10. Who is #9 on FC Barcelona and was voted the Best Player in Africa for three years in a row and the 3rd Best Player in the World?

 

Italy:
  1. What’s the pope’s name?
  2. What is Italy’s famous ice cream called?
  3. What’s the capital of Italy?
  4. Where is the Sistine Chapel located?
  5. What famous sculpture by Michelangelo is in St. Peter’s basilica?
  6. What city and museum is Michelangelo’s David in?
  7. What are the two famous frescoes painted by Michelangelo on the Sistine Chapels called?
  8. In which town was pizza invented and has the best pizza in the world?
  9. Where do the cardinals get locked in during Vatican conclaves?
  10. What two series A soccer teams play in Milan?

Greece:

  1. What is Greece’s main rival and currently disputing over Cypress?

  2. What’s the name of the mountain that’s called “Mountain of the Gods” in Greek Mythology?

  3. When were the first Olympics held?

  4. What is the largest island in Greece?

  5. What seas touch Greece?

  6. How many islands are inhabited?

  7. How many islands are in Greece?

  8. How do you say “good morning” in Greek?

  9. What is the main religion in Greece?

  10. What state is approximately the size of Greece?

  11. What is the highest point in Greece?

  12. Who conquered Greece in 338 B.C.?

  13. How many years later did Philip of Macedonia get assassinated?

  14. Who led the Greeks to conquer an empire that covered much of the Middle East?

  15. When did Alexander the Great die?

  16. Greece became a province of Turkey in what year?

  17. When Greece was in there war of independence what countries supported Greece?

  18. What year did Greece join the EU?

  19. What is the population of Greece?

  20. What is the Ochi Day holiday in Greece?

  21. What percent of Greece is Greek orthodox?

  22. What’s the highest point in Greece?

  23. What is a famous Greek liquor?

  24. What island is the farthest west?

  25. What countries are touching Greece?

  26. Around what year did the volcano that formed the Santorini crater in the sea erupt?

  27. What destroyed much of Oia and Fira in 1956?

  28. Approximately what year did Homer wrote the Odyssey and Iliad?

  29. During what period did Greek culture, philosophy, and art flourish?

  30. What ended the Golden Age? 

  31. What part of Cyprus is Greek?

  32. Name some of the peoples that attacked the Byzantine empire?

  33. Who prevailed until Greece achieved its independence in the late 1827?

  34. When was the war of Independence fought?

  35. Name some of the powers that helped Greece establish independence?


Turkey:

  1. What great battle was fought in Turkey?

  2. What famous boat landed in Turkey on Mt. Ararat?

  3. What ethnic group lives in Turkey, makes up 17% of the population and is fighting for autonomy?  

  4. What is the population of Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey and the whole of Mediterranean Europe?
  5. What’s the main mosque in Istanbul?
  6. What is the capital of Turkey?
  7. Where in Turkey is the home of St. Nicholas?

Tanzania

  1. What two conservation areas and reserves connect with the Serengeti?

  2. When do the wildebeests migrate from Serengeti to Masai Mara and how far do they travel?
  3. What is the predominant tree in the Lerai Forest in Ngorongoro Crater?
  4. When did Jane Goodall start her research on the chimpanzees in Gombe Stream?
  5. What primate did she study before going to Gombe?
  6. How many chimpanzees live at Gombe?
  7. What is the name of one of Jane Goodall’s favorite chimpanzees? 
  8. Who built many of the paved roads in Tanzania?
  9. What is the major plain that stretches through many of the national parks in Tanzania, Ngorongoro and Serengeti, to name a few?
  10. What valley stretches from Central Kenya through Tanzania and into Mozambique?  
  11. What were the names of the countries that merged to form modern-day Tanzania in the 1960s?
  12. What 8 countries border Tanzania?
  13. The lowest and highest points in Africa are in Tanzania. What are they?
  14. What are the islands of Tanzania? 

 

Uganda

  1. Who was the first Ugandan President?
  2. Which political rebel party movement kicked out the dictator Idi Amin?
  3. Who has governed Uganda for 25 years?
  4. Is Uganda home to gorillas and chimpanzees?
  5. Is the park that Dian Fossey worked at in Uganda?
  6. How many different species of primates live in Kibale Forest National Park?

Kenya

  1. What is the “Big 5?”
  2. Is Kenya home to the Big 5? 
  3. Is Lake Nakura home to rhinoceros, leopards, zebras, giraffes, and buffalo?
  4. What kind of lake is Lake Nakura, home to millions of flamingos, and other lakes in the Rift Valley?
  5. What created the famous Rift Valley in East Africa? 
  6. What is the geological name for each side of the Rift Valley? 
  7. What is Nairobi’s nickname?
  8. What is the largest ethnic group in Kenya? 
  9. When do the “long rains” fall? 
  10. Who was Kenya’s first president? 

India

  1. Roughly what fraction of the United States is the size of India?
  2. In what centuries was northern India’s golden age of science, literature and arts and what was the name of the kingdom?
  3. When did India realize its independence from Great Britain? 
  4. Where is India ranked in terms of population? 
  5. Which religions originated in India? 
  6. In what year was India granted independence from the UK?
  7. What four religions originated in India?
  8. What is a traditional greeting?
  9. Which national park has the most tigers in the world? Approximately how many tigers live in this national park?
  10. What is Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, a national holiday in India?
  11. What percentage of people in India is Hindu?
  12. Where is the Taj Mahal?
  13. Is India the largest democracy in the world? 

Cambodia

  1. How many giant stone faces can be found in the temple of Bayon in Angkor?
  2. Who built the temple of Bayon?
  3. What movie was filmed in Ta Prohm?
  4. What is the world’s largest religious site?
  5. Who was the leader of the Khmer Rouge who invaded, massacred and committed genocide on the Cambodian people?
  6. What is the capitol of Cambodia?

Indonesia

 

1. How many islands is Indonesia comprised of?

 

2. Since 2003, how many percent of females must there be in Indonesia’s parliament?

 

3. What was the year Indonesia invaded East Timor?

 

4. What animals are found in Indonesia?

 

5. What languages is Indonesian related to?

 

6. Where is Indonesia ranked in the world in terms of population?

 

Malaysia

1. Name the four British colonies that created Malaysia in 1957. Hint: One of them is no longer part of Malaysia.

 

2. What happened in 1509 that prompted Portugal to take control of the seaport, Malacca?

 

3. How many countries have occupied Malaysia? Name them.

 

4. What park in Malaysia has the oldest rain forest and give its estimated age?

 

5. What countries is Malaysia touching?

 

6. How much money in logging does Malaysia make every year?

 

Laos 1. What countries are Laos touching? 2. What is the capital of Laos? 3. What wildlife can you find in the lush rain forests of Laos? Ans: tigers, monkeys, elephants and other animals 4. What is the proper way to eat sticky rice in Laos? A. with chopsticks B. with a fork C. with your hands D. with a large spoon 5. What are the two major religions in Laos? 6. What is the Lao national sport? Thailand 1. What is the local Thai name for Bangkok? (hint: it's long!!!) 2. What were the two capitols of Thailand before Bangkok? 3. What are the 3-wheeled, motorcycles with a cover that sit 3 people in back and substitute as a taxi called? 4. What is the emerald Buddha really made of? 5. How much baht (Thai money) do you get for a U.S. dollar right now? 6. Are hornbills relatives of toucans? 7. What 2 U.S. states comprise the approximate size of Thailand? 8. What is the name of the volleyball-like game that is played with your feet? 9. What is the dominant religion in Thailand? (be specific)

 

Costa Rica 

 

1. What are the names of the two toucans in Costa Rica? 2. Name 3 of the main monkeys living in Costa Rica? 3. What are the names of the two different macaws in Costa Rica? Guatemala 1. How many Quetzals are in a U.S. dollar? 2. Who is buried under Tikal's Temple I, the Temple of the Grand Jaguar? (He's got a really cool name!) Belize 1. What U.S. state is the size of Belize? 2. What are islands called in Belize and how is this word spelled and pronounced? 3. How many seasons does Belize have and what are they called? 4. What year did Belize become an indepedent nation? Mexico 1. Where did the name Quintana Roo for the state in Mexico come from? 2. What is the fastest growing city in Mexico?