Q&A from our trip to Ghana and Scotland

Whenever we travel we always seem to be asking a lot of questions - why is this like it is? what is that for? etc. So, I took a few notes on our trip and here are some of the things we wanted to learn about and web sites that talk about the answers. Enjoy!

While we were in Ghana the sky always appeared sort of dark/cloudy/dusty. As Steve pointed out, this was due to the Harmattan wind, which carries small dust from the Sahara desert to the coast at this time of year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmattan

Besides the fact that you can't see the beauty of the coastline, for example, it also has negative health effects: http://www.springerlink.com/content/720572u375828w84/

We saw a lot of birds in Ghana that were black and white and were called "pied", such as pied crow, pied kingfisher, African pied wagtail, and African pied hornbill. We wondered about the definition of the word "pied" and it is: "Adj. 1. pied - having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly; "a jester dressed in motley"; "the painted desert"; "a particolored dress"; "a piebald horse"; "pied daisies".

While in Scotland we wondered why gas prices are so much higher there than here. It is due to taxes as a way to reduce consumption: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/10/07/BUGPDLKLV01.DTL

In the UK, the bathroom is called the Loo – why? http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/aboutwordorigins/loo?view=uk

Where else in the world do they drive on left side:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driving_on_the_left_or_right

We saw this amazing tree - Monkey puzzle tree – where is it from?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_araucana

What was the forest cover historically in Scotland? Click the Scotland Native Woodlands link on this site:
http://www.scottishnativewoods.org.uk/

Why do we use 120 volts versus 240 volts in Scotland?
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_292.html