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Caño Cristales, Colombia
A unique biological wonder, Caño Cristales has been referred as the
"river of five colors," "the river that ran away from paradise," and
"the most beautiful river in the world."
For most of the year, Caño Cristales is indistinguishable from any
other river: a bed of rocks covered in dull green mosses are visible
below a cool, clear current.
However, for a brief period of time every year, the river blossoms in
a vibrant explosion of colors. During the short span between the wet
and dry seasons, when the water level is just right, a unique species of
plant that lines the river floor called Macarenia clavigera turns a
brilliant red. It is offset by splotches of yellow and green sand, blue
water, and a thousand shades in between.
This only happens for a brief period in between seasons. During
Colombia's wet season, the water flows too fast and deep, obscuring the
bottom of the river and denying the Macarenia clavigera the sun that it
needs to turn red. During the dry season there is not enough water to
support the dazzling array of life in the river. But for a few weeks
from September through November, the river transforms into a veritable
living rainbow.
Caño Cristales is located in a remote, isolated area not easily
accessible by road. Adventurous tourists can now fly into the nearby
town of La Macarena. From there it is a short trip into "Serrania de la
Macarena," the national park in which Caño Cristales is located.
The site was effectively closed to tourists for several years because
of guerrilla activity in the region along with concerns about the
impact of unregulated tourist traffic. It was reopened to visitors in
2009, and today there are several Colombian Tourist Agencies that will
fly travelers to La Macarena. From there, they must make their way to
the river site on horseback (or donkeyback) and by foot as part of a
guided tour. Visitors are not permitted to stay overnight or cook.
Mount Sanquinshan, China
Mount Sanqingshan National Park, a 22,950 ha property located in the
west of the Huyaiyu mountain range in the northeast of Jiangxi Province
(in the east of central China) has been inscribed for its exceptional
scenic quality, marked by the concentration of fantastically shaped
pillars and peaks: 48 granite peaks and 89 granite pillars, many of
which resemble human or animal silhouettes. The natural beauty of the
1,817 metre high Mount Huaiyu is further enhanced by the juxtaposition
of granite features with the vegetation and particular meteorological
conditions which make for an ever-changing and arresting landscape with
bright halos on clouds and white rainbows. The area is subject to a
combination of subtropical monsoonal and maritime influences and forms
an island of temperate forest above the surrounding subtropical
landscape. It also features forests and numerous waterfalls, some of
them 60 metres in height, lakes and springs.
Fly Geyser, USA
About 20 miles northeast of the tiny town of Gerlach, Nev., lies one of the planet's rarest oddities: a man-made geyser.
Only a handful of them have ever been "discovered" – like Oregon's Old Perpetual and Geyser Park in Soda Springs, Idaho – which makes getting the chance to photograph one of them an opportunity that doesn't come along every day.
That's what attracted Warren Willis, a 68-year-old retired Navy officer, small business owner and amateur photographer who lives in Las Vegas and specializes in landscape photography, when he stumbled across Nevada's Fly Geyser on the pages of National Geographic.
His
passion for exploring and photographing old abandoned ghost towns,
mining camps and southwestern desert scenery have taken him across much
of the Southwest and into national parks in the U.S. and Canada.
Aikoghara Forest, Japan
Called "the perfect place to die," the Aokigahara forest has the
unfortunate distinction of the world's second most popular place to take
one's life. (The first is the Golden Gate Bridge.) Since the 1950s,
Japanese businessmen have wandered in, and at least 500 of them haven't
wandered out, at an increasing rate of between 10 and 30 per year.
Recently these numbers have increased even more, with a record 78
suicides in 2002.
Japanese spiritualists believe that the suicides committed in the
forest have permeated Aokigahara's trees, generating paranormal activity
and preventing many who enter from escaping the forest's depths.
Complicating matters further is the common experience of compasses being
rendered useless by the rich deposits of magnetic iron in the area's
volcanic soil.
Due to the vastness of the forest, desperate visitors are unlikely to
encounter anyone once inside the so-called "Sea of Trees," so the
police have mounted signs reading "Your life is a precious gift from
your parents," and "Please consult the police before you decide to die!"
on trees throughout.
Contemporary news outlets noted the recent spike in suicides in the
forest, blamed more on Japan’s economic downturn than on the romantic
ending of Seicho Matsumoto’s novel Kuroi Jukai, which
revitalized the so-called Suicide Forest’s popularity among those
determined to take their final walk. (The novel culminates in Aokigahara
as the characters are driven to joint-suicide.)
Locals say they can easily spot the three types of visitors to the
forest: trekkers interested in scenic vistas of Mount Fuji, the curious
hoping for a glimpse of the macabre, and those souls who don’t plan on
returning.
What those hoping to take their lives may not consider is the impact
the suicides have on the locals and forest workers. In the words of one
local man, "It bugs the hell out of me that the area's famous for being a
suicide spot." And a local police officer said, "I've seen plenty of
bodies that have been really badly decomposed, or been picked at by wild
animals... There's nothing beautiful about dying in there."
The forest workers have it even worse than the police. The workers
must carry the bodies down from the forest to the local station, where
the bodies are put in a special room used specifically to house suicide
corpses. The forest workers then play jan-ken-pon—which English-speakers call rock, paper, scissors—to see who has to sleep in the room with the corpse.
It is believed that if the corpse is left alone, it is very bad luck for the yurei (ghost) of the suicide victims. Their spirits are said to scream through the night, and their bodies will move on their own.
The Bermuda Triangle, Atlantic Ocean
Egyptian Pyramids
The Egyptian pyramids are ancient pyramid-shaped masonry structures located in Egypt.
There are 138 pyramids discovered in Egypt as of 2008.[1][2] Most were built as tombs for the country's Pharaohs and their consorts during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods.[3][4][5]
The earliest known Egyptian pyramids are found at Saqqara, northwest of Memphis. The earliest among these is the Pyramid of Djoser (constructed 2630 BCE–2611 BCE) which was built during the third dynasty. This pyramid and its surrounding complex were designed by the architect Imhotep, and are generally considered to be the world's oldest monumental structures constructed of dressed masonry.[6] The estimate of the number of workers to build the pyramids range from a few thousand, twenty thousand, and up to 100,000.[7][8][not in citation given]
The most famous Egyptian pyramids are those found at Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo. Several of the Giza pyramids are counted among the largest structures ever built.[9] The Pyramid of Khufu at Giza is the largest Egyptian pyramid. It is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still in existence.
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