Tag: Travel
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Walking the ocean floor at Hopewell Rocks
The Hopewell Rocks is a series of sandstone pillars along the coast of the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, Canada. The unique-looking rock formations and surrounding cliffs and coves are a result of centuries of erosion. Nature truly crafts its own beauty. The tides at the Hopewell Rocks are actually the highest in the world, […]
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The edge of the Earth: Australia’s Nullarbor Cliffs
What looks like the end of the Earth is really just the end of Australia. The Bunda Cliffs of Nullarbor Plain, Southern Australia, form part of the longest uninterrupted line of coastal cliffs (62 miles long) in the world. They literally look like someone sawed off the bottom of Australia with a jigsaw. These limestone […]
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Meet the Traelanipa “slave” cliffs of the Faroe Islands
Located on the island of Vagar in the Faroe Islands, Denmark is the beautiful Traelanipa cliffs. This chasm is the westernmost and widest in the islands. The lake above the ocean — also known as “Flying Lake” — starts from the shores of Sorvagsvatn Lake and juts out to the steep cliffs over the Atlantic […]
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The reflective salt flats of Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
The high-altitude salt flats of Salar de Uyuni in southwest Bolivia create the world’s biggest natural mirror. Considered one of the flattest surfaces on Earth (4,086 sq mi), the salt flats, also known as “Mirror of God” are so big they can be seen from outer space. The salt itself is up to 32 feet […]
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Norway’s stunning obelisk-shaped Stetind mountain
Stetind is a stunning obelisk-shaped mountain in Nordland county, Norway. Author and mountaineer Peter Wessel Zappfe once described its smooth, vertical, and overall distinct shape as “an anvil whereupon the Gods can hammer.” The 4,566-foot wonder became the official mountain of Norway in 2002. Sailors often use the mountain as a landmark because it rises […]
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Iran’s mesmerizing rock salt formations
Who knew salt could look like beautiful snowcones? Mountains of rainbow-colored rock salt formations dominate the Zagros mountains of Iran. The Jashak salt dome formed when the Persian Gulf evaporated millions of years ago and left behind massive quantities of salt. Salt and other evaporites have since risen upward through the overlying layers of rock. […]
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This mythical bird statue in India is the world’s largest
Jatayu Nature Park in Kerala, India, holds the largest bird sculpture on Earth, occupying about 15,000 sq feet and standing at the height of about 1200 feet above sea level. It is five times the size of the Pyramid of Giza. Opened in 2018 as a tourist destination, the 70-foot tall giant concrete figure pays […]
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The gorgeous Great Blue Hole of Belize
The Great Blue Hole is a flooded sinkhole that lies 50 miles off the coast of Belize. The hole is 1,000 feet wide and about 410 feet, the bottom of which is so murky and limited in oxygen it’s claimed to be unlivable for most creatures. The Lighthouse Reef surrounding the hole is so much […]
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Impossible heights: Lighthouse of Thridrangar, Iceland
Want to get away? There’s a lighthouse off the coast of southern Iceland that sits 120 feet upward on the highest of three steep rocks. It is one of the most remote lighthouses in the world. Built in 1939, the Thridrangar (Þrídrangar) Lighthouse, Þrídrangar means “three rock pillars,” is undoubtedly one of the most challenging […]
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Natural erosion takes down famed Darwin’s Arch in the Galapagos Islands
The top of Darwin’s Arch, a rock formation located in the Galápagos Islands, collapsed into the sea from erosion. The Ecuadorean Environment Ministry reported the destruction of the unique 141 foot high, 230-foot long rock on May 17. “The collapse of Darwin’s Arch, the attractive natural bridge found less than a kilometer from the main […]
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The mushroom-shaped Kannesteinen Rock sculpted by the sea
Above the coast near Måløy, Norway exists one of the most elegant rocks you’ll ever see. Known as the Kannesteinen Rock, the mushroom-shaped rock took thousands of years to be sculpted by the sea. Strong westerly winds, ice, and strong waves shaped this natural wonder over time. As the waves crashed on the rock, they […]
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Hiking Rainbow Mountain in Peru
17,000 feet above sea level in the Andres of Peru lies one of Earth’s geological wonders, Rainbow Mountain. Vinicunca, the rainbow mountain in Peru’s Cusco region, gets its coloration from the intermixing of oxide rust — which causes the red color — and iron sulfide — which produces the orange and yellow hues. Discovered in […]