What a wonderful world!

What a wonderful world!

The "Tepuy Roraima" (Venezuela/Guyana/Brazil).

Roraima is the highest of the tepuis (tabular mountains). It is also the most famous of the tepuis Canaima National Park Oriental and architectural beauty of nature. The correct name is "Roroima" and it is estimated that these formations are older than about 2000 million years. The highest point is the rock formation called "Maverick Car" (by having the form of that brand of vehicle).

Besides being the highest, is the most known and visited the La Gran Sabana Tepuyes (2800 meters above sea level, equivalent to 9000 feet). On its summit is the border marker called triple point, as the place where the borders of Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana.

On its slopes are avenan waters systems Kako Essequibo River, the Amazon by the small river Cotinga, and Orinoco Arobopó the river, a tributary of Kukenán.

It is composed of quartzites and sandstones with some thin beds of shale, is a major emphasis tabular plateau-shaped, presenting a completely flat top and vertical walls, which are precipitated in beautiful waterfalls.

Are very important plant species endemic, on the other hand, are very low and because of many important studies. Its walls are extremely vertical, and at the top are lakes as "Gladys" and impressive rock formations caused by erosion over the centuries.

Many scientists agree that it was here that occurred the separation of the continents (pangea). It is one of the oldest geological sites on the planet, dating back to the Precambrian, about two billion years ago.

Roraima was the first major tepui to be climbed. Sir Everard Im Thurn climbed its slopes in 1884 through a wooded ramp similar to a ladder attached to the wall side of the plateau. Moreover, reports of expeditions from the Victorian era inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write his classic 1912 adventure novel "The Lost World" of which there have been several film versions.

A majestic colossus Carries On His shoulders the brunt of the times, the very history of the earth. One of those places that amazed by its beauty.

Yakushima Island (Japan).

Yakushima is one of the Osumi Islands, in Kagoshima Prefecture, south of Japan, and is recognized for its natural heritage which is what attracts tourists towards it. This island has an area of ??about five hundred square kilometers and has a lot of mountains that are covered with a special and unique nature, however, is a paradise that is not visited by foreign tourists, but much by locals.

Electricity in the island is being produced entirely by a single power plant, which makes it the largest island free of emissions of greenhouse gases. Other than that, the highlight of the island is its extensive and frondozo forest, an ecosystem that is green with great moisture, mosses, fungi, and countless specimens of a species of tree known as "Sugi." The entire collection, making it one of the main attractions of Japan.

This work of nature, has earned a reputation for being strange place where it rains 35 days a month so sarcastic. On the forest may fall between 4,000 to 10,000 mm. of annual rainfall. Heavy rains and towering trees, have led the Japanese to baptize these lands as "the enchanted island of Yakushima."

Among the things that is recommended to see there are the waterfalls, which exist in quantity, and among them is the Ooko-no-taki which is considered the best in the country and offers a natural spectacle that has no comparison.

Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1993, Yakushima island is covered by dense forest and the extreme humidity, recreates atmospheres explosive dense greenery, decorated by the strange shapes of branches and trees that grow disproportionately.

The gray skies completely covered with clouds, leaving little room for the sun. Few times of day when the sun is felt within the vegetation.

Yakushima has inspired many of the sets of Japanese manga and animation, including the popular movies animation director Hayao Miyazaki. Many professionals agree that the landscape of the forest is "almost dreamlike".

The Basement of the Swallows (Mexico).

It is a natural hole with a depth of 512 meters and was first explored in 1966. The mouth of the basement has a circular diameter of 55 meters and 205 tilt, taking down two points: the lowest with 333.5 meters. with a high of 376.43 meters. It is a natural chasm located in the town of Aquismón belonging to the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi, considered the largest natural pool in the world.

It is a karstic cave formed by water erosion in a plain waterproof failure of limestone, and has the characteristic of having an outside opening noticeably narrower than the bottom, giving it a generally conical shape. The top opening is located at ground level.

Inside and around living large number of animal species, particularly birds that take refuge in the cave. Clear that anyone would think that swallows live in there and that it owes its name ... but no. Its name comes from the residents of the area called the swallows that are actually swifts.

And so, amid dense vegetation, this chasm is a natural paradise for bird lovers, nature and extreme sports. Because, oddly enough, there are those who dare to jump into the empty bird's traveling nearly 400 meters above the Cave of Swallows.

Birds that spend their nights in the shelter of the depths of the cave, and fly at the top each morning with a technique that is similar to the movement of the blades of a helicopter: traveling in circles and slowly ascending in broad daylight . While the show has to do with symmetry and the "rise" in the morning, the afternoon turns out to be a spectacular synchronization of teamwork and the free fall, as part of this form of flight aerodynamics.

Birds fly in a circle from the entrance of the cave and at regular intervals (one or two minutes). Then each flies to the input shaft and make use of free fall to reach the bottom of the cave. Before it spread its wings to break the fall. The show: wonderful.

Amazed by its natural beauty and for its abysmal depth, a group of cavers Texans released this giant cavity 60. Lorenzo Garcia Gallardo, one of the most recognized Mexican cavers, was the first citizen of this country down to the basement back in 1974. Four years later, during the expedition Caving Group of UNAM, Elizabeth Vivian was the first Mexican woman to do so.

The Cave of Swallows was declared a Natural Protected Area in the form of a Natural Monument, with a total area of 285 hectares. This is to stop any action that destroys the environment.

As for its history, its meaning has to do with where you are: the term Aquismón, precisely the place where the magnificent scenery, has three interpretations. Is said to mean-in-Huasteco "tree at the bottom of a well", and the author Penilla Salvador Lopez describes it as "well clean with the hoe." Finally, the historian Joaquin Meade says that means "place of shells in a well." Aquismón Township has the most mysterious uninhabited and saw: that there are areas where fossil bones have been found gigantic prehistoric animals.

Translation of the voice of the video:

"This is the last frontier of our planet. An inner world where only the boldest venture. Under our feet lie incalculabes kilometers of underground galleries. The Cave of Swallows, has a depth of 400 meters, enough to bury the Empire State Building. This is the largest natural pool in the world. However, this natural wonder was explored for the first time 2 years before the man on the moon".

The Erta Ale (Ethiopia).

Without water, no fish, no life ... apparently, unless you die inside when you contemplate the beauty of Cleansing Fire excessive, the explosive reaction of the living Earth, constantly moving, the attractive color of the lava fields, the danger fascinating magic ancestral, primitive and haunting.
It is the raw power of the fire made lake in Mother Africa. We are northeast of Ethiopia's Afar region, where the Erta Ale, one of the most active volcanoes of the black continent.

Located in the inhospitable region of the Afar Depression in northeastern Ethiopia, an unusual source of heat and light emerges from the bowels of the Earth: the lava lake Erta Ale volcano, also known as Lake of Fire. It is situated on a volcanic basalt plate remarkable dynamism.
The locals call it "The Gates of Hell", although this does not detract one iota from its extreme beauty.

However, an account of his "feats macabre" show 250 killed in the eruption of 2005 and thousands displaced before the immense danger of unbridled nature. But the charm that engaged in these lands is undeniable and has served as the backdrop for the remake of Clash of the Titans. The film premiered in 2010 featuring images of the place, at the time that Perseus began his journey through the underworld.

The Erta Ale is the most active volcano in Ethiopia, is only 613 meters high, although its base reaches a diameter of almost 30 kilometers. At the summit, two large craters come to surface: one is a well down, the other, smaller, is one of only four lava lakes in the world. Without doubt the best times to visit the site and photograph it at night.

Lava lakes, usually of basaltic origin, emerging surface through a vent hole, depression or volcano crater, as in the case of Erta Ale volcano. Although frequent flows of activity in the crater lava forced the evacuation of the area, now tourism has increased considerably and visitors arrive almost daily.

Lava lakes are large volumes of molten lava contained in a volcanic vent, or a large depression. Scientists use this term to refer to the lakes of molten lava or for cases where the lava is partially or completely solidified.

During the last 125 years, the Erta Ale has been seven eruptions Ale, 1873, 1903, 1904, 1906, 1940, 1960, 1967. Subsequently, since 1967 has been maintained continuously eruptive process. According to scientific studies conducted in 1998, has been found that the active lava lake in the volcano has been active since at least the last 90 years. The volcano emits large amounts of heat, however, the lava that erupts is quite low.

To visit this place is usually recommended to do this walk only people with certain physical condition, it is not easy to get, you have to make a long walk, climb and climb steadily. Although there is some degree of danger is generally studied the time when it can go without it erupts.

Although it seems a hell, actually part of our earthly paradise. A wonderful place!

Dean's Blue Hole - The gaping hole (Bahamas).

The Dean's Blue Hole is the deepest blue hole in the world with 202 meters (663 feet), and is in the bay west of Clarence Town, Long Island, Bahamas. Almost double the average of the blue holes, which normally reach a depth of 109 meters, making the Dean's Blue Hole in a very exceptional case.

The blue holes are formed by the percolation of rainwater to penetrate through fractures in sedimentary limestone to the level that had the sea level during the ice ages that occurred during the Pleistocene, about 15,000 years ago. The maximum depth of other known blue holes is about 100 m, so the blue hole of Dean with its 202 m depth is outstanding features.

The hole is approximately Dean blue circular surface with a diameter of about 25 to 35 meters. At a depth of 20 meters the hole widens considerably to form a cavern that holds about 100 meters in diameter.

The blue holes are underwater caves known as "sinkhole". Its shape is usually circular, steep walls and a high color contrast between the dark blue of the deep water, and light blue from shore.
They were formed during the last ice age, when sea level was 100 to 120 meters lower than today. Discovered on limestone land, the fragility of the land affected by underground water table resulting in impressive collapsed craters, which were subsequently covered by the sea.

This blue hole underwater, which has 202 meters deep, almost double that most blue holes known, are extreme sports like "Apnea". Man Apnea world record, Guillaume Nery, has had the courage to jump into.

Guillaume Nery endured 2 minutes and 45 seconds to 113 meters deep in the waters of Nice and a few months after that mark up to 2 minutes 55 seconds to 109 meters in the Dean´s Blue Hole.

This video shows how the record holder Apnea performs his craft, his dream and all those who practice this extreme sport.

The Submerged Forest of Patagonia (Argentina).

The kelp forests are one of the most beautiful views of planet Earth. Sub-aquatic forests of dense seaweed long, incredibly, are not difficult to confuse with a pine forest if we have a little imagination. The Submerged Forest of Patagonia is located 30 meters deep in the lake bed Traful (Patagonia Argentina).

During an earthquake in 1960, there is the collapse of a wooded slope that ended submerged in the lake bottom with trees up to 30 feet high who standing remain incredibly. Since then, the place is a favorite for diving and underwater travel the strange landscape.

The submerged forest recreates a fantasy landscape, capable of dazzling those who dare to dive among huge trees almost intact, as if you were flying in a landscape of film.

For diving excursions no previous experience is required. The effect is very striking: you can experience the sensation of flying through a forest of one hundred copies of cypresses in the waters of extreme transparency.

These ecosystems are considered among the most diverse and dynamic world, serving as home and food source for tens of thousands of species of animals and insects and plants. The kelp is a set of macroalgae certainly surprising in itself, reaching each specimen to grow between 20 to 80 meters and, in some varieties, being able to grow a foot a day. For that reason become a highly nutritious food source and plentiful.

While they are common throughout the Pacific, has recently discovered a kelp forest in the tropics, something considered unlikely until a few years. It is in California near where the most spectacular forests, such as near San Clemente Island, which extends for tens of kilometers.

Villa Traful is a paradise and has fewer than 500 permanent residents. Located at the southern tip of the province of Neuquén, within Nahuel Huapi National Park, Patagonia Argentina. Among the main attractions of the area: the submerged forest.

The submerged forest remains buried on the lake bed with one of the treetops hovering on the surface. Another natural paradise.

Islands of Bohol - Chocolate Mountains (Philippines).

Those who first see the hills of Bohol Island, Philippines, often think they are a monumental building made ??by man. However, they are completely natural. The hills look like chocolate in a chocolate cone, especially in winter when the pastures that cover them are completely dry, giving it brown.

Located on the island of Bohol in the Philippines, the cones are a unique geological formation: total about 1268 cone-shaped hills near perfect and most striking about the same size, spread over an area of more than 50 square kilometers , dotting the landscape evenly. Most of them reach the 120 meters.

The hills of chocolate are a real attraction of the Philippines, an area extremely scenic and visually appealing: besides the "cone of chocolate", the area is dotted with rice fields and groups of typical houses of bamboo.

During the dry season, rainfall is insufficient, so the grass withers and the hills tend to look like real chocolates that honor to the name "Chocolate Hills".

As for the origin of the cones of the Philippines, there is no established theory, but the most accepted, it is considered likely that were once limestone deposits beneath the sea, raised by the motion of the plates and then smoothing by wind and water erosion from rain. Appear in the provincial flag and seal to symbolize the abundance of natural attractions in the province, and have been declared "National Geological Monument Third" and proposals for inclusion in the list of World Heritage of UNESCO.

The romantic version of the origin of the cones of the Philippines comes from a legend: the cones are dry the tears of a giant called Arogo immortal, who wept for the death of his beloved.

The truth is that with or without legends, Chocolate cones are a unique landscape, aptly chosen as an emblem to promote tourism in the Philippines. Another heaven that gives us our planet Earth.

The Enchanted Island of Socotra (Yemen).

If we visit the island of Socotra, south of the Republic of Yemen, find a rare landscape, rare tree species, and even animals that have probably never even seen in photographs, and we seem more fiction. Almost everything in Socotra, has evolved to the beat of the island, with its strange climate, landscape and with remarkable isolation.

The island of Socotra, with other smaller islands, forms an archipelago in the Indian Ocean about 350 miles off the coast of the Arabian Peninsula: one of the islands of continental origin of the planet's most isolated. It belongs to the Republic of Yemen. The main island has an area of ??just 130 kilometers long and 35 kilometers from north to south and has a tropical desert: the geographical conditions of drought and heat, together with the isolation created an atmosphere and unique biodiversity on the planet , with endemic species that make up a small lost world.

Of the approximately 800 species of plants of the island, a third do not exist anywhere in the world. The same applies to many species of reptiles and birds. A Lost Ark for thousands of years in the Indian Ocean, now alarmingly threatened by human activity and insertion of new species. The island was recently recognized as a natural heritage by UNESCO, joining forces with the European Union and the International Organization of Environmental Protection for conservation.

This is the "Dragon Tree", so called because the bark exudes a red liquid that is traditionally used to decorate ceramics and used to native medicines. Many of these copies are scattered all over the island.

10 million years ago separated from Africa and since then, as if time did not happen. There is something ancient and prehistoric magic that makes Socotra, but basically everything obeys the laws of nature, an isolation from the world that has produced a fauna and flora is not known anywhere else on Earth.

One of the most amazing places on Earth for its atmosphere and unique biodiversity in the world, with endemic species that make up a small lost world which has changed little since the Middle Ages.

It's a beautiful place that seems set on a film set for a movie. But it is real!

Iguazu Falls (Argentina/Paraguay/Brazil).

In Guarani, Iguazu the term translates as "great waters". They were discovered in 1541 by Alvar Nunez advance Cabeza de Vaca. In 1984, UNESCO declared them as a natural heritage of mankind. It is certainly the darling of the province of Misiones and one of the first most imposing natural attractions in Argentina and why not say, of all America.

Located within the National Park Iguazú, some 20 km from Puerto Iguazú in the north of the province falls are shared by Brazil. In this neighboring country, the river rises in the state of Parana. After traveling about 1200 km. by a plateau, absorbing the flow of the tributaries that comes across in your way, reach a point where a fault is a crack in the plain. As if a giant blade had sunk into the ground separating the sides.

A river that comes down a geography quiet without too many surprises, that little by little in its travel, a succession of jumps. And suddenly 80 meters. height difference makes it a violent vertigo. The Garganta del Diablo, a roller coaster in their biggest decline, combined with a constant deafening roar that sinks into the depths of suffocation, and then gently, lead a few kilometers on the river Parana.

From the visitor center, trails can be traveled on foot or by transport provided on site. Basically it can be known through two circuits. A lower and an upper. In the lower reaches the base of the falls, the force of water turned into steam spray or splash to the concurrent end. In this circuit you can take a boat to the island San Martin. In the upper path is more sedentary. Panoramic views from the walkways and balconies make the stay an unforgettable experience.

One of the many legends of the existence of a giant snake called "Boi" which lived inside the river. To appease their ferocity, aborigines, once a year, sacrificed a lady throwing it into the water as an offering to the beast. In one of these offerings, a brave Guarani kidnapped the girl chosen to save the traditional rite escaping by canoe down the river.
Boi to learn of the daring went into anger. He hunched his back and with it broke the river, creating the falls.

Beyond the waterfalls, the jungle offers a number of alternatives. A more humid and slightly cooler makes it suitable for development and growth of a wide variety of flora and fauna. The natural balance is making a high amount of food, consequently the fauna is also varied. Nearly 500 species of birds, 80 mammals around, a great variety of reptiles, fish, insects and butterflies inhabit this ecosystem. A few meters from the research center is the MACUCO Path: footpath running through the thick jungle about 3 miles long with varying degrees of difficulty.
In this wonderful place, they filmed the movie "The Mission" (Robert De Niro), and perhaps many people know the place for that movie.

Finally, Iguazu is a unique setting: a paradise ... Not surprisingly Horacio Quiroga was inspired to write these corners Argentine his "Tales of the Jungle".

Aurora Borealis: the brush of nature.

The aurora is a phenomenon in the form of brightness or luminance that appears in the night sky in the northern hemisphere (in the south is called aurora australis). They may also appear elsewhere in the world for short periods of time. The name comes from Aurora, Roman goddess of dawn, and Boreas the Greek word, meaning north.

Auroras occur when solar wind comes into contact with the north and south poles of Earth's magnetosphere, producing a diffuse but predominantly projected onto the Earth's ionosphere. According to the generally accepted theory, the polar auroras are caused by particle radiation from the Sun, which, from the energy point of view, would be weaker than the other cosmic radiation. The electrons and protons coming from this radiation is deflected by Earth's magnetic field.

Si las partículas tienen una dirección inicial conveniente, serán concentradas por el campo magnético en una zona de forma anular alrededor de cada uno de los polos magnéticos. Entrarán en colisión con los componentes del aire, que, excitados, emitirán luz.

The aurora borealis is visible usually from October to March, although at times makes its appearance during the course of other months, as long as the atmospheric temperature is low enough. The best months are January and February seeing as it is during these months when temperatures are lower.

The video shows us the magic brush and poetic nature. But ... How does it look from different angles while the Northern Lights in different parts of the world?.