Dades Valley - Morocco

The strength of the colours will never escape your memory, red, green and white. The Dades Gorge has a fairy-tale feeling — just after you leave the rather dull Boumalne du Dades, the mountain closes up on both sides of you, before it opens again and you are in a world where the grass is greener, the soil redder and houses nicer.

Serpentine roads leads you slowly through community after community, villages set apart by dramatic twirls in the mountains, or by the fresh river meandering through the middle. Perhaps there still are blood feuds between the villages, legendary romances across hostile clans, rivalries that fills a life time? Your imagination is fed by the marvelous nature that unfolds while you carefully make sure that you do not drive off the road. But, from what everyone tells you, it is all calm now.

The drive through the Dades Valley will not lead you to any landmarks, but there is a mind-bending drama in catching how life conditions change quickly as you and your vehicle slowly rise in altitude, and as the valley gets more and more narrow.

It is clear that the most dramatic part of the Dades Valley is along the normal road before you reach Aït Oudinar. Some places the mountains turn and twist into formations not seen many other places, but even better is it that the intense red colour does not fade.

It is important to stop and walk close to the settlements along the Dades Valley. While the shifting of the landscape could intrigue for a whole day of slow driving up and back, colours become even stronger once you stand in a garden or in front of one of the houses.

As one of several fortified ksours along the road, the one of Aït Youl is among the largest.

Protected by the mountains, and protecting the fertile fields along the river, it was naturally turned into a fortified dwelling.

At Aït Oudinar, about one hour from Boumalne du Dades the nature changes dramatically. The mountain and the stones lose their red colour, and the valley narrows to a gorge. Most travellers turn around here, as the continuation will lead you through landscapes which are less unique than the Dades Valley and the road becomes hard to pass for normal cars.

There are a handful of small hotels and cafés here, so it makes a natural stop. And you can buy handicrafts, but most of these are not unique to Dades Valley.

With barren grey brown mountains and lush and fertile valleys, the continuation beyond Aït Oudinar is dramatic enough. The rough and winding roads will add much exitement to the total experience. At several points, you will be allowed a spectacular view over the valleys.

The main destination of this part of the trek is Msemrir, a rather non-descript place, but beyond this the road deteriorates and is not recommended for travelling without local guides.

It is possible to continue to great destinations like Imilchil and the Todra Gorge.

credited to flickr users: el gregein, staou, cathymiller, antonioperezrio.es, authenticmoroccoltd, nyctalope, marinegirl, arne kuilman, digs, michel27

What Chicago Looks Like at Night, From 36,000 Feet

Chicago is a city in the state of Illinois and the largest in the Midwest. With a population of nearly 3 million people located almost entirely in Cook County (a portion of the city's O'Hare International Airport overlaps into DuPage County), Chicago is the third largest city in the United States. The population of Chicago's metropolitan area, which covers several counties (and commonly called Chicagoland), contains over 9.7 million people in Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana, making it the third largest metropolitan area in the U.S. Adjacent to Lake Michigan, it is the largest city located on the Great Lakes and the world's twenty-second largest urban area by population. Chicago has been classified as an alpha world city for its worldwide economic influence.

credited to wikipedia and flickr user myelectricsheep

Russia's Radioactive mines

These guys have gone deep into old Soviet uranium mines. In these mines Russian prisoners have dug for radioactive materials for the Soviet Army.

As you can see on the top picture the Geiger counter shows that there is still some radioactive pollution.

credited to englishrussia.com

Lake Titicaca - Peru, Bolivia

Lake Titicaca is a lake located on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It sits 3,812 m (12,507 ft) above sea level making it the highest commercially navigable lake in the world. By volume of water it is also the largest lake in South America.

The lake is located at the northern end of the endorheic Altiplano basin high in the Andes on the border of Peru and Bolivia. The western part of the lake lies within the Puno Region of Peru, and the eastern side is located in the Bolivian La Paz Department.

The lake is composed of two nearly separate sub-basins that are connected by the Strait of Tiquina which is 800 m (2,620 ft) across at the narrowest point. The larger sub-basin, Lago Grande (also called Lago Chucuito) has a mean depth of 135 m (443 ft) and a maximum depth of 284 m (932 ft). The smaller sub-basin, Lago Huiñaimarca (also called Lago Pequeño) has a mean depth of 9 m (30 ft) and a maximum depth of 40 m (131 ft). The overall average depth of the lake is 107 m (351 ft).

Lake Titicaca is fed by rainfall and meltwater from glaciers on the sierras that abut the Altiplano. Five major river systems feed into Lake Titicaca—in order of their relative flow volumes these are: Ramis, Coata, Ilave, Huancané, and Suchez. More than 20 other smaller rivers empty into Titicaca, and the lake has 41 islands, some of which are densely populated.

Having only a single season of free circulation, the lake is monomictic and water passes through Lago Huiñaimarca and flows out the single outlet at the Rio Desaguadero, which then flows south through Bolivia to Lake Poopó. This only accounts for about 10% of the lake's water balance. Evapotranspiration, caused by strong winds and intense sunlight at altitude, balances the remaining 90% of the water input. It is nearly a closed lake.

The origin of the name Titicaca is unknown. It has been translated as "Rock Puma", allegedly because of its resemblance to the shape of a puma hunting a rabbit, combining words from the local languages Quechua and Aymara, and as well as translated as "Crag of Lead." Locally, the lake goes by several names. Because the southeast quarter of the lake is separate from the main body (connected only by the Strait of Tiquina), the Bolivians call it Lago Huiñaymarca (Quechua: Wiñay Marka) and the larger part Lago Chucuito. In Peru, these smaller and larger parts are referred to as Lago Pequeño and Lago Grande, respectively.

credited to wikipedia and flickr users: elisharenne, Jim Shannon, abmiller99, Phillie Casablanca, Diva wannabe2003, robduncan11, andy961, Sam Judson, stephenk1977, keatssycamore, toonsarah

Spectacular Sunset Over the Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to Antarctica in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia on the west and the Americas on the east. At 169.2 million square kilometers (65.3 million square miles) in area, this largest division of the World Ocean – and, in turn, the hydrosphere – covers about 46% of the Earth's water surface and about 32% of its total surface area, making it larger than all of the Earth's land area combined. The equator subdivides it into the North Pacific Ocean and South Pacific Ocean. The Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the Pacific and the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres (35,798 ft)

credited to wikipedia and NASA

Ellesmere Island - Canada

Ellesmere Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Lying within the Canadian Arctic Archipelago it is considered part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, with Cape Columbia being the most northerly point of land in Canada. It comprises an area of 196,235 square kilometres (75,767 sq mi), making it the world's tenth largest island and Canada's third largest island. The Arctic Cordillera covers much of Ellesmere Island, making it the most mountainous in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The Arctic Willow is the only woody species to grow on Ellesmere Island.

More than one-fifth of the island is protected as Quttinirpaaq National Park (formerly Ellesmere Island National Park), which includes seven fjords and a variety of glaciers, as well as Lake Hazen, North America's largest lake north of the Arctic Circle. Barbeau Peak, the highest mountain in Nunavut (2,616 m (8,580 ft)) is located in the British Empire Range on Ellesmere Island. The most northern mountain range in the world, the Challenger Mountains, is located in the northeast region of the island. The northern lobe of the island is called Grant Land.

In July 2007, a study noted the disappearance of habitat for waterfowl, invertebrates, and algae on Ellesmere Island. According to John P. Smol of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, and Marianne S. V. Douglas of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, warming conditions and evaporation have caused low water levels changes in the chemistry of ponds and wetlands in the area. The researchers noted that "In the 1980s they often needed to wear hip waders to make their way to the ponds...while by 2006 the same areas were dry enough to burn.

credited to wikipedia and flickr users: j.slein, GristMill, russ-on-flickr, pfogal

Purnululu National Park - Australia

Purnululu National Park is a World Heritage Site in Western Australia, 2054 km northeast of Perth. The nearest major town is Kununurra to the north, or Halls Creek to the south. Access to the park by road is via Spring Creek Track, from the Great Northern Highway approximately 250 km south of Kununurra, to the track's end at the visitor centre. The track is 53 km long and is usable only in the dry season (about April 1 to December 31), and only by four-wheel-drive (4WD) vehicles. Safely navigating it takes approximately 3 hours. Access by air is less demanding; helicopter flights are available, from Turkey Creek Roadhouse at Warmun, 187 km
south of Kununurra, and light aircraft, from Kununurra.

Purnululu is the name given to the sandstone area of the Bungle Bungle Range by the Kija Aboriginal people. The name means sandstone or may be a corruption of bundle grass. The range, lying fully within the park, has elevations as high as 578 metres above sea level. It is famous for the sandstone domes, unusual and visually striking with their striping in alternating orange and grey bands. The banding of the domes is due to differences in clay content and porosity of the sandstone layers: the orange bands consist of oxidised iron compounds in layers that dry out too quickly for cyanobacteria to multiply; the grey bands are composed of cyanobacteria growing on the surface of layers of sandstone where moisture accumulates.

The distinctive beehive-shaped towers are made up of sandstones and conglomerates (rocks composed mainly of pebbles and boulders and cemented together by finer material). These sedimentary formations were deposited into the Ord Basin 375 to 350 million years ago, when active faults were altering the landscape. The combined effects of wind from the Tanami Desert and rainfall over millions of years shaped the domes. A 7 km diameter circular topographic feature is clearly visible on satellite images of the Bungle Bungle Range. It is believed that this feature is the eroded remnant of a very ancient meteorite impact crater and is known as the Piccaninny impact structure.

credited to wikipedia and flickr users: pommie_dude, wandering lizard, christopher.jones33, LordKhan, jadetalisman, hugh gage

One night in Paris

Paris is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, with over 30 million foreign visitors per year. There are numerous iconic landmarks among its many attractions, along with world famous institutions and popular parks.

credited to wikimedia

Pamukkale - Turkey

Pamukkale, meaning "cotton castle" in Turkish, is a natural site and attraction in south-western Turkey in the Denizli Province. Pamukkale is located in Turkey's Inner Aegean region, in the River Menderes valley, which enjoys a temperate climate over the greater part of the year.

The ancient city of Hierapolis was built on top of the white "castle" which is in total about 2700 meters long and 160m high. It can be seen from a great distance, eg. when driving down the hills on the opposite side of the valley to the town of Denizli, which is 20 km away.

The tectonic movements that took place in the fault depression of the Menderes river basin did not only cause frequent earthquakes, but also gave rise to the emergence of a number of very hot springs. It is the water from one of these springs, with its large mineral content — chalk in particular — that created Pamukkale.

Apart from some radioactive material, the water contains large amounts of hydrogen carbonate and calcium, which leads to the precipitation of calcium bi-carbonate. Every second 250 l hot water rises from this spring, precipitating for every liter of water 2.20 g chalk or for every second 0.55 kg of chalk. In the course of time some sources dried up because of earthquakes, while new ones arose in the neighbourhood.

The effect of this natural phenomenon leaves thick white layers of limestone and travertine cascading down the mountain slope resembling a frozen waterfall. One form of these formations consists of crescent-shaped travertine terraces with a shallow layer of water, lying in a step-like arrangement down the upper one-third of the slope, with the steps ranging from 1m to 6 m in height. The other form consists of stalactites, propping up and connecting these terraces.

The oldest of these rocks are crystalline marbles, quartzites and schists. The oldest date back to the Pliocene period, while the top layer is Quaternary in age. Fresh deposits of calcium carbonate give the site a dazzling white look.

These sources were well-known in the Antiquity. They were described by the Roman architect Vitruvius. The Phrygian Greeks built Hierapolis on top of the hill. They ascribed medical properties to the spring water, bestowed by the gods, especially Asklepios (demigod of medicine) and his daughter Hygieia (goddess of health, cleanliness and sanitation), under the protection of Apollo (god of medicine and healing).

credited to wikipedia and flickr users: echo_29, gibna kebira, sandraLE, maluni, el senyors dels bertins, ruslik, marettay, asug, robert louden, klaus1953

Alesund: A Beautiful Sea Port in Norway

Ålesund (help·info) is a city and municipality in the county of Møre og Romsdal, Norway. It is a sea port, and is noted for its unique concentration of Jugendstil architecture.

Ålesund was established as a municipality January 1, 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). Borgund was merged with Ålesund January 1, 1968. Sula was separated from Ålesund January 1, 1977. Ålesund received city rights in 1848. It is the administrative center as well as the principal shipping city of the Sunnmøre district. The Ålesund agglomeration has a population of 45,299.

Ålesund has one of the largest and important fishing harbors in Norway. The town's fishing fleet is one of the most modern in Europe. Ålesund and surroundings also has a large furniture industry. Some well-known household items are manufactured here. In the 1950s and 1960s, Ålesund was one of the chief stations of the herring fishery business.

To the east of Ålesund lies the village of Sykkylven. The Ekornes factory, producing furniture such as the StressLess chair. Håhjem, another village near Ålesund, contains the headquarters of the Stokke company. Ålesund is also one of the harbours at which the Hurtigruten arrives two times per day.

credited to wikipedia

Cliffs of Moher - Ireland

The Cliffs of Moher (Irish: Aillte an Mhothair, lit. cliffs of the ruin, also known as the Cliffs of Mohair from the Irish: Mhothair) are located in the parish of Liscannor at the south-western edge of The Burren area near Doolin, which is located in County Clare, Republic of Ireland.

The cliffs rise 120 meters (394 ft) above the Atlantic Ocean at Hag's Head, and reach their maximum height of 214 meters (702 ft) just north of O'Brien's Tower, eight kilometres away. The cliffs boast one of Ireland's most spectacular views. On a clear day the Aran Islands are visible in Galway Bay, as are the valleys and hills of Connemara.

O'Brien's Tower is a round stone tower at the approximate midpoint of the cliffs. It was built by Sir Cornellius O'Brien, a descendant of Ireland's High King Brian Boru, in 1835, as an observation tower for the hundreds of tourists that frequented the cliffs even at that date. From atop that watchtower, one can view the Aran Islands and Galway Bay, the Maum Turk Mountains and the Twelve Pins to the north in Connemara, and Loop Head to the south.

The cliffs consist mainly of beds of Namurian shale and sandstone, with the oldest rocks being found at the bottom of the cliffs. One can see 300 million year old river channels cutting through the base of the cliffs.

There are many animals living on the cliffs, most of them birds: 30,000 birds of 29 species. The most interesting are the famous Atlantic Puffins, which live in large colonies at isolated parts of the cliffs and on the small Goat Island. Also present are hawks, gulls, guillemots, shags, ravens and choughs.

Heavy Rain Floods South America

Two months after intense rains began to pound much of South America, rivers along the northwest coast of Peru remained flooded. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured the top image of the flooded river systems on April 1, 2008. Streams and pools of dark blue water dominate what was a tan-pink desert in early February, immediately before the rains began.

The images show the Sechura Desert in northwestern Peru near the border with Ecuador. The large image shows additional flooding extending north into Ecuador. To increase the contrast between muddy water and land, which often look the same in photo-like images, the image was made with both visible and infrared light. This false-color combination colors water black and dark blue and bare or sparsely vegetated earth tan. Plant-covered land is green, and clouds are turquoise and white.

Floods throughout Peru damaged farmland, homes, and transportation networks, reported the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. On February 28, the government of Peru declared a state of emergency in Piura and Lambayeque, the regions included in this image, and in Tumbes, the region immediately north of the area shown, and in Ucayali, a region in central Peru along the Brazilian border. More than 450,000 people were affected by flooding throughout Peru as of March 12, said the United Nations.

credited to nasa.gov

Tassili n'Ajjer - Algeria

The Tassili n'Ajjer (It is a name from the Berber language and its English name is: "Tassili Plateau") is a mountain range in the Sahara desert in southeast Algeria, North Africa. The highest point is Adrar Afao, 2158 m. The nearest town is Djanet, about 10 km southwest of the range.

The range is composed largely of sandstone. Erosion in the area has resulted in nearly 300 natural rock arches being formed, along with many other spectacular landforms.

Because of the altitude and the water-holding properties of the sandstone, the vegetation is somewhat richer than the surrounding desert; it includes a very scattered woodland of the endangered endemic species Saharan Cypress and Saharan Myrtle in the higher eastern half of the range.

The range is also noted for its prehistoric rock paintings and other ancient archaeological sites, dating from neolithic times when the local climate was much moister, with savannah rather than desert. The art depicts herds of cattle, large wild animals including crocodiles, and human activities such as hunting and dancing. The art has strong stylistic links to the pre-Nguni Art of South Africa and the region, executed in caves by the San Peoples before the year 1200 CE.

credited to wikipedia and flickr users: david rombaut, scailleux, rimatara75, curr_en, Gruban, zeriss, receivedpostcards

Jellyfish Lake - Palau

Jellyfish Lake is a well-known dive site in the Pacific island of Palau. It is one of the rock islands, a series of small, rocky, uninhabited archipelagos off the coast of Koror. Jellyfish Lake is completely isolated, but in the distant past, it had an outlet to the ocean. The outlet was closed off and the high jellyfish population was isolated and started to feed on quickly-reproducing algae. Contrary to popular belief, the jellyfish of Jellyfish Lake do have small stinging cells, or nematocysts. However, because the stinging cells are so tiny, their sting is not detectable on most human tissue, so tourists can enjoy swimming with them much closer than would be possible anywhere else.

At night, the jellyfish descend into a layer of hydrogen sulfide which is found below 15-20m of depth.

credited to wikipedia and flickr users: tobze, MJB Taiwan, phillytsang, Danburg Murmur, Patrik Nilsson, badrinat, scubaschnauzer, Fishmike

Deadliest and most unassuming creatures

As the archetypal bumper-sticker proclaims: "Being Paranoid Doesn't Mean that They Aren't Out to Get You." The world of the paranoiac is nothing but a teetering rock slide - impending destruction always hovering just a moment away. Some have suggested that a daily tablespoon full of this viewpoint can actually be a survival trait: In our capricious and elaborate world a certain degree of suspicion and caution will allow us to live to be frightened another day.

But the real terror is lurking just beyond that. As anyone who has studied nature can attest, the world and all its creatures (great as well as small) really are out to get us. Some of their attacks are easy to defend against, and we - in general - know how to survive them. Yet there are creatures on this globe that can snuff us out like a cheap candle in a stiff wind. - And I don't mean the cartoon ferocity of the lion, tiger, or bear who proclaim their dangerous potential with a growl, roar, or screech.

The deadliest (and easy to miss) critters lurk in dark silence, ready to strike with either the barest of warnings or none at all - and with absolutely fatal venom.

Some you've heard about, and so sit there and scoff. Yeah, big deal: rattlesnake, cobra, black widow -- either you can hear them coming, avoid going to India, or simply not stick your hands into dark places. They are nothing but annoyances: fatal only to the truly stupid, or very sick. Dangerous, sure, but deadly to only Darwin Award winners. But there are others, nasty little things as viscous and deadly as they are quiet and unassuming.

1. The Cone Snail: can kill you in less than 4 minutes

Say, for instance, you happen to be happily walking through the low surf merrily picking up and discarding shells, looking for just the right one to decorate your desk back at the office.

With no warning at all, however, you feel a sharp sting from one of those pretty shells -- a sting that quickly flares into a crawling agony. With that quick sting, the cone snail's barbed spear has insidiously injected you with one of the most potent neurotoxins in existence.

"The bright colors and patterns of cone snails are attractive to the eye, and therefore people sometimes pick up the live animals and hold them in their hand for a while." Meanwhile the snail may fire its harpoon, loaded with venom (the harpoon can penetrate gloves and even wetsuits)

Nerves short-circuited by this infinitesimally small amount of juice, in seconds the agony of where the stinger struck has faded into a heavy numbness. A relief, perhaps, but then it spreads and moments later the paralysis has seized the entire limb. Then the breathing troubles start ... and then, simply, your heart stops beating.

Yes, there are antivenoms available, but, frankly, with something that can kill in less than four minutes you'd have to carry it in your back pocket to survive. It wasn't just for their fondness for these pretty shells that lead the CIA to develop a weapon using this venom to dispatch enemies.

We'll be back to the ocean in a few paragraphs, but for the next dangerous denizen we have to visit the steaming Amazon:

2. Poison Arrow Frog: Lethal Touch

That frog over there, for instance: that tiny, brilliantly colored tree frog. Doesn't he look like some kind of Faberge ornament, there against that vermilion leaf? Wouldn't such a natural jewel look just gorgeous in a terrarium back home?

Pick him and you'll be dead in a matter of minutes. One second frolicking in the undergrowth, the next spasming and foaming on the jungle floor. No stinger, no bite, no venom: just the shimmering slime covering his brilliant body.

The natives in these parts capture these poison arrow frogs (carefully) and coat their blowgun darts with that slime and knock full grown monkey's out of the trees with a single strike.

"They are the only animal in the world known to be able to kill a human by touch alone. They can jump as far as 2 inches."

3. The lazy clown of the insect world.

Not a long distance from the deep green of the Amazon, but good enough to completely exhaust the heartiest of hikers, is southern Brazil. Since we’ve had a pretty good trek your first reaction might be to rest a bit, to brace yourself against, perhaps, a tree for support. So what if you happen to touch a certain hairy caterpillar. It’s just a caterpillar, right? The lazy clown of the insect world. One problem, though: the crushie happened to be a member of the lonomia family of moths.

The adult moth is just a moth, but the hairs of the caterpillar are juicy with nasty stuff, so nasty that dozens of people die every year from just touching them. By the way, it’s not a good way to go, either: their venom is a extremely powerful anticoagulant, death happening as the blood itself breaks down. Not fun. Very not fun.

Back in the windswept sea, sharks announce their presence with a steady da-dum, da-dum, da-dum of background music; rattlesnakes... well, they rattle; lions, and tigers, and bears as said roar and bellow. These dangers are loud, almost comical: they parade their danger. But as paranoiacs know, these are nothing but part of the grand deception: they make us believe that everything fatal comes with sirens of intent, or brilliant warning labels. The real monsters are more devious than that; they lurk on the other side of invisibility, never make a sound, and kill you faster than the sounding of that first note in a shark's theme song.

4. Beaked Sea Snake

Another creature of nightmares that doesn’t come with a theme song is a strange import to the world aquatica. When you think snake you usually think of dry land. But if you go paddling around the Persian Gulf (or coastal islands of India) keep a wary eye out for the gently undulating wave of Enhydrina Schistosa.

It might not look dangerous, if anything it just looks odd to see a snake swimming in the sea, but don’t let your fascination for a "creature of the dry that lives in the wet" hypnotize you into getting too close.

The Hook-nose (or beaked) sea snake, to use its less scientific name, has one of the most potent venomous known. How potent? Well, visualize 1.5 milligrams. Not easy, is it? Such a small amount. But that’s all the venom enhydrina needs to, well, leave you "swimming with the fishes", as the mob likes to say.

"The snake is also eaten as meat by Hong Kong and Singapore fishermen and locals alike"

5. Stone Fish waits for you to step on it

But it’s not time to leave the sea quite yet. There are two nasty things in the blue depths you should spend many a sleepless night frightened of. For the big one you’ll have to wait a bit, for the one right below it in terrifying lethality you just have to watch your step when you’re walking along the bottom of the ocean.

Like all monsters it hides, camouflaging itself among the rocks on the bottom. It’s what’s called an ambush predator: a critter that waits until something juicy walks, or swims, by. But what it could do to you requires no motion at all. All the stone fish has to do is just sit there on the bottom and wait for you to innocently step on it.

That’s all it takes: the spines on the fish’s back are like a parade of loaded hypodermic needles, each one carrying enough bad stuff to kill even a buff diver in a matter of minutes. But death is not really the worst.

The pain from a stone fish’s sting is said to be so horrible that sufferers have begged to have the pricked limb amputate rather than live with it for another moment.
In a word: Ouch!.

6. Box Jellyfish should really be called the "coffin" jellyfish

Cone shells, snakes, and caterpillars can be avoided, brilliant frogs warn of their fatality, and I’ve already warned you about the stone fish, but this last terror does not roar or display its danger at all. Let's take one final swim, shall we, this time off the coast of Australia? Incredible blue waters, shimmering sandy beaches, shrimps on the barbie... Skin divers rave about the Australian coast … those, that is, who never let their guard down for an instant.

Paddling in the crystal sea, enjoying the cool waters, the warm sun, it's easy to miss this monster, especially as it's almost as clear as the ocean. Chironex fleckeri doesn't sound terrifying, does it?

Chironex fleckeri: a tiny jellyfish found off the coast of Australia and southeastern Asia. Only about sixteen inches long, it has four eye-clusters with twenty-four eyes, its tentacles carry thousands of nematocysts, microscopic stingers activated not by ill-will but by a simple brush against shell, or skin. Do this and they fire, injecting anyone and anything with the most powerful neurotoxin known.

Stories abound of swimmers leaping from the cool Australian seas, skin blistered and torn from thousands of these tiny stingers, the venom scalding their bodies and plunging them into agonizing shock. The sting of a chironex fleckeri, also called the sea wasp, has been described by experts as horrifying torment.

Luckily it doesn't last long. Take that to heart dear, innocent reader, as you dog paddle through the ocean, walk on the beach, or trek through the forest. Safe in your ignorance that the world doesn't hide terrifying, hideous deaths. The hideous agony of sea wasp's sting doesn't last long.

Not long at all. In fact, the burning pain is over in just about the time it will take you to read this last paragraph (and you don't have to be a phenomenally slow reader), not even enough time to reach shore and call for help. Maybe as the venom works itself into your system, causing your nervous system to collapse, you'll realize that paranoiacs are right: that there really are dangerous things out there, things that'll kill you by pure reflex, by just crossing their paths. Thirty seconds isn't a long time, not long at all. But sometimes life, and death, lessons can come in very short periods.

Nahanni National Park Reserve - Canada

Nahanni National Park Reserve in the Northwest Territories of Canada, approximately 500 kilometres (311 miles) west of Yellowknife, protects a portion of the Mackenzie Mountains Natural Region. The centrepiece of the park is the South Nahanni River. Four great canyons, called First, Second, Third and Fourth Canyon, line this spectacular whitewater river. The name Nahanni comes from the indigenous Dene language and can be translated as 'spirit.'

At Virginia Falls, the river plunges 90 metres (295 feet) in a thunderous plume. It is more than twice the height of Niagara Falls. In the center of the falls is a dramatic spire of resistant rock, called Mason's Rock after Bill Mason, the famous Canadian canoeist, author, and filmmaker. There is a proposal to rename the falls after former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. Aside from the falls, there are many notable rapids on the river including Figure Eight, George's Riffle, and Lafferty's Riffle.

The park's sulphur hotsprings, alpine tundra, mountain ranges, and forests of spruce and aspen are home to many species of birds, fish and mammals. A visitor centre in Fort Simpson features displays on the history, culture and geography of the area. The park was among the world's first four natural heritage locations to be inscribed as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in 1978.

Originally established in 1972, by then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, the park was 4,766 square kilometres (1,840 square miles) in area. In 2003, an agreement between the Dehcho First Nations and Parks Canada gave temporary protection to 23,000 km² (8,880 sq mi).[2] In August 2007, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that an extra 5,400 km² (2,085 sq mi) would be added, bringing the total area to 28,000 km² (10,811 sq mi), making Nahanni Canada's third largest national park.

The only practical way to get to Nahanni National Park is by float plane or by helicopter. Around 800-900 people visit the park every year.

credited to wikipedia and flickr users: kengibbard, Glenn Watson, imvnech, Richard Seeton, Lunch Poet, catosmr, kengibbard

Salar de Uyuni - Bolivia

Salar de Uyuni is located between parallels 20° and 21° South latitudes and 68° West longitude. It holds an estimated total reserve of 9 million tons of lithium as well as other evaporative minerals. The Salt Lake is formed in a series of stratum-saline layers, most of which are highly pure and with an approximate depth of 6 meters each. It was caused 13,000 years ago by the disappearance of an inland ocean that covered most of what is now known as the Altiplano and which extended all the way to Titicaca Lake. In the middle of this large extension of salt, there appears what seem to be two “eyes”. These are basically two holes, each 10 to 15 centimeters in diameter and 120 meters in depth. Patches of Tussock Grass are scattered throughout the area and in places of a bit higher humidity, one can find “Tholares” scrubland and “Keñuas” dwarf trees. It is an extraordinary experience to cross the salt lake by car, especially during the winter. During that time the sky is completely clear and the bright blue contrasts brilliantly with the white of the salt. On rare cloudy days, there is a white-out effect. The horizon blends with the sky in such a way that one can hardly tell where the lake ends and the heavens begin. Also, amid this shiny white desert there are idle, polyhedral figures formed by nature that seem to rise up mysteriously from the ground.

The islands located in the center of the Salar are also attractions for visitors to marvel at. Cujiri Island, better known as Fish Island, is situated 74 kilometers from Colchani in the exact middle of the salt expanse. It has a total extension of 100 hectares and provides beautifully picturesque scenery. The layers of granite and fossil have yielded a strange breed of giant cactus, 6 meters in height, which have developed from this interesting ecological system. On the island’s summit there is a cave in which the walls present a geological cut providing information about the various ground layers. The view from the mouth of the cave is perhaps one of the best sites to take wonderful photos of the island and of the salt lake as well.

The Incahuasi Island, known as the Fisherman’s Island, was formed on top of the remains of a volcano and rises 150 meters above the surface of the salt lake. Upon this island, there are archeological sites that remain from the Tiwanaku and Inca cultures along with 30 caves, 12 natural tunnels and a cacti forest. One can find a variety of plant life including wankara, pasakana, llawsa, ayrampu, sankallu, puscallu and an assortment of useful plants like thulo, huajraguaya, añaquaya, etc. Alfredo Lazaro, a resident Aymara from Llica, has been living on the island since 1987 as a protector of this natural wonder. He has personally counted 4030 types of mature cacti, 5000 cacti which are still developing and 16 which are either burnt or dry. The island is also a nesting ground to many species of birds and to viscocha, an American species of rodent, similar in size and form to gophers. This island is the perfect place to contemplate an amazing sunset and to take exceptional pictures.

credited to flickr users: szeke, carlescerulla, twellsingtol, alix & gerard, odradek78, Daniela de Moraes, stephenk1977, LeoKoolhoven, South Spirit Proyect, untermensch

Lake Hillier - Australia