Grand Canyon, USA

     The Grand Canyon, is a steep-sided canyon carved by theColorado River in the state of Arizona in the United States. It is contained within and managed by Grand Canyon National Park, the Hualapai Tribal Nation, and the Havasupai Tribe. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of preservation of the Grand Canyon area, and visited it on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.

The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,000 feet or 1,800 meters). Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. While the specific geologic processes and timing that formed the Grand Canyon are the subject of debate by geologists, recent evidence suggests that the Colorado River established its course through the canyon at least 17 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River continued to erode and form the canyon to its present-day configuration.

For thousands of years, the area has been continuously inhabited by Native Americans who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon ("Ongtupqa" in the Hopi language) a holy site, and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.

The Ancient Pueblo People were a Native American culture centered on the present-day Four Corners area of the United States. The Ancient Puebloans were the first people known to live in the Grand Canyon area. The cultural group has often been referred to in archaeology as the Anasazi, although the term is not preferred by the modern Puebloan peoples. The word "Anasazi" is Navajo for "Ancient Ones" or "Ancient Enemy".

Archaeologists still debate when this distinct culture emerged. The current consensus, based on terminology defined by the Pecos Classification, suggests their emergence around 1200 BCE during the Basketmaker II Era. Beginning with the earliest explorations and excavations, researchers have believed that the Ancient Puebloans are ancestors of the modern Pueblo peoples.

In addition to the Ancestral Puebloans, a number of distinct cultures have inhabited the Grand Canyon area. The Cohonina lived to the west of the Grand Canyon, between 500 and 1200 CE. The Cohonina were ancestors of the Yuman, Havasupai, and Walapaipeoples who inhabit the area today.

The Sinagua were a cultural group occupying an area to the southeast of the Grand Canyon, between the Little Colorado River and theSalt River, between approximately 500 and 1425 CE. The Sinagua may have been ancestors of several Hopi clans.

By the time of the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century, newer cultures had evolved. The Hualapai inhabit a 100-mile (160 km) stretch along the pine-clad southern side of the Grand Canyon. The Havasupai have been living in the area near Cataract Canyon since the beginning of the 13th century, occupying an area the size of Delaware. The Southern Paiutes live in what is now southern Utah and northern Arizona. The Navajo, or Diné, live in a wide area stretching from the San Francisco Peaks eastwards towards the Four Corners. Archaeological and linguistic evidence suggests the Navajo descended from the Athabaskan people near Great Slave Lake, Canada, who migrated after the 11th century.

The Upper Sonoran Life Zone includes most of the inner canyon and South Rim at elevations from 3,500 to 7,000 feet (1,100 to 2,100 m).^[50] This zone is generally dominated by blackbrush, sagebrush, and pinyon-juniper woodlands. Elevations of 3,500 to 4,000 feet (1,100 to 1,200 m) are in the Mojave Desert Scrub community of the Upper Sonoran. This community is dominated by the four-winged saltbush and creosote bush; other important plants include Utah agave, narrowleaf mesquite, ratany, catclaw, and various cactispecies.

Approximately 30 bird species breed primarily in the desert uplands and cliffs of the inner canyon. Virtually all bird species present breed in other suitable habitats throughout the Sonoran and Mohave deserts. The abundance of bats, swifts, and riparian birds provides ample food for peregrines, and suitable eyrie sites are plentiful along the steep canyon walls. Also, several critically endangeredCalifornia Condors that were re-introduced to the Colorado Plateau on the Arizona Strip, have made the eastern part of the Park their home.

The conifer forests provide habitat for 52 mammal species. Porcupines, shrews, red squirrels, tassel eared Kaibab and Abert's squirrels, black bear, mule deer, and elk are found at the park's higher elevations on the Kaibab Plateau.

Above the desert scrub and up to 6,200 feet (1,900 m) is a pinyon pine forest and one seed juniper woodland. Within this woodland one can find big sagebrush, snakeweed,Mormon tea, Utah agave, banana and narrowleaf Yucca, winterfat, Indian ricegrass, dropseed, and needlegrass. There are a variety of snakes and lizards here, but one species of reptile, the mountain short-horned Lizard, is a particularly abundant inhabitant of the piñon-juniper and ponderosa pine forests.

Ponderosa pine forests grow at elevations between 6,500 and 8,200 feet (2,000 and 2,500 m), on both North and South rims in the Transition life zone. The South Rim includes species such as gray fox, mule deer, bighorn sheep, rock squirrels, pinyon pine and Utah juniper. Additional species such as Gambel oak, New Mexico locust,mountain mahogany, elderberry, creeping mahonia, and fescue have been identified in these forests. The Utah tiger salamander and the Great Basin spadefoot toad are two amphibians that are common in the rim forests. Of the approximately 90 bird species that breed in the coniferous forests, 51 are summer residents and at least 15 of these are known to be neotropical migrants.

Elevations of 8,200 to 9,000 feet are in the Canadian Life Zone, which includes the North Rim and the Kaibab Plateau. Spruce-fir forests characterized by Englemann spruce,blue spruce, Douglas fir, white fir, aspen, and mountain ash, along with several species of perennial grasses, groundsels, yarrow, cinquefoil, lupines, sedges, and asters, grow in this sub-alpine climate. Mountain lions, Kaibab squirrels, and northern goshawks are found here.

Montane meadows and subalpine grassland communities of the Hudsonian life zone are rare and located only on the North Rim. Both are typified by many grass species. Some of these grasses include blue and black grama, big galleta, Indian ricegrass and three-awns. The wettest areas support sedges and forbs.

Grand Canyon National Park is one of the world's premier natural attractions, attracting about five million visitors per year. Overall, 83% were from the United States: California (12.2%), Arizona (8.9%), Texas (4.8%), Florida (3.4%) and New York (3.2%) represented the top domestic visitors. Seventeen percent of visitors were from outside the United States; the most prominently represented nations were the United Kingdom (3.8%), Canada (3.5%), Japan (2.1%), Germany (1.9%) and The Netherlands (1.2%). The South Rim is open all year round weather permitting. The North Rim is generally open mid-May to mid-October.

              

Maldive Islands

The Maldives Islands is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean composing today’s Republic of Maldives and the island of Minicoy in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep of India.

Historically Minicoy was within the domain of the sultans of the Maldives. In 1790 Minicoy was surrendered to the Court of Directors of the East India Company and thus became part of the territory of the Madras presidency of British India. In 1858, following the Indian Mutiny of 1857, the control of British India transferred from the East India Company to the British Crown, and a decade later Queen Victoria was proclaimed empress. At the time of the partition of India of 1947, Minicoy transferred automatically to the new Union of India, while the remainder of the Maldives continued as a self-governing sultanate, ultimately achieving full independence in 1965.

Linguistically, Minicoy remains linked to the rest of the island group.

Iceland

Legend says that a magician once swam to Iceland in the form of a whale, hoping to bring the isolated North Atlantic island under his spell. But when he reached Iceland’s rocky shores, he abandoned his dream upon discovering that it was already inhabited by spirits who fiercely defended their lush green meadows, frigid ice sheets, and soaring volcanic mountains.

In Iceland: Fire and Ice, NATURE takes an inspiring look at the real spirits — both human and wild — that thrive in a challenging land where fire literally meets ice. Iceland: Fire and Ice offers a stunning portrait of this island of extremes, where some of Europe’s biggest glaciers cozy up to some of the continent’s hottest volcanic springs. And it profiles many of the remarkable animals, such as birds from the lethal gyrfalcon to the comic, clown-billed puffin, that bring vibrant life to an occasionally desolate landscape.

To Iceland’s earliest human settlers, who arrived from Europe sometime in the 9th century, the island’s ruggedly beautiful lava flows, smoking volcanic vents, and roaring waterfalls seemed inconceivably ancient. Some imagined them to be the sculpted remains of some timeless battlefield, where their immortal gods had waged a merciless war. In fact, however, Iceland is a mere child in geologic terms. It was formed by volcanic eruptions just 20 million years ago, as magma poured from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a tear in the seabed that marks the boundary between the North American and European continental plates. As the liquid rock oozed out of the tear and cooled, it produced the island we see today: a 300-mile-long, 200-mile-wide oval landmass that sits between Greenland and the European coast in the icy seas near the Arctic Circle.

But Iceland’s construction is far from over. Today, it boasts more than two dozen active volcanoes that regularly erupt and add more lava and ash to the landscape. Indeed, Icelanders experience an eruption twice a decade on average, with the scenic Mount Hekla being one of the island’s most energetic volcanoes in recent years. While eruptions often consist of little more than a spit of smoke and a cough of ash, sometimes they can mean spectacular and dangerous geologic fireworks. In the late 18th century, for instance, Iceland’s Mount Lakagigar produced the world’s largest lava flow — more than 3 cubic miles of molten rock. Thousands of farm animals were gassed to death by the mountain’s poisonous fumes, and the eruption produced so much ash that the sky was dark for weeks. The eruption wreaked havoc on the island’s food supply, causing a famine; more than a third of Iceland’s people died.

Other memorable volcanic disasters aren’t so old. In 1973, the eruption of the Eldfell volcano threatened to entomb the nearby fishing village of Heimaey in magma. Boiling rivers of lava engulfed a third of the town before desperate islanders mounted a bold and creative defense against the mountain. Using hastily installed fire hoses and water pumps, the villagers sprayed the encroaching lava with streams of frigid seawater, forcing it to crystallize. The resulting rock dam diverted the lava rivers away from the town and into the sea. Ironically, by the time the eruption was over, the lava had formed a new spit of land that offered improved protection to the town’s harbor.

Vulcanism is not only one of Iceland’s hallmarks; it is also responsible for the island nation’s best-known contribution to other languages. The word “geyser” comes from a single celebrated spring in southwestern Iceland that every so often flings its waters, heated to boiling by the volcanic magma below, several hundred feet into the air. Today, volcanic fountains all over the world carry the name given to this Icelandic wonder, which has become less active in recent years. But many other hot springs continue to provide Icelanders with an important source of energy — and natural saunas perfect for a winter warm-up.

Volcanic fire isn’t the only elemental force shaping the island. Ice, too, plays a key role. Less than 8,000 years ago, geologists believe the entire island was buried beneath miles of ice. As these massive glaciers melted away, they carved Iceland’s remarkable steep-sided valleys and fjords, long, narrow glacial valleys that have been flooded by the sea. Today, ice continues to carve and smooth the land. About ten percent of the island is covered by glaciers. The largest, called Vatnajokull, is already more than a half-mile deep and covers about 3,000 square miles. It is Europe’s largest glacier. Indeed, all of the continent’s other ice caps would comfortably fit within Vatnajokull.

But the massive ice sheet isn’t Iceland’s only record-breaker. The island also boasts the continent’s largest and most powerful waterfall: the Gullfoss, or “Golden Falls.” Once, government planners had considered the 105-foot cascade a perfect place to build a hydroelectric dam. But folklore says a young woman threatened to throw herself over the falls if plans to destroy the natural monument went forward. Her threat worked, and today the site is protected by a national park. So, on a sunny day, the Gullfoss continues to sparkle with countless rainbows, drawing thousands of onlookers each year to view the spectacle. Like the early settlers before them, they can only marvel at the natural beauty crafted by the unlikely union of fire and ice.

Bora Bora Island

Bora Bora is an island in the Leeward group of the Society Islands of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France in thePacific Ocean. The island, located about 230 kilometres (143 miles) northwest of Papeete, is surrounded by a lagoon and a barrier reef. In the centre of the island are the remnants of an extinct volcano rising to two peaks, Mount Pahia and Mount Otemanu, the highest point at 727 metres (2,385 feet).

Bora Bora is a major international tourist destination, famous for its aqua-centric luxury resorts. The major settlement, Vaitape, is on the western side of the main island, opposite the main channel into the lagoon. Produce of the island is mostly limited to what can be obtained from the sea and the plentiful coconut trees, which were historically of economic importance for copra. According to a 2008census, Bora Bora has a permanent population of 8,880.

The island was inhabited by Polynesian settlers around the 4th century AD. The first European sighting was made by Jakob Roggeveen in 1722. James Cook sighted the island in 1770 and landed that same year. The London Missionary Society arrived in 1820 and founded a Protestant church in 1890. Bora Bora was an independent kingdom until 1888 when its last queenTeriimaevarua III was forced to abdicate by the French who annexed the island as a colony.

The commune of Bora-Bora is made up of the island of Bora Bora proper with its surroundingislets emerging from the coral reef, 29.3 km² (11 sq mi) (11.3 sq mi) in total, and of the atoll ofTupai (11 km² or 4.2 sq mi), located 20 kilometres (12 mi) north of Bora Bora.The atoll of Tupai has no permanent population apart from some workers in the coconut plantations.

The surrounding islets include: Motu Tapu, Motu Ahuna, Tevairoa, Motu Tane, Motu Mute, Motu Tufari, Motu Pitiaau, Sofitel Motu, Motu Toopua, and Toopuaiti.

The commune is in the administrative subdivision of the Leeward Islands and divided into three districts: Vaitape, Faanui, and Anau.

Today the island's economy is driven almost solely by tourism. Over the last few years several resorts have been built on motu (small islands, from Tahitian) surrounding the lagoon. Thirty years ago, Hotel Bora Bora built the first over-the-water bungalows on stilts over the lagoon and today, over-water bungalows are a standard feature of most Bora Bora resorts. The quality of those bungalows ranges from comparably cheap, basic accommodations to very luxurious and expensive places to stay.

Most of the tourist destinations are aqua-centric; however it is possible to visit attractions on land such as WWII cannons. Air Tahiti has five or six flights daily to the Bora Bora Airport on Motu Mute from Tahiti (as well as from other islands). The island is served by Bora Bora Airport on Motu Mute in the north, with Air Tahiti providing daily flights to and from Papeete on Tahiti.

Public transport on the island is nonexistent. Rental cars and bicycles are the recommended methods of transport. There are also small, two-seater buggies for hire in Vaitape. It is possible to rent a motorboat to explore the lagoon.

Snorkeling and scuba diving in and around the lagoon of Bora Bora are popular activities. Many species of sharks and rays inhabit the surrounding body of water. There are a few dive operators on the island offering manta ray dives and also shark-feeding dives.

In addition to the existing islands of Bora Bora, the new manmade motu of Motu Marfo has been added in the northeastern corner of the lagoon on the property of the St. Regis Resort.

BEACHES

NIGHTS

The Inverted Tower – Sintra, Portugal

The Inverted Tower 

An underground tunnel with a spiral staircase, supported by carved columns, down to the bottom of the well through nine landings. The nine hole round landings, separated by fifteen steps, evoke references to Dante’s Divine Comedy, and may represent the nine circles of hell, paradise, or purgatory.

The well is connected to laberíticas caves that lead to a spooky garden surrounded by a lake.

The land that is now Quinta da Regaleira had many owners through time. But in 1892 it belonged to the Barons of Regaleira, a family of rich merchants from Porto, when it was purchased that year by Carvalho Monteiro for 25,000 réis. Monteiro wished to build a bewildering place where he could gather symbols that would reflect his interests and ideologies. With the assistance of the Italian architect Luigi Manini, he designed the 4-hectare estate with its enigmatic buildings, believed to hide symbols related to alchemy, Masonry, the Knights Templar, and the Rosicrucians. The architecture of the estate evokes Roman, Gothic, Renaissance and Manueline architectural styles. The construction of the current estate commenced in 1904 and most of it was concluded by 1910.

Taj Mahal, INDIA

The Taj Mahal from Persian and Arabic, "crown of palaces", pronounced is a white marble mausoleum located in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal is widely recognized as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage".

Taj Mahal is regarded by many as the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Islamic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish and Indianarchitectural styles.

In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. While the white domed marble mausoleum is the most familiar component of the Taj Mahal, it is actually an integrated complex of structures. The construction began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, employing thousands of artisans and craftsmen. The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision, including Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer.

In 1631, Shah Jahan, emperor during the Mughal empire's period of greatest prosperity, was grief-stricken when his third wife, Mumtaz Mahal, a Persian princess, died during the birth of their 14th child, Gauhara Begum. Construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632. The court chronicles of Shah Jahan's grief illustrate the love story traditionally held as an inspiration for Taj Mahal. The principal mausoleum was completed in 1648 and the surrounding buildings and garden were finished five years later. Emperor Shah Jahan himself described the Taj in these words:

Should guilty seek asylum here,

Like one pardoned, he becomes free from sin.

Should a sinner make his way to this mansion,

All his past sins are to be washed away.

The sight of this mansion creates sorrowing sighs;

And the sun and the moon shed tears from their eyes.

In this world this edifice has been made;

To display thereby the creator's glory.

The Taj Mahal incorporates and expands on design traditions of Persian architecture and earlier Mughal architecture. Specific inspiration came from successfulTimurid and Mughal buildings including; the Gur-e Amir (the tomb of Timur, progenitor of the Mughal dynasty, in Samarkand), Humayun's Tomb, Itmad-Ud-Daulah's Tomb (sometimes called the Baby Taj), and Shah Jahan's own Jama Masjid in Delhi. While earlier Mughal buildings were primarily constructed of redsandstone, Shah Jahan promoted the use of white marble inlaid with semi-precious stones, and buildings under his patronage reached new levels of refinement.

The exterior decorations of the Taj Mahal are among the finest in Mughal architecture. As the surface area changes the decorations are refined proportionally. The decorative elements were created by applying paint,stucco, stone inlays, or carvings. In line with the Islamic prohibition against the use of anthropomorphic forms, the decorative elements can be grouped into either calligraphy, abstract forms or vegetative motifs.Throughout the complex, passages from the Qur'an are used as decorative elements. Recent scholarship suggests that the passages were chosen by Amanat Khan.

The interior chamber of the Taj Mahal steps far beyond traditional decorative elements. Here, the inlay work is not pietra dura, but a lapidary of precious and semipreciousgemstones. The inner chamber is an octagon with the design allowing for entry from each face, although only the door facing the garden to the south is used.

The Taj Mahal attracts a large number of tourists. UNESCO documented more than 2 million visitors in 2001, including more than 200,000 from overseas. A two tier pricing system is in place, with a significantly lower entrance fee for Indian citizens and a more expensive one for foreigners. Most tourists visit in the cooler months of October, November and February. Polluting traffic is not allowed near the complex and tourists must either walk from parking lots or catch an electric bus. The Khawasspuras (northern courtyards) are currently being restored for use as a new visitor center.

The small town to the south of the Taj, known as Taj Ganji or Mumtazabad, was originally constructed with caravanserais, bazaars and markets to serve the needs of visitors and workmen. Lists of recommended travel destinations often feature the Taj Mahal, which also appears in several listings of seven wonders of the modern world, including the recently announced New Seven Wonders of the World, a recent poll with 100 million votes.

The grounds are open from 06:00 to 19:00 weekdays, except for Friday when the complex is open for prayers at the mosque between 12:00 and 14:00. The complex is open for night viewing on the day of the full moon and two days before and after, excluding Fridays and the month of Ramadan. For security reasons only five items—water in transparent bottles, small video cameras, still cameras, mobile phones and small ladies' purses—are allowed inside the Taj Mahal.