Marien fountains Alofaaga Blouhols

The Alofaaga Blowholes, also known as the Taga Blowholes, are a natural feature located in the district of Palauli, south west of Salelologa wharf on the island of Savai’i in Samoa. The entrance to the blowholes is in the village of Taga.

In this area, lava flows have created a series of tubes connecting a flat clifftop of lava rock with the ocean below. Waves breaking against the lower end of the tubes send water at high pressure up through the tubes, creating fountains that spray every few seconds. As most of the land in Samoa is under customary ownership, the village charges a small admission for entry to view the blowholes. The area is unfenced and surrounded by wet, slippery rocks which can be dangerous. Falling into one of the blowholes would be almost certainly fatal. A track along the coast can be followed west to the ancient village of Fagaloa

photo source

Beautiful photos by Stephen Alvarez

Stephen Alvarez (born 1965) is a photojournalist who produces global stories about exploration, culture, religion, and the aftermath of conflict. He has been a National Geographic photographer since 1995. His pictures have won awards in Pictures of the Year International and Communications Arts and have been exhibited at Visa Pour L’Image International Photojournalism Festival in Perpignan, France.

via:  travelvista

Beautiful tropical La Digue Islands

La Digue is the fourth largest inhabited island of the Seychelles, lying east of Praslin and west of Felicite Island. La Digue is one of the most popular islands in the Seychelles. It has a population of about 2,000 people, who mostly live in the west coast villages of La Passe (linked by ferry to Praslin and Mahé) and La Réunion. La Digue island is situated in a peaceful and exotic tropical garden of coconut palms, takamaka trees and a variety of flowering plants. It has an area of 10 km². La Digue is named after a ship in the fleet of French explorer Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, who visited the Seychelles in 1768.

photo source

This amazingly beautiful beach features giant boulders on its shores. The scene is perfect: dark granite boulders on a white sand beach is the most dramatic vision you could imagine for a beach setting.

photo source

The pathway to the beach runs through an old coconut plantation, which is fascinating itself. Needless to say,

Islands of Aloha

Natural beauty and warm hospitality is unmatched when coming to think of a Hawaiian vacation. What makes Hawaii the perfect destination is that it combines eight main islands of a multi-cultural community, which welcomes all visitors with its renowed Aloha Spirit.
Located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the Hawaiian Islands of Aloha will assure every tourist that its sandy beaches and breathtaking rain forests are only some of the attractions Hawaii has to offer along with its dense wildlife as the islands maintain plenty of natural resources. Accomodations may include hotels, condos and private homes, while shopping malls are also available for every preference a tourist may desire.
The Island of Hawaii, nicknamed The Big Island, covers the largest area of the State of Hawaii and it maintains a vast tropical flower industry. Home to uncountable natural wonders, from rain-forests to volcanic deserts, golden beaches and high mountains the most unique attractions would mostly be – Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, which are the higest peaks, and the Volcanoes National Park.
Maui Island, nicknamed The Valley Isle, is famous for its beautiful beaches, arts and culture. The main attracions of Maui are the Hana Coast, Iao Valley, Makena, and Mt.Haleakala.
Lanai Island, nicknamed The Pineapple Island, is mostly famous for its cuisine and golf courses, making it also perfect for honeymoons and loving couples.
Molokai Island,  nicknamed The Friendly Island, represents the traditional Hawaiian lifestyle. With houses no taller than a tree Molokai keeps its natural landscape untouched and remains perfectly natural, unspoiled and tranquil.
Kauai Island, nicknamed The Garden Isle offers dense forests and beatuiful beackes as well as top notch accomodation and shopping centres.
Oahu Island, nicknamed The Gathering Place, is the most popular amongst the islands with the famous Honolulu city, Waikiki beach, and Pearl Harbor.
Flying Hawaiian Airlines with a Hawaiian Airlines credit card can be one way of earning a great discount once saved enough bonus miles. Further, wide range of Hawaii vacation packages are available online to make your dream holiday at considerable rates as Hawaii`s natural beauty and unmatched hospitality is surely a perfect destination for all travelers who have never been to the newest of the 50 U.S. states.
 Lantern Float (hawaiimagazine.com)

Top Miami Holiday Spots

The larget city in the state of Florida is also a holiday paradise with action packed beaches, shopping places and many adventure activities for the whole family. Downtown Miami can be reached from its International Airport along the Dolphin Expressway. Once there, any holiday seeker will find numerous holiday and entertainment venues which make this city a top tourist destination.
Also referred to as the Art Deco District, South Beach offers white sands and blue waters making safe swimming a perfection every beach lover. The seaside aligns many trendy stores and boutiques, art galleries, museums, cafes and restaurant at a relaxing atmosphere sparkling of culture. The seaside hotels like Holiday Inn South Beach Miami all offer a spectacular view to sea every traveler should experience.
Driving a half hour from Downtown Miami you can feed the Giraffes at the Miami Metro Zoo, which gives home to African, Australian and Asian native animals. The Miami Zoo can make a day out attraction for the whole family.
The next day one can visit the Everglades National Park, which is one of the most unique public parks in the US. Hiring a car can give you an opportunity to explore the rivers, swamps, grasslands and the rare endagenred species the park has to offer. Ypu can also walk, bicycle or boat in the park and even get a tourist guide. The park is located 30 kilometers from downtown.
Culture enthusiasts must visit the Miami Art Museum, as it hosts international 20-21st century world class exhibitions and collections every art lover would most definitely appreciate. The museum is 15 minutes drive from downtown.
The best food, shopping, brand name stores and restaurants can be found at the Bayside Marketplace. Including the street performers and dancers, Bayside Marketplace will offer you the fun and excitement involved with Miami`s cultural lifestyle.
AKA Little Havana, Eighth Street, as the center of the Cuban culture in Miami is hosting an annual festival celebrating the Latino culture, which is called the Ocho Festival. The streets are closed off allowing travelers to experience the fun in the Latino music, dance and visual arts every year.
The Ocho Carnival is one of the most interesting day out celebration venues to which every tourist should plan their Miami Holiday itinerary accordingly.
 Ocean Drive South Beach (wikipedia)

Floating man made islands on Lade Titicaca

Lake Titicaca sits on the border of Bolivia and Peru and is said to be the most highly located commercially navigable lakes in the world. It is also the largest lake present in South America. The lake gets its water supply from rainfall and the melted waters of the glaciers on the Sierras. The lake is very popular for its floating islands. There are a total of 41 islands which are populated by the local tribes and clans. The islands are man made and created by the local residents. These floating islands are created out of canes that are strategically placed to grow in the shallow waters of the lake. An average of five families live on these tiny floating islands with upto ten members in each family. The inmates of these islands has to create a home following wars that dragged on for centuries. These people had to live in their boats for a long time and eventually constructed these islands to make life more comfortable.

Beautiful Golden Gate Park in San Francisco

Golden Gate Park is a 1000-acre park in San Francisco. Among the park’s many features are beautiful gardens and trees. Golden Gate Park provides you with the perfect backdrop: miles and miles of lush greenery. The park also includes the Japanese Tea Garden. Situated inside the Golden Gate Park, the Japanese Tea Garden boasts well-manicured lawns and unique architecture.

Golden Gate Park, San Francisco’s largest park, is bigger than New York’s Central Park. About 3 miles long and 1/2-mile wide it covers 1,013 acres. Golden Gate Park has over one million trees, nine lakes, several fly casting pools and a lily pond within its borders. Golden Gate National Parks chronicle two hundred years of history, from the Native American culture, the Spanish Empire frontier, and the growth of urban San Francisco.

Strybing Arboretum and Botanical Garden, the Conservatory of Flowers and several museums are among its many attractions. Rent a boat and drift or paddle around circular Stow Lake with Strawberry Hill in the center.

Lake Powell dreams and reality

Most photographers, heading into town Paige (Page) in Arizona, come there to take pictures of the famous Antelope Canyons, visit the horseshoe of the Colorado River or try your luck in a lottery to hike to the Wave (Wave). And after visiting, leave, believing that everything is already done. But this is not all that there can be removed! Paige, perhaps the most visually rich place in the whole Southwest. There can be more than one week, never happen again with the choice of location.

Source

Lake Powell is a reservoir on the Colorado River, straddling the border between Utah and Arizona. It is the second largest man-made reservoir in the United States behind Lake Mead, storing 24,322,000 acre feet (30 km³) of water when full. Lake Powell was created by the flooding of Glen Canyon by the controversial Glen Canyon Dam, which also led to the creation of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, a popular summer destination.

Breatntaking waterfall of fire

Horsetail Fall, located in Yosemite National Park in California, is a seasonal waterfall that flows in the winter and early spring. The fall occurs on the East side of El Capitan. There are a few days every February where this fall is lit up by the setting sun and reflects a bright orange.

This waterfall descends in two streams side by side, the eastern one being the larger, but both quite small. The eastern one drops 470 m (1,540 ft) and the western one 480 m (1,570 ft), the highest fully-airborne waterfall in Yosemite that runs at some point every year

photo source

The Yosemite Firefall was a summer time ritual that lasted from 1872 until 1968 in which burning hot embers were dropped a height of about 3000 feet from the top of Glacier Point in Yosemite National Park down to the valley below, and from a distance looked similar to a glowing water fall because the people who dumped the embers made sure to do so in a uniform fashion. The ritual was performed by several generations of the owners of the Glacier Point Hotel. The ritual ended in January 1968 when the National Park Service ordered that the Firefall be discontinued due to the overwhelming number of visitors it attracted, and the fact that it was not a natural event. The hotel burned down a year later and was never rebuilt.

The ritual was performed at 9 PM every night, to coincide with the end of a performance at Camp Curry.

Amazing Black Rock Desert

The Black Rock Desert is an arid region in the northern Nevada section of the Great Basin with a lakebed that is a dry remnant of Pleistocene Lake Lahontan. The region is notable for its paleogeologic features, as an area of 19th-century Emigrant Trails to California, and as a venue for rocketry and land speed records. It is also the location Burning Man is held at annually.

There are several possible definitions of the extent of the Black Rock Desert. Often people refer just to the playa surface. Sometimes terrain which can be seen from the playa is included. The widest definition of the Black Rock Desert region is the watershed of the basin that drains into the playa.

Beautiful Moraine Lake

Moraine Lake are an glacially-fed lake in Banff National Park, fourteen kilometers (8.7 mi) outside the Village of Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada. It’s situated in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, at an elevation of approximately 6,183 feet (1,885 m). The lake has a surface area of .5 square kilometres (0.19 sq mi).

The lake, being glacially fed, doesn’t reach it is crest until middle to late June. When it’s full, it reflects a distinct shade of blue. The color is due to the refraction of light off the rock flour deposited in the lake on a continual basis.

Beauty of Zion National Park

Zion National Park are placed in the Southwestern United States, near Springdale, Utah. A prominent feature of the 229 square miles park is Zion Canyon, which is fifteen miles long and up to half a mile deep, cut through the reddish and tan-colored Navajo Sandstone by the North Fork of the Virgin River. The lowest elevation is 3,666 ft at Coalpits Wash and the highest elevation is 8,726 ft at Horse Ranch Mountain. Located at the junction of the Colorado Plateau, Great Basin, and Mojave Desert regions, the park’s unique geography and variety of life zones allow for unusual plant and animal diversity. Numerous plant species as well as 289 species of birds, 75 mammals (including 19 species of bat), and 32 reptiles inhabit the park’s four life zones: desert, riparian, woodland, and coniferous forest. Zion National Park includes mountains, canyons, buttes, mesas, monoliths, rivers, slot canyons, and natural arches.

Joshua Tree National Park

Joshua Tree National Park are placed in southeastern CA. Declared a U.S. National Park in 1994 when the United States Congress passed the California Desert Protection Act, it had previously been a United States. National Monument since 1936. It is named for the Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) forests native to the park. It covers a land area of 789,745 acres, or 1,234 square miles – an area slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island. A large part of the park is designated to wilderness area—some 429,690 acres. Straddling the San Bernardino County/Riverside County border, the park includes parts of two deserts, each an ecosystem whose characteristics are determined primarily by elevation: the higher Mojave Desert and lower Colorado Desert. The Little San Bernardino Mountains run through the southwest edge of the park

Little Finland, Nevada Desert

This must be the least known area in all of the Southwest. Very few people have even know it exists. Little Finland is located about 50 miles south of Mesquite, Nevada. Little Finland really lights up at sunset. This place is a lot like Fantasy Canyon, lots of individual odd rock formations.

Little Finland, also known as Hobgoblin’s playground, is located in a very remote area of Nevada, off a backcountry road named Gold Butte Byway. A high clearance 4WD vehicle, a topographic map and a GPS device are mandatory to get there. It worth the effort as you’ll discover a place of extraordinarily twisted sandstone formations, with unusual and photogenic shapes reminding animals or other creatures, taking very nice colors in late afternoon and early evening.

Capitol Reef National Park

Capitol Reef National Park is a U.S. National Park, in south-central Utah. It’s a hundred miles long but fairly narrow. The park preserves 378 mi²  and are open whole year, although May through September are the most popular months. Summer temperatures often climb into the upper 90s(F), but nights cool down into the 50s(F). Daytime winter highs average less than 50(F).

Beautiful Lake Louise

Lake Louise is a lake in Alberta, Canada. The glacial lake is located in Banff National Park, 5 km (3 mi) from the hamlet of Lake Louise and the Trans-Canada Highway. The emerald colour of the water comes from rock flour carried into the lake by melt-water from the glaciers that overlook the lake. The lake has a surface of 0.8 km2 (0.3 sq mi) and is drained through the 3 km long Louise Creek into the Bow River.

Fairmont’s Chateau Lake Louise, one of Canada’s grand railway hotels, is located on Lake Louise’s eastern shore. It is a luxury resort hotel built in the early decades of the 20th century by the Canadian Pacific Railway. Moraine Lake and Lake Agnes are also accessible from Lake Louise.

The Most Beautiful Cuba White Sand Beaches

Cuba is an archipelago of islands located in the northern Caribbean Sea at the confluence with the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. Cuba is the principal island, surrounded by four smaller groups of islands: the Colorados Archipelago on the northwestern coast, the Sabana-Camagüey Archipelago on the north-central Atlantic coast, the Jardines de la Reina on the south-central coast and the Canarreos Archipelago on the southwestern coast.

The main island is 1,199 km long, constituting most of the nation’s land area and is the largest island in the Caribbean and 16th-largest island in the world by land area. The main island consists mostly of flat to rolling plains apart from the Sierra Maestra mountains in the southeast, whose highest point is Pico Turquino. The second-largest island is Isla de la Juventud (Isle of Youth) in the Canarreos archipelago, with an area of 3,056 km2. Cuba has a total land area of 110,860 km2.

Crater Lake National Park

Crater Lake National Park is a United States National Park located in southern Oregon, whose primary feature is Crater Lake. This park encompasses the Crater Lake caldera, which rests in the remains of a destroyed volcano and the surrounding forestland and hills. This is the only National Park in Oregon.

The lake is 1,949 feet deep at its deepest point, which makes it the deepest lake in the United States, the second deepest in North America and the ninth deepest in the world. Crater Lake becomes the deepest in the Western Hemisphere and the third deepest in the world. The impressive average depth of this volcanic lake is due to the nearly symmetrical 4,000-foot deep caldera formed 7,700 years ago during the violent climactic eruptions and subsequent collapse of Mt. Mazama and the relatively moist climate that is typical of the crest of the Cascade Mountains.

photos source

This National Park covers 286 square miles. Crater Lake has no streams flowing into or out of it. All water that enters the lake is eventually lost from evaporation or subsurface seepage. The lake’s water commonly has a striking blue hue, and the lake is re-filled entirely from direct precipitation in the form of snow and rain

Beauty of Monument Valley

Monument Valley is a region of the Colorado Plateau characterized by a cluster of vast sandstone buttes, the largest reaching 1,000 ft (300 m) above the valley floor. It is located on the northern border of Arizona with southern Utah, near the Four Corners area. The valley lies within the range of the Navajo Nation Reservation, and is accessible from U.S. Highway 163.

The area is part of the Colorado Plateau. The floor is largely Cutler Red siltstone or its sand deposited by the meandering rivers that carved the valley. The valley’s vivid red color comes from iron oxide exposed in the weathered siltstone. The darker, blue-gray rocks in the valley get their color from manganese oxide.

source:  wikipedia.org

The buttes are clearly stratified, with three principal layers. The lowest layer is Organ Rock shale, the middle de Chelly sandstone and the top layer is Moenkopi shale capped by Shinarump siltstone. The valley includes large stone structures including the famed Eye of the Sun.

Between 1948 and 1967, the southern extent of the Monument Upwarp was mined for uranium, which

Beauty of Emerald Lake

Emerald Lake is located in Yoho National Park, British Columbia, Canada. It is the largest of Yoho’s 61 lakes and ponds, as well as one of the park’s premier tourist attractions. Emerald Lake Lodge, a high end lodge perched on the edge of the lake, provides local accommodation. A popular 5.2 km hiking trail circuits the lake, the first half of which is accessible to wheelchairs and strollers. During the summer months canoe rentals are available; in the winter, the lake is a popular cross country skiing destination.

Beautiful Mono Lake

Mono Lake is a large, shallow saline lake in Mono County, California, formed at least 760,000 years ago as a terminal lake in a basin that has no outlet to the ocean. Because it lacks an outlet, dissolved salts make the lake very alkaline and salty.

photo source

This desert lake has an unusually productive ecosystem based on brine shrimp that thrive in its waters, and provides critical nesting habitat for two million annual migratory birds that feed on the shrimp. Mono Lake is also notable for containing GFAJ-1, a rod-shaped extremophile bacterium that may be capable of incorporating the usually poisonous element arsenic into its biochemistry.

The Tropical Paradise of Curacao

The Island of Curacao lies in the Caribbean sea off the Coast of Venezuela. Its capital is Willemstad and it consists several islands, some unpopulated. The offical languages are Dutch, Papiamento and English though the spoken one is Spanish. With its 444 sq. Km area and 140, 000 inhabitants Curacao, meaning “heart” in Portuguese is a most beautiful tourist destination.
The Curacao island has a tropical temperature so casual clothes are advised, yet are not allowed in some of the casinos and restaurants where dress code is obligatory. There is good hygiene in the restaurants and there are no tropical illnesses on the island. You can feel free to choose whatever food you like yet sun protection is very important especially in the afternoon hours.
Almost all shopping centers have an ATM as major shops accept US dollars, credit cards and traveller cheques. Also, consider a $32 tax fee at the airport.
The most prominant hotels are the Avila Beach Hotel in Penstraat, the Breezes Curacao Resort near Dr. M.L. King Boulevard and the Curacao Marriott Beach Resort in Piscaderabay.
Curacao resorts are beautiful attractions and locations you shouldn’t miss like The Dolphin Academy, which is a near sea aquarium with six dolphins you can swim and snorkle with. You can also take training lessons to communicate with the dolphins and get to know them.
A trip into the wild is guided by an expert on the local nature and history, which will take you walking through the exotic landscapes over the Curacao map. The excursions take place on Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays involving a full moon walk through the breathtaking planes of Jan Tiel. Places you must also visit are Boca Table, West Punk, Knip Beach and Jan Oak.
Another must see attraction is the Ostrich Aloe Safari, where a guide will take you on a jeep to the North Eastern Island`s Aloe plantation. There you will learn about the healing values of the Aloe plant as you continue to the Ostrich safari.
The Herb garden of Den Paraderaas is also a must see as it will give you knowledge about the wide variety of crops grown there.
Hof’i Pastoor is a small garden that near the village of Barber, perfect for nature lovers.
Curacao provides a wonderful tourist destination and a memorable Caribbean experience with its natural exotic beauty along with the various healing floras growing in the island.

Five breathtaking Canadian attractions!

Canadian Rockies

Although there are many attractions in Canada the following attractions are some that would be appreciated by all. The Canadian Rockies, The Niagara Falls, The Pacific Rim National Park, Baffin Island, and the Old Quebec City are never to be missed on your tour to Canada.
Canadian Rockies

Places to go in USA for the Adventure lovers!

For those adventure lovers there are places that you should never miss in the USA. Make sure that you have visited the following places if you are an adventure lover!

1. Shipwreck diving in the Lake Superior in Minnesota is one of the activities that you should never miss. Here you got to see all that an ocean can give you in the waters of Grand Portage, Minnesota. This is located near the Isle Royale National Park. The ship wrecks are preserved perfectly with the fresh water in the lake.

Beautiful Turnip Rock

Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Geologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States.
Lake Huron is the second largest of the Great Lakes, with a surface area of 59,596 km2 making it the third largest fresh water lake on earth. It contains a volume of 3,540 km3, and a shoreline length of 3,827 m.
Like the other Great Lakes, it was formed by melting ice as the continental glaciers retreated toward the end of the last ice age. Before this, Lake Huron was a low-lying depression through which flowed the now-buried Laurentian and Huronian Rivers; the lake bed was criss-crossed by a large network of tributaries to these ancient waterways, with many of the old channels still evident on bathymetric maps.

Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco

The Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco, California, is a popular feature of Golden Gate Park, originally built as part of a sprawling World’s Fair, the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894. For more than 20 years San Francisco Parks Trusts’ Park Guides have given free tours to San Francisco Parks trust members, providing context and history for this historic Japanese-style garden. The oldest public Japanese garden in the United States, this complex of many paths, ponds and a teahouse features native Japanese and Chinese plants. The gardens 5 acres contain many sculptures and bridges.

Enchanting Marble caves

Marble caves or Marble Church (Eng. Marble Cathedral) – the main attraction of the lake Lago General Carrera in Chile. Another name for these interesting caves Las Cavernas de Marmol. This is an unusual place is one of the most visited in Patagonia. Labyrinth of caves located in the beautiful alpine lake in the peninsula of limestone.

The waters of Lake General Carrera with its pounding holes and caves carved out in marble, creating an extraordinary landscape. The stone has various shades of color depending on its content of impurities, predominantly white banks of great purity.
On the north bank is the Sanctuary of the Nature Marble Chapel, considered of great value for geological resource. It is located just minutes by boat from Puerto Tranquilo.

Beauty of Iguazu Falls

Iguazu Falls, Iguassu Falls, or Iguaçu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River located on the border of the Brazilian State of Paraná and the Argentine Province of Misiones. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. The Iguazu River starts at the city of Curitiba and runs for the most part of the course in Brazil and at the end at the border of Brazil and Argentina.

source

The waterfall system consists of 275 falls along 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi) of the Iguazu River. Some of the individual falls are up to 82 metres (269 ft) in height, though the majority are about 64 metres (210 ft). The Devil’s Throat (Garganta del Diablo in Spanish or Garganta do Diabo in Portuguese), a U-shaped, 82-meter-high, 150-meter-wide and 700-meter-long (490 by 2300 feet) cataract, is the most impressive of all, and marks the border between Argentina and Brazil. The Argentine side comprises three sections: the upper falls, the lower falls, and the Devil’s Throat.