Marble Cave, Chile

The Marble Caves are located on Lake General Carrera/Buenos Aires Patagonia, Chile, the boat tours usually leave from Puerto Tranquillo (a little town), Río Ibáñez.

The amazing vibrant blue and grey cave chambers, all lay in memorizing turquoise waters of Carrera/B.A Lake.

The caves are on the Chilean side of the lake. the Chapel (La Capilla), the Cathedral (El Catedral), and the Cave (La Cueva). It is a unique geological formation featuring a group of caverns, tunnels and pillars created in monoliths of marble and formed by waves over the last 6,000 years or so. You can travel in a small boat or kayak, (only when the weather is nice and the water is mostly still).

White Heaven Beach, Australia

Whitehaven Beach is a 7 km stretch along Whitsunday Island, Australia. The island is accessible by boat from the mainland tourist ports of Airlie Beach and Shute Harbour, as well as Hamilton Island. The Whitehaven Beach Ocean Swim is a two km open swimming competition held on the Beach in November each year as part of the Hamilton Island Triathlon Event. The 2012 event was held on 11 November 2012.


The beach was awarded Queensland's Cleanest Beach in Keep Australia Beautiful's 2008 Clean Beach Challenge State Awards.In July 2010, Whitehaven Beach was named the top Eco Friendly Beach in the world by CNN.com.Dogs are not permitted on the beach and cigarette smoking is prohibited.

The beach was named and discovered in 1879 by Staff Commander EP Bedwell. Being one of the many names from the then English county of Cumberland Bedwell brought to the area following James Cook's 1770 naming of the island group The Cumberland Islands.

Boulders Beach, Cape Town

Boulders Beach is a sheltered beach made up of inlets between granite boulders, from which the name originated. It is located in the Cape Peninsula, near Simon's Town towards Cape Point, near Cape Town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. 

It is also commonly known as Boulders Bay.It is a popular tourist stop because of a colony of African penguins which settled there in 1982. Boulders Beach forms part of the Table Mountain National Park.

Although set in the midst of a residential area, it is one of the few sites where this vulnerable bird (Spheniscus demersus) can be observed at close range, wandering freely in a protected natural environment.

From just two breeding pairs in 1982, the penguin colony has grown to about 3,000 birds in recent years. This is partly due to the reduction in commercial pelagic trawling in False Bay, which has increased the supply of pilchards and anchovy, which form part of the penguins' diet.

Mararet River, Australia

Margaret River is a town in the South West of Western Australia, located in the valley of the eponymous Margaret River, 277 kilometres (172 mi) south of Perth, the state capital. Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River.

Margaret River's coast to the west of the town is a renowned surfing location, with world wide notoriety for its surf breaks. Colloquially, the area is referred to as Margs.

The surrounding area is the Margaret River Wine Region and is known for its wine production and tourism, attracting an estimated 500,000 visitors annually.In earlier days the area was better known for hardwood timber and agricultural production.

The town is named after the river, which is presumed to be named after Margaret Whicher, cousin of John Garrett Bussell (founder of Busselton) in 1831. The name is first shown on a map of the region published in 1839. European migrants lived in the area as early as 1850, with timber logging commencing in around 1870. By 1910, the town had a hotel which also operated as a post office.

After World War I, an attempt by the Government of Western Australia to attract migrants to Western Australia (known as the Group Settlement Scheme) and establish farms in the region attracted new settlers to the town. In 1922 over 100 settlers moved into the district.

In the early 1920s the Busselton to Margaret River Railway was built and in 1925 the Margaret River to Flinders Bay line opened.

Margaret River is located 9 kilometres (6 mi) inland from the Indian Ocean at a point about halfway between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia's South West region.

The climate is humid Mediterranean, with an average annual rainfall of around 1,130 millimetres (44 in). Most rain falls between May and August, when around two days in three record measurable rainfall and around one in ten over 10 millimetres (0.39 in).

Margaret River is the foremost Geographical Indication wine region in the South West Australia Zone, with nearly 55 square kilometres (21 sq mi) under vine and over 138 wineries as at 2008. The region is made up predominantly of boutique-size wine producers, although winery operations range from the smallest, crushing 3.5 tonnes (3.4 long tons; 3.9 short tons) per year, to the largest at around 7,000 tonnes (6,900 long tons; 7,700 short tons).The region produces just three percent of total Australian grape production, but commands over 20 percent of the Australian premium wine market.

Several hundred caves are located near Margaret River, all of them within Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park. Six of these are open to the public.

The most famous of these is the multi-chambered Mammoth Cave, which lies 21 kilometres (13 mi) south of the town and contains fossils dating back over 35,000 years.The cave was first discovered by European settlers in 1850 and has been open to the public since 1904. The cave can be explored by a self-guided audio tour, and is one of the few caves in Australia offering partial disabled access.[citation needed]

The other five caves open to the public in the area are Jewel Cave, Lake Cave, Ngilgi Cave, Calgardup Cave and Giants Cave. Many other caves can be accessed with a permit by experienced cavers.

Cape Maclear, Malawi

Cape Maclear (aka Chembe) is a small fishing village on Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi) in Malawi. It has one dirt road leading into (and straight out of) town. Along this road, there are a few hostels, some dive shops, a handful of vendors selling curios and fruit and a few bars. The pace of life here is . . . very . . . slow.

Mumbo Island is located about 4km offshore, inside Cape Maclear National Park, to the southern end of Lake Malawi.

The camp, which is set around a small cove on the eastern shore, comprises just six rooms. The island is renowned for its freshwater diving, kayaking and hammocks.

This old hippy hangout has been transformed into a very cool little lodge, but still retains the same laid back atmosphere.

Remember that Malawi suffers from malaria and in this part of Malawi there is a high risk all year round. Talk to your doctor before you go, wear insect repellent and cover your skin while it's dark, and sleep under a mosquito net.

Some parts of the lake are contaminated with flatworms, which can cause schistosomiasis (bilharzia). The parasites enter your body through cuts in the the skin, so just getting your feet wet could make you sick. However, you are not guaranteed to acquire it, even if you swim daily. Among the symptoms (which might not appear for months after exposure) is painless, bloody urine. Other symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, fatigue. 

Bilharzia is easily treated, but convincing a Western doctor that you have bilharzia can be tough; explain that you've been to Malawi and ask for a test, although testing capacity is not common and expensive. As a visitor, if you are worried about bilharzia, buy the inexpensive treatment praziquantel in a pharmacy in Malawi (one pill for every 15kg body weight) and take it after you've finished with Lake Malawi.

Don't drink the water from the taps, it comes straight from the lake.

Bottom Bay, Barbados

Tucked away on the south coast, past the Crane Beach and Sam Lord's Castle is Bottom Bay, a wide expansive beach with smooth rolling waves riding onto the shore.


The beach is semi enclosed by high coral cliffs, providing a panoramic view of the south shore. The scene is completed by the presence of tall palm trees that add to the peaceful and relaxing atmosphere of the bay.

Always a popular picnic spot, it is also becoming a popular place to live and a number of homes are being built on the tops of the cliffs overlooking the beach and ocean. People who live there report spotting turtles and whales in the waters below the rocks.

Bathing here is not recommended, as the waves are very strong, and great care should be shown by those who choose to do so.

Lake Baikal In Russia

Baikal: The oldest and deepest freshwater lake in the world

Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest and deepest freshwater lake, curves for nearly 400 miles through south-eastern Siberia, north of the Mongolian border.

It lies in a cleft where Asia is literally splitting apart, the beginnings of a future ocean.

Geologists say Baikal today shows what the seaboards of North America, Africa and Europe looked like as they began to separate millions of years ago.

More than 5,000 feet deep (1637m) at its most profound, with another four-mile-thick layer of sediment further down, the lake’s cold, oxygen-rich waters teem with bizarre life-forms.

One of those is the seals’ favourite food, the golomyanka, a pink, partly transparent fish which gives birth to live young. Geologists estimate that Lake Baikal formed somewhere 20-25 million years ago, during the Mesozoic.

Surrounded by mile-high snowcapped mountains, Lake Baikal still offers vistas of unmatched beauty. The mountains are still a haven for wild animals, and the small villages are still outposts of tranquillity and self-reliance in the remote Siberian taiga, as the forest is called.

The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east, and Palestine and Israel to the west. Its surface and shores are 429 metres (1,407 ft) below sea level, Earth's lowest elevation on land. The Dead Sea is 304 m (997 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. 

With 34.2% salinity (in 2011), it is also one of the world's saltiest bodies of water, though Lake Vanda in Antarctica (35%), Lake Assal in Djibouti (34.8%), Lagoon Garabogazköl in the Caspian Sea (up to 35%) and some hypersaline ponds and lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica (such as Don Juan Pond (44%)) have reported higher salinities. It is 9.6 times as salty as the ocean.

This salinity makes for a harsh environment in which animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea is 50 kilometres (31 mi) long and 15 kilometres (9 mi) wide at its widest point.It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley and its main tributary is the Jordan River.

The Dead Sea water has a density of 1,240 kg/m3, which makes swimming similar to floating.

The Dead Sea is an endorheic lake located in the Jordan Rift Valley, a geographic feature formed by the Dead Sea Transform (DST). This left lateral-moving transform fault lies along the tectonic plate boundary between the African Plate and the Arabian Plate. It runs between the East Anatolian Fault zone in Turkey and the northern end of the Red Sea Rift offshore of the southern tip of Sinai. It is here that the Upper Jordan River/Sea of Galilee/Lower Jordan River water system comes to an end.

The Jordan River is the only major water source flowing into the Dead Sea, although there are small perennial springs under and around the Dead Sea, forming pools and quicksand pits along the edges.There are no outlet streams.

Around 3.7 million years ago,[citation needed] what is now the valley of the Jordan River, Dead Sea, and the northern Wadi Arabah was repeatedly inundated by waters from the Mediterranean Sea. The waters formed in a narrow, crooked bay, called by geologists the Sedom Lagoon, which was connected to the sea through what is now the Jezreel Valley. The floods of the valley came and went depending on long-scale climate change. The Sedom Lagoon deposited beds of salt that eventually became 2.5 km (1.55 mi) thick.

Romantic Rewards on St Barths

Keep the Flames Burning on Flamand

Flamand Beach is one of the least crowded bits of seaside delight St Barths has to offer. The beach itself is long and wide, and during the winter, high, rolling waves make this a perfect place to learn how to surf (swimming is rarely treacherous, even in the winter). 

Nearby Hotel St Barth Isle de France and La Langouste make for quick mealtime breaks, and offer equipment rentals for non-guests.

Romantic Rewards on St Barths

Early Morning Swim at Saline Beach

Saline is the most beautiful and the most famous beach in St. Barths.

From the shore, you cannot see any building: no fancy bar, no posh restaurant, nothing. Just the wild beach and you.

Saline Beach never really gets crowded, as the island is too small to have actual crowds. But it is a true luxury, early morning, to come there for a nice swim.

More than once, I've been able to be the only one there. This long, beautiful, renowned beach was just mine!

It is okay to do nude sunbathing in Saline, but it's better if you do it on the far sides of the beach. Indeed, the middle part is where the trail arrives from the parking lot and you do not want to make families feel uncomfortable. Even if nobody really cared.

Again, early morning, it is just a couple of people here and nobody minds if you swim naked in this pure Caribbean blue water.
Vive la liberté !

My tip: Bring a bottle of water if you are planning on staying for long, as there is no store on the beach. Nothing!

Pahalgam, Kashmir.

Pahalgam is a town and a notified area committee in Anantnag district of the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir. 

Pahalgam is also associated with the annual Amarnath Yatra. Chandanwari (2,895 m), 16 km from Pahalgam, is the starting point of the yatra that takes place every year in the month of Sawan (July to August).

The road from Pahalgam to Chandanwari is on fairly flat terrain and can be undertaken by car. From Chandanwari onwards the track becomes much steeper, and is accessible on foot or by pony. About 11 km from Chandanwari is the mountain lake of Sheshnag (3,574 m), after which, 13 km away is the last stop, Panchtarni. The Amarnath cave is 6 km from there. During the month of Sawan, an ice stalagmite forms a natural Shivling in the Amarnath cave.

Pahalgam is located at 34.01°N 75.19°E.[3] Pahalgam holds a central position in the Lidder Valley. It has an average elevation of 2740 metres (8989 feet).

Mount Nemrut, Turkey

Nemrut or Nemrud is a 2,134 m (7,001 ft) high mountain in southeastern Turkey, notable for the summit where a number of large statues are erected around what is assumed to be a royal tomb from the 1st century BC. It is referred as the pantheon of the Armenian gods.

When the Seleucid Empire was defeated by the Romans in 190 BCE at the Battle of Magnesia it began to fall apart and new kingdoms were established on its territory by local authorities. Commagene being one of the Seleucid successor states occupied a land between the Taurus mountains and the Euphrates. 

The state of Commagene had a wide range of cultures which left its leader from 62 BC - 38 BC Antiochus I to carry on a peculiar dynastic religious program, which included not only Armenian, Greek and Persian deities but Antiochus and his family as well. 

This religious program was very possibly an attempt by Antiochus to unify his multiethnic kingdom and secure his dynasty's authority^.

Antiochus supported the cult as a propagator of happiness and salvation.Many of the monuments on Mount Nemrud are ruins of the imperial cult of Commagene. The most important area to the cult was the tomb of Antiochus I, in which was decorated with colossal statues made of limestone. Although the Imperial cult did not last long after Antiochus, several of his successors had their own tombs built on Mount Nemrud. For around half of the year, Mount Nemrud is covered in snow,the effect of which increases weathering, which has in part caused the statues to fall in ruin.