• Tagged Argentina, cave, Chile, environment, General Carrera Lake, labyrinth, lake, Marble Cathedral, marble caves, nature, Patagonia, phenomena, photos, pics, pictures, South America

In Patagonia, South America, General Carrera Lake is shared by Argentina and Chile. But on the Chilean side of the beautiful emerald-green to turquoise-blue waters, there are breathtakingly beautiful marble caves carved into passageways and caverns. These amazing marble formations were sculpted by erosion into three main marble formations: La Capilla (the Chapel), El Catedral (the Cathedral), and La Cueva (the Cave). The impressive labyrinth of marble caves are large enough for a small boat to glide into. Here are those magnificent marble caves. [35 Photos]

• Tagged Black Forest, environment, Germany, nature, New Seven Wonders of Nature, photos, pics, places, Schwarzwald, travel

The Black Forest in Germany is so dense with pine trees that it blocks out most of the light in the woods and that’s how “Black Forest” got its name. The German name for the Black Forest wooded mountain range is Schwarzwald. Like the Halong Bay, gorgeous jewels in an emerald sea, and Volcanic JeJu, Island of the Gods, the Black Forest is one of the elite 28 finalists in the competition to name the new 7 Wonders of Nature. The beautiful Black Forest is a gigantic nature park, calling to nature lovers and adventurers . . . and for those with an active imagination, it’s said that Germany’s Black Forest possesses a “rich mythological landscape. It is said to be haunted by werewolves, sorcerers, witches who haunt the darkness, and the devil in differing guises, so watch out. Fortunately, there are dwarves that live within the woods who like to help people and try to balance the scales.” [33 Photos]

• Tagged abandoned, abandoned ghost town, abandoned railway station, abandoned resort, Abkhazia, architecture, bizarre, Black Sea, Caucasus Mountains, forest, Gagra, Georgia, ghost town, ghosts, haunted, mountains, resort, Russian Riviera, Russian ruins, seaside, war, waterfall, woods

Once upon a time, in a subtropical climate on Georgia’s Black Sea coast, there were glorious scenic wonders like beautiful beaches, lush wooded mountains, and buildings of grandeur at a resort paradise known as the Russian Riviera. But a bloody war erupted in Gagra and countless thousands were murdered, an extermination of the Georgian people. Gagra became a war-torn paradise resort in ruins. Now this “Russian Riviera” is an abandoned ghost town. [46 Photos]

• Tagged Jeju Island, Mt. Halla, Natural World Heritage Site, nature, New Seven Wonders of Nature, photo, pics, volcano

Jeju is a volcanic island off the coast of South Korea. Like Ha Long Bay, Jeju is one of the 28 finalists in the New 7 Wonders of Nature competition. Located southwest of the Korean Peninsula, Jejudo Island (제주도) is a volcanic island in the shape of an oval that measures about 45 miles across (73km from west to east), and about 19 miles long (31km from north to south). Jejudo Island is sometimes referred to as “Samdado Island” which means “three many” because of its abundance of rocks, women, and wind. It also has a dormant volcano, Mt. Halla, which rises more than 6,397 feet (1,950 meters) above sea level. 360 satellite volcanoes are around the main volcano. Here’s a look at Jeju (Jeju-do) to see if you think it should be one of the 7 winners to be crowned a New Seven Wonders of Nature. [33 Photos]

• Tagged Antelope Canyon, Arizona, Lower Antelope Canyon, Native American nations, Native Americans, nature, Navajo Nation, Navajo Tribal Park, people, photography, photos, pics, places, The Corkscrew, The Crack, travel, Upper Antelope Canyon

The mysterious, magnificent colors of Antelope Canyon make it the most photographed slot canyon in the American Southwest. This masterpiece of color is located near Page, Arizona, and the Lake Powell area. We’ve looked at Canyon de Chelly National Monument and magnificent Monument Valley, but in Navajo Nation tribute part 3, we’re looking at Antelope Canyon. This is actually made up of two slot canyons. The Navajo name for Upper Antelope Canyon is Tsé bighánílíní, which means “the place where water runs through rocks.” Lower Antelope Canyon is Hasdeztwazi which in Navajo means “spiral rock arches.” Antelope Canyon was formed mostly by erosion of Navajo Sandstone due to flash flooding and water rushing through the rocks. The risk of flash floods is but one reason Antelope Canyon is not accessible without a guide. Yet people come from all over the world to visit the Navajo Nation and to try out this photographic extravaganza. [30 Photos]

• Tagged Ha Long Bay, Halong Bay, New Seven Wonders of Nature, photos, pics, places, travel, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Wonders of the World, World Heritage Site

In northern Vietnam, east of Hanoi, is a gorgeous gem of nature which is famous for its stunning rock formations. Ha Long Bay translates to mean Descending Dragon Bay. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of 28 finalists in the New 7 Wonders of Nature competition. It’s certainly not hard to see why with these breathtaking images. Ha Long (or Halong) Bay has a magnificent collection of 1,969 limestone monoliths that are dotted with jungle vegetation. The core of the bay has 775 islets. There may be 3,000 or more incredible islands of all various shapes and sizes rising up like jewels from an emerald sea. It would be easy to imagine pirates hiding behind the massive and sometimes hollow monoliths that hide gigantic caves. Birds can almost always be heard singing and monkeys can be seen playing on these monolithic islands that feature secluded beaches, grottoes, caves, and lakes. Welcome to Ha Long Bay, one of nature’s paradise locations! [40 Photos]

• Tagged adrenaline junkies, adrenaline rush, BASE jump, cliffs, extreme sports, insane roads, Kjerag cliffs, mountains, nature, Norway, photography, photos, pics, pictures, places, Preacher's Pulpit, Preikestolen, Pulpit Rock, The Troll's Tongue, travel, Troll Mountains, Troll Wall, Trollveggen

Norway has absolutely beautiful landscapes, including crazy cliffs that call to people to climb up them and then BASE jump off the top. Here’s a look at some of those incredible cliffs as well as insanely dangerous switchback roads to get to those amazing cliffs in Norway. Thrillseekers, photographers, hikers and climbers take in these majestic views of nature. And then, there’s BASE jumpers who have a much more extreme need for adrenaline. Charles Lindbergh once said of his adrenaline rush, “It is the greatest shot of adrenaline to be doing what you have wanted to do so badly. You almost feel like you could fly without the plane.” Here in Norway, as if they’ve turned into Superman, some adrenaline junkies do fly without a plane.
[33 Photos]

• Tagged adrenaline rush, bizarre, Chuuk, diving, Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon, haunted, island, Micronesia, nature, photos, pics, pictures, scuba diving, shipwreck, shipwreck diving, Truk, Truk Lagoon, undersea wonder of the world, underwater, wreck diving

Truk Lagoon, known as Chuuk – a group of tropical paradise islands in the Federal States of Micronesia – offers adrenaline-junky scuba divers a cool yet creepy underwater adventure in shark-infested Pacific waters while wreck diving the mysterious Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon. More than 50 major shipwrecks from WWII litter the seabed, making the undersea wonder of the world the best shipwreck diving destination on the globe. In 1944, Americans launched Operation Hailstone, which has been called the Japanese Pearl Harbor, and the bombardment lasted for three days. The attack wiped out 60 ships and 275 airplanes, sinking them to the bottom of the lagoon, so that now it is the biggest ship graveyard in the world. Most of the wrecks were left untouched for nearly 25 years since people feared setting off the thousands of sunken bombs. Many of the shipwrecks in the scuba diving paradise have full cargo holds full of fighter aircraft, tanks, bulldozers, railroad cars, motorcycles, torpedoes, mines, bombs, boxes of munitions, radios, thousands of various weapons, human remains, and other artifacts. More than 3,000 people were thought to have been killed and some divers swear that the wrecks in Truk Lagoon are haunted. Destination Truth conducted an underwater ghost hunting expedition in Truk Lagoon. While diving at the Hoki Maru, the divers recorded sounds of running engines in the cargo hold full of trucks. Here’s a virtual adventure with wreck divers who explored and photographed the Ghost Fleet of Truk Lagoon. This is underwater awesomeness! We love these pics! [33 Photos]

• Tagged Death Valley, Death Valley National Park, desert, National Park, nature, photography, photos, pics

Death Valley is a desert valley in California and Nevada, within the Mojave Desert which makes it one of the lowest, driest, and hottest locations in North America. Most of Death Valley National Park is located southeast of the Sierra Nevada range in the Great Basin and the Mojave Desert. All of these photos are of lonely yet exquisitely beautiful Death Valley and Death Valley National Park landscapes. [40 Photos]