The Angel Falls

 

Angel Falls (Venezuela) (also called Salto Angel) is the Earth's highest uninterrupted waterfall. It is 979 metres (3,230 feet) tall - think of it as 2.5 times as tall as the Empire State Building and full 15 times higher than Niagara Falls! Located in the Canaima National Park, in southeastern Venezuela, the falls start from the nameless creek that meanders through the series of highly-fractured crevices and gorges on top of a "Tepuy", or table-top mountain. The water then bursts into the void and plunges uninterrupted 2,421 feet to the river and more cascades below. In a season of highest water, the single waterfall splits into three streams - sometimes even more, which together become a giant veil of water. The view from the top is fantastic enough to inspire a multitude of "Lost World" legends (including the famous Conan Doyle book), not to mention the table-top mountain itself - a wonder-world of vegetation and species found nowhere else on Earth.

The Waitomo Glowworm Caves

 

The Waitomo Glowworm Caves, located just outside the main Waitomo township on the North Island of New Zealand, is a famous attraction because of a sizeable population of glowworms that live in the caves. Glowworms or Arachnocampa luminosa are tiny, bioluminescent creatures that produce a blue-green light and are found exclusively in New Zealand. They are around the size of an average mosquito. This cave is part of the Waitomo Caves system that includes the Ruakuri Cave and the Aranui Cave.

The Waitomo Glowworm Caves were first explored in 1887 by local Maori Chief Tane Tinorau accompanied by an English surveyor Fred Mace. Local Maori people knew of the Caves existence, but the subterranean caverns had never been extensively explored until Fred and Tane went to investigate. They built a raft of flax stems and with candles in hand, floated into the cave where the stream goes underground.

As they entered the caves, they came across the Glowworm Grotto and were amazed by the twinkling glow coming from the ceiling. As they travelled further into the cave by poling themselves towards an embankment, they were also astounded by the limestone formations.

The Aurora

An aurora is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the high latitude (Arctic and Antarctic) regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere (thermosphere). The charged particles originate in the magnetosphere and solar wind and, on Earth, are directed by the Earth's magnetic field into the atmosphere. Most auroras occur in a band known as the auroral zone, which is typically in 3° to 6° latitudinal extent of geographical poles, or equivalently, 10° to 20° latitudinal extent of geomagnetic poles, and at all local times or longitudes. During a geomagnetic storm, the auroral zone expands to lower latitudes.

In 1621, a French scientist, Pierre Gassendi, saw the lights in the north and named after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora. He added the word "borealis" for the Roman god of the north wind, Boreas. These aurora borealis are also known as Northern Lights.

In the southern hemisphere, they are called aurora australis, meaning "southern." The lights are usually seen after dusk near both poles.

Venice

 

 

Venice is a city in northeastern Italy sited on a group of 118 small islands separated by canals and linked by bridges. It is located in the marshy Venetian Lagoon which stretches along the shoreline, between the mouths of the Po and the Piave Rivers. Venice is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. The city in its entirety is listed as a World Heritage Site, along with its lagoon.

Venice is the capital of the Veneto region. In 2009, there were 270,098 people residing in Venice's comune (the population estimate of 272,000 inhabitants includes the population of the whole Comune of Venezia; around 60,000 in the historic city of Venice; 176,000 in Terraferma (the Mainland), mostly in the large frazioni of Mestre and Marghera; 31,000 live on other islands in the lagoon). Together with Padua and Treviso, the city is included in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area (PATREVE), with a total population of 1,600,000. PATREVE is only a statistical metropolitan area without any degree of autonomy.

The name is derived from the ancient Veneti people who inhabited the region by the 10th century BC. The city historically was the capital of the Republic of Venice. Venice has been known as the "La Dominante", "Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Masks", "City of Bridges", "The Floating City", and "City of Canals". Luigi Barzini described it in The New York Times as "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man". Venice has also been described by the Times Online as being one of Europe's most romantic cities.

The Republic of Venice was a major maritime power during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, and a staging area for the Crusades and the Battle of Lepanto, as well as a very important center of commerce (especially silk, grain, and spice) and art in the 13th century up to the end of the 17th century. This made Venice a wealthy city throughout most of its history. It is also known for its several important artistic movements, especially the Renaissance period. Venice has played an important role in the history of symphonic and operatic music, and it is the birthplace of Antonio Vivaldi.

The Sigiriya Rock Fortress

The Sigiriya Rock Fortress of Sri Lanka is situated in Matale district near to Dambulla. It can be reached along Colombo- Habarana highway and turning towards East from Inamaluwa. Then proceeding about 10 km from Inamaluwa and passing Kimbissa township one arrives at Sigiriya.

Before Sigiriya became a Kingdom, the Sigiriya Rock base and the places such as Pidurangala which were endowed with many Caves and a temple had been dwelled by Buddhist monks from around 3rd Century BC. It is also found that these areas had been inhabitant by people prior to King Kassapa's rein. Many Caves also have Brahmi Inscriptions dating back from 3rd Century BC to 1st century AD.

The Rock itself has its unique identity on its shape not found anywhere else in the island and can be recognized miles away from the distance.

Sigiriya was rediscovered during the rule of the British, by Major H. Forbes in 1831. Climbing of the Sigiriya summit was achieved by A.H.Adams and J.Bailey in 1853.

Sigiriya being a fortress, had been well designed for its defenses by having ramparts and moats built around it. There are several approaches to the inner city and the most prominent is the Western entrance. From the summit of the rock, the land areas up to distances of tens of miles can be watched making it hard for the enemy to make a surprised attack to the kingdom.

King Kassapa had reverted his fortress to an ecological wonder by having Royal Pleasure Gardens, Water Gardens , Fountain Gardens and Boulder Gardens made inside the inner city as well as at the palace premises on the Rock summit.

The most renowned is the Sigiriya Rock Paintings or Frescoes of Sigiri Damsels locally called as 'Sigiri Apsaras' painted on a Western Rock face cavity about 100 meters high from the rock base. There now remains around 21 paintings of Sigiriya Damsels but there had been around five hundred paintings during King Kassapa's' time along several other places of the same Western Rock face.

Another interesting construction is the Mirror Wall, which is covered with graffiti from the 7th to the 10th centuries AD. These were written by the people came to see Sigiriya during those long years. Coming along the path of the mirror wall, one find the Lion Paw Terrace or Platform. Only two huge Lion's paws are remaining now but earlier there had been an enormous Lion figure or statue at the entrance. Through the Lion's paw stairway, the summit can be reached taking the iron stairway built on to the rock face. On the summit are the remains of the Palace building foundations and few ponds on a area of about 3 acres of rock summit. The largest pond was made by cutting out the rock and it is assumed that utilizing the great wind force occurring on the summit, water was brought up to fill this tank by a hydraulic system using wind power from the ground level. Some hundreds of interesting Sigiriya Fortress images are being included here.

Mount Everest

Mount Everest is the Earth's highest mountain, located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. Its peak is 8,848 metres (29,029 ft) above sea level and the 5th furthest point from the centre of the Earth. The international border between China and Nepal runs across the precise summit point. Its massif includes neighboring peaks Lhotse, 8,516 m (27,940 ft); Nuptse, 7,855 m (25,771 ft) and Changtse, 7,580 m (24,870 ft).

In 1856, the Great Trigonometric Survey of India established the first published height of Everest, then known as Peak XV, at 29,002 ft (8,840 m). The current official height of 8,848 m (29,029 ft) as recognized by Nepal and China was established by a 1955 Indian survey and subsequently confirmed by a Chinese survey in 1975. In 1865, Everest was given its official English name by the Royal Geographical Society upon a recommendation by Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India. Waugh named the mountain after his predecessor in the post, Sir George Everest. Although Tibetans had called Everest "Chomolungma" for centuries, Waugh was unaware of this because Tibet and Nepal were closed to foreigners at the time thus preventing any attempts to obtain local names.

Mount Everest attracts many highly experienced mountaineers as well as capable climbers willing to hire professional guides. There are two main climbing routes, one approaching the summit from the southeast in Nepal (known as the standard route) and the other from the north in Tibet. While not posing substantial technical climbing challenges on the standard route, Everest presents dangers such as altitude sickness, weather, wind as well as significant objective hazards from avalanches and the Khumbu Icefall. While the overwhelming majority of climbers will use bottled oxygen in order to reach the top, some climbers have summitted Everest without supplemental oxygen.

The first recorded efforts to reach Everest's summit were made by British mountaineers. With Nepal not allowing foreigners into the country at the time, the British made several attempts on the north ridge route from the Tibetan side. After the first reconnaissance expedition by the British in 1921 reached 7,000 m (22,970 ft) on the North Col, the 1922 expedition pushed the North ridge route up to 8,320 m (27,300 ft) marking the first time a human had climbed above 8,000 m (26,247 ft). Tragedy struck on the descent from the North col when seven porters were killed in an avalanche. The 1924 expedition resulted in the greatest mystery on Everest to this day: George Mallory and Andrew Irvine made a final summit attempt on June 8 but never returned, sparking debate as to whether they were the first to reach the top. They had been spotted high on the mountain that day but disappeared in the clouds, never to be seen again until Mallory's body was found in 1999 at 8,155 m (26,755 ft) on the North face. Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary made the first official ascent of Everest in 1953 using the southeast ridge route. Tenzing had reached 8,595 m (28,199 ft) the previous year as a member of the 1952 Swiss expedition.

The Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is the epitome of Mughal art and one of the most famous buildings in the world. Yet there have been few serious studies of it and no full analysis of its architecture and meaning. Ebba Koch, an important scholar,  has been permitted to take measurements of the complex and has been working on the palaces and gardens of Shah Jahan for thirty years and on the Taj Mahal itself—the tomb of the emperor's wife, Mumtaz Mahal—for a decade.

The tomb is the representation of the house of the queen in Paradise, and  its setting was based on the palace gardens of the great nobles that lined both sides of the river at Agra, India.  You will explore the entire complex of the Taj Mahal with an explanation of each building and an account of the mausoleum's urban setting, its design and construction, its symbolic meaning, and its history up to the present day.

Taj Mahal was built in 22 years (1631-1653) with the orders of Shah Jahan and it was dedicated to Mumtaz Mahal (Arjumand Bano Begum), the wife of Shah. 20.000 workers labored and 32 crore rupees were spent during the construction of the monument, and it was built using marble, according to Islamic architecture. It is one of the UNESCO world heritage site.

The Interior of Taj Mahal

The Glass Beach

Glass Beach is one of the most unique beaches in the world, not because nature created it that way, but because time and the pounding surf have corrected one of man's mistakes.

Beginning in 1949, the area around Glass Beach became a public dump. It is hard to believe these days, but back then people dumped all kinds of refuse straight into the ocean, including old cars, and their household garbage, which of course included lots of glass. By the early sixties, some attempts were made to control what was dumped, and dumping of any toxic items was banned. Finally in 1967, the North Coast Water Quality Board realized what a mistake it was and plans were begun for a new dump away from the ocean.

Now, over 30 years later, Mother Nature has reclaimed this beach. Years of pounding wave action have deposited tons of polished glass onto the beach. You'll still see the occasional reminder of it earlier life, such as a rusted spark plug, but for the most part what you'll see is millions of pieces of glass sparkling in the sun.

In addition to searching for and collecting glass, Glass Beach has a very interesting array of tide pools to explore. Crabs, mollusks, and many aquatic plants make their homes in these ever changing environments. It is very easy to spend your whole day poking around the tide pools and watching the busy little worlds that go on inside each one.

Since this property became State Parks, we have been asked to remind visitors not to take the glass. Signage is not up yet at the park stating this so we feel it is our responsibility to help educate visitors about this.