1. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
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Salar de Uyuni is located on the Andes in Bolivia and is the world’s largest salt flat. It’s a dried salt lake which has created an amazing flat few meters high salt crust and consists from 50 to 70% of the world’s reserves of lithium. However, it’s not the reason why this place is so famous. During the raining season the water creates the world’s largest mirror. You can see the sky and clouds under your feet and feel like you’re walking on them. Although it’s a quite remote place, there are still a lot of tourists who make their best photos in Salar de Uyuni.
2. Antelope Canyon, United States
www.adventure-travel.org.uk
Antelope Canyon is definitely one of the most photographed places in United States. It’s placed in the Navajo land in Arizona. There are two separate Antelope canyons. The Navajo name of the upper one is Tse’ bighanilini, which means “the place where water runs through rocks,” while the other is Hasdestwazi – “spiral rock arches.” It was formed from the rocks erosion and the flashing water, while the time just softened the edges to create one of the world’s most beautiful sites.
3. Chocolate Hills, Philippines
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Although the hills are green during the dry season the grass turns brown so they really look like a chocolate. They’re located in Philippines and there are approximately 1300 of these. Their forming is still a mystery. There are a lot of theories about it: sub-oceanic volcanic reaction, limestone weathering, while the most recent says that when an ancient volcano self-destructed it spewed huge blocks of stones around, which later turned into hills.
4. The Gateway to Hell, Iceland
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The little island on the end of Earth has a number of nature wonders and the main reason is the volcanoes there. Although the name of the country is Iceland there are a lot of eruptions there. The Gateway to hell, or Namaskar as the islanders call it, is a group of volcanoes that are constantly steaming creating ambient as the hell is described in the myths. However, if you visit this place you won’t find the hell as the name suggests, but you’ll find the heaven on Earth.
5. Ice Towers on Mount Erebus, Antarctica
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Mount Erebus is the hottest place on the breezy continent as it’s the only active volcano there. The 3794 meters summit elevation is covered with hundreds of amazing ice towers that constantly emit steam into the sky. When the steam freezes into the towers it enables their expanding and extending. They’re usually high about 20 meters. There was an opportunity to see this wonder in 1977 when an air company from New Zealand had scheduled a flight from Auckland to Antarctica without an intermediate stop. However, a crash happened in 1979 and now there’s no such a flight.
6. Stone Forest, Madagascar
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The Stone Forest, or “where you can’t walk barefoot” as the locals call it, is placed in the Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park in Madagascar. The breathtaking karst formations were formed from both vertical and horizontal erosion and created an otherworldly forest that is part of a World’s Heritage site due to the fact that it is home of several much endangered species. The “trees” are magnet to a lot of tourists who come to the paradise island every year.
7. Wave Rock
www.en.wikipedia.org
The Wave Rock derives its name by its form, which looks like a giant ocean wave ready to break everything on its way. It is located near the town of Hyden in Western Australia. In 1951 there was constructed a retaining wall which task is to collect the water into a dam. This place has some cultural significance for Aborigines, while once a year there’s hosted the Wave Rock Festival. Near the rock there are two other rocky sites worth visiting – Hippos Yawn and The Humps.
8. Fingal’s Cave, Scotland
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The breathtaking Fingal’s Cave in Scotland gives you impression that someone has built it. The perfect hexagonally jointed basalt columns were formed during many years when the hot lava was cracked into perfect hexagonal patterns in a similar way to drying mud cracking as it shrinks, and these cracks gradually extended down into the mass of lava as it cooled and shrank to form the columns, which were subsequently exposed by erosion. There are similar phenomenon in Northern Ireland and Ulva in Scotland.
9. The Wave, United States
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The Wave is not as famous as some other amazing sites in United States, but it’s truly breathtaking as the rest. It is located in Arizona near the border with Utah. The 190 million old geological wonder was formed from sand dunes that turned to rock. Unfortunately, this beauty is not accessible by vehicle. You have to do a trackless three miles hike to reach it, but you won’t regret.
10. Great Blue Hole
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The Great Blue Hole in Belize is world wide known as one of the greatest diving sites. The almost perfect circular hole is part of the Lighthouse Reef and is 450 meters deep. The analysis of stalactites found in Great Blue Hole confirms that formation has taken place during billions of years when the ocean level was much lower. When it arose the great hole was filled with water and now we have one of the world’s greatest geological wonders.
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