Page 14 - Off The Tourist Trail - 1000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (Part 2 of 2)

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NATURAL WONDERS

ABOVE Lighthouse in the azure, reef-speckled water off the southern coast of Grande Terre, New Caledonia
RIGHT Wattled jaçana walking across a Victoria water lily in a pond near Porto Jofre, northern Pantanal

NEW CALEDONIA BARRIER REEF, MELANESIA Second in length only to Australia’s PANTANAL, BRAZIL The largest wetlands in the world don’t sound particularly appealing.
Great Barrier Reef, this coral formation in the southwest Pacific runs for nearly 1,000 miles But this vast and incredibly fertile region of central-west Brazil has some of the most
(1,600 km) through the islands of New Caledonia, encircling a vast lagoon. Species found exciting – and easily seen – creatures in the world. The wet season runs from November
here are so diverse that many are still being discovered, though 1,000 kinds of fish are to April, when it rains for several hours every afternoon and the aquatic flora rejoices; in
known. Turtles love the reef, as do dugongs – clumsy-looking marine mammals that can the dry season, which runs from May to October, a huge variety of birds congregate
grow to the size of a cow. Dive in and see coral, sponges, molluscs, and tropical fish; stay here. Capybaras, giant otters, and marsh deer are among the animals to be seen all year
above water and glimpse many exotic birds, including the red-footed booby. round. Stay on a local cattle farm and explore the region by boat or on horseback.

MONUMENT VALLEY, UTAH, USA Heading down dead-straight Highway 161 towards MANDAI ORCHID GARDEN, SINGAPORE Of all
the backdrop of Monument Valley’s broken crags, you might well get the feeling that the world’s cultivated flowers, none is so exotic as
you have been this way before. And in films, you have – this classic Western scene of the orchid. And one of the best places to see it in all
unremitting desert scattered with the great, lonely fists of red rock known as “Mittens” its exquisite glory is at Mandai’s Vintage Garden in
has seen many a cowboy and stagecoach ride by. You can take a horse or go on a tour to Singapore. This hillside plot has some 200 varieties of
reach those places that are off-limits to those on foot. For an authentic touch, consider the flower in many fabulous shapes and colors, as
staying in a hogan – a traditional home of the Native American Navajo people. well as a water garden and herb and spice enclosure.

RIO GRANDE GORGE, NEW MEXICO, SAMARIA GORGE, CRETE, GREECE WADI EL-HITAN (VALLEY OF THE PLAYA OSTIONAL, COSTA RICA One of
USA Take in the view of this void from the A walk through this deep fissure of WHALES), EGYPT There was a time when nature’s miraculous events is the arrival of
Rio Grande Gorge Bridge on Highway 64, rock, running for 11 miles (17 km) from whales wandered the earth. Well, an early thousands of turtles on this beach every
a piece of engineering to match the drama Omalos to Aghia Roumeli on the south type of whale – a four-legged creature few weeks from July to November. These
of the canyon itself. Way below is a river coast of Crete, is not for the unfit. Once in called an archaeoceti. It’s a scary, unlikely amphibians lumber out of the surf to
that promises white-water rafting par the gorge, there’s no turning back. It’s a thought, but here the evidence is brought lay their eggs in such numbers that the
excellence. Underground volcanic activity Dantean landscape of sheer rock rising to light: the skeletons of land-whales on beach can look like a rocky shore. A
still shows up in hot springs along the towards the sun, which in high summer the point of losing their hind legs. This is conservation deal with the locals allows
valley, and petroglyphs reveal human shines without mercy. Towards the end, the greatest concentration of prehistoric them to collect eggs from the first batches,
activity from centuries past. the rock walls are 1,640 ft (500 m) high. animal bones ever found. as long as they protect the later ones.

NORTHERN LIGHTS, GREENLAND LUNAR RAINBOWS, VICTORIA FALLS, SEMENGGOH NATURE RESERVE,
Much mystery still surrounds the aurora ZAMBIA/ZIMBABWE Victoria Falls is a SARAWAK, MALAYSIA This is your
borealis; scientists do not know, for spectacular sight at any time, not least chance to come face to face with the
example, why the geomagnetic storms because its spray, like rain, creates a king of the swingers, the orang-utan.
behind the phenomenon are strongest rainbow when the sun is out. At night, Many survive in the jungle here because
during the equinoxes. But you don’t have this rainbow usually vanishes, except of the successful work of the preserve’s
to understand the science to appreciate when there is a full moon and a clear sky, rehabilitation center, where you can see
the most spectacular show on earth. Head and when the Zambezi River is at its most these funny, intelligent primates. They
to Greenland instead of the more touristy thunderous (Jan–Jul). The combination of spend most of their time foraging, but
viewing spots in Alaska and Norway. moon and rainbow is a very romantic one. appear twice a day at feeding time.

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