NP Gorongosa, Mozambique

The Wild Heart of Mozambique shows Signs of Life


fun at sunset
Young lions enjoy themselves on the grassy edge of Lake Urema.
Palapa
Palanca negra, as it is better known in Angola, crosses the mist and one of the PN Gorongosa's trails.
Pivas out of sight
Pivas, by far the most visible species in Gorongosa.
Mistrust
Elephant tries to notice what is coming and then reacts angrily and withdraws.
Twilight Hunt
Young lions roam a shore of the golden lake Urema at sunset.
Passing through the lions
PN Gorongosa's jeep returns to Chitengo after a good time watching some of the park's lions.
eyeing the lake
Fishing eagle attentive to movements in the water of a small lake below.
impala arrangement
Herd of impala watching the passage of human visitors from Gorongosa.
the great Gorongosa
The slope of the Gorongosa mountain range shrouded in fog, a common scene in the mornings of this interior region of Mozambique.
Palapa II
A male sable (little) concealed in the Gorongosa vegetation.
vulture stuff
Greg Kaltenecker's team of ornithologists obtain data on a white-headed vulture, a species that he studies and tracks in Gorongosa.
general stampede
Geese leave a lake full of amphibious vegetation.
a new sunset
Impala scrutinizes the Gorongosa tando on sunset.
Black Loin Storks
A duo of the so-called African tuiuius.
Fogo
Gorongosa National Park guides observe a fire in Gorongosa National Park.
Gorongosa palm trees
One of Gorongosa's trademarks: its palm trees.
Evening Colors
Large tree cuts through the lush sunset around Gorongosa.
flight of the black loin stork
Black-backed stork in flight.
Near-night socializing
Mainly American visitors to PN Gorongosa live outside Chitengo.
national park-gorongosa-mozambique-wild-life-road
One of the many roads that ply PN Gorongosa.
Gorongosa was home to one of the most exuberant ecosystems in Africa, but from 1980 to 1992 it succumbed to the Civil War waged between FRELIMO and RENAMO. Greg Carr, Voice Mail's millionaire inventor received a message from the Mozambican ambassador to the UN challenging him to support Mozambique. For the good of the country and humanity, Carr pledged to resurrect the stunning national park that the Portuguese colonial government had created there.

The guide born in Zimbabwe Test takes us on one of the classic game drive jeeps.

After an introductory journey through the arboreal vegetation of PN Gorongosa, we arrive at an open savannah, filled with almost shallow dry grass, by areas of thick and dense tufts, mid-height.

It was sprinkled with exotic palm trees, some dwarf, others, not really, fans, ilalas or the like.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, palm trees

One of Gorongosa's trademarks: its palm trees.

“Well, they were hanging around here this morning. Let's see if they're still walking…”

The encounter is not immediate. As we comb through the windblown golden labyrinth, Test comes to doubt the quest's success. And getting impatient.

For a short time.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, safari

PN Gorongosa's jeep returns to Chitengo after a good time watching some of the park's lions.

“Oh done! There they are. See them?” Of course we were.

Two young lions had appeared out of nowhere. They panted. They gave us the idea of ​​being bothered by the heat that was still only ten in the morning. “They ate with the rest of the pack during the night. Now, they took time off for them.” adds Test.

In fact, we saw many more herbivores around: impala, bauala, piva and others.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, imbabalas

Imbabalas on a narrow road in PN Gorongosa.

What interested the lions, however, was the more ventilated shade around.

They chased her to and fro in such a way, they appeared and disappeared in the middle of the tufted undergrowth that we seemed to be playing hide and seek.

It was our first lion sighting in Gorongosa.

Several would follow. As easy as that.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, lions

Young lions enjoy themselves on the grassy edge of Lake Urema.

Gorongosa's Amazing Rivers and Ecosystems

His search allowed us, at the same time, to begin to appreciate the unique beauty of Gorongosa.

It forms a patchwork of ecosystems spread from the foothills of the homonymous mountain range to the Cheringoma Plateau, traversed by a series of rivers that have irrigated Lake Urema for centuries and sustain the incredible biodiversity of these places:

the Vunduzi that rises on the slopes of the Serra da Gorongosa, the Nhandugue, the namesake Urema, the Muaredzi.

And smaller ones that, as a rule, disappear during the dry season.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, Black Loin Storks

A duo of the so-called African tuiuius.

Test takes us towards the edge of Urema, the lake. In June, with the rains already a few months past, this edge is a vast area lined with very green and succulent grass.

It appears teeming with herbivores, in particular with countless wildebeests, in an abundance that we have not found anywhere else in the world.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, Pivas

Pivas, by far the most visible species in Gorongosa.

We see for the first time how much the fauna of Gorongosa had recovered from its darkest years.

In conversation with Vasco Galante, the park's Communication Director, he shows us a video of a promotional film from 1961, directed by Miguel Spiguel and narrated by the unmistakable Fernando Pessa.

Vasco tells us that, in his Abrantina youth, that same film, with the imagery of the jungle and safari, had dazzled him and aroused the dream of getting to know the place.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, Chitengo gate guard

Chitengo official in charge of entrances and exits to the field.

From Hunting Reserve to Lush Colonial National Park

By that time, Gorongosa was glowing. From 1920 to 1959, it was a hunting reserve that the Mozambique Company determined with 1000 km2.

By 1940, it had become famous.

Incautiously, the authorities endowed her with a tourist camp in the alluvial plain next to the Mussicadzi River.

As many feared, in 1942 floods damaged infrastructure. Vasco shows us another movie. In it we see how packs led by lions with huge soot-colored manes took over the buildings.

How they climbed the spiral stairs to reach the terrace where they rested and scrutinized their domains and passed their eyes over the countless specimens that roamed there: wildebeest (3500), wildebeest (5500), impala (2000), zebra (3000), buffalo (14500), elephants (2200), hippos (3500), hundreds of elandes, sables and gondongas, all species later inventoried by South African ecologist Kenneth Tinley.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, Impalas

Small herd of impala watching the passage of human visitors from Gorongosa.

In 1951, a new administration of the colonial government took into account that Gorongosa was already visited every year by more than 6000 tourists.

It dictated the construction of accommodation infrastructure, a restaurant and a bar, all in Chitengo.

Four years later, Gorongosa was declared a national park. Chitengo received new roads and other infrastructure.

In the late 60s, it also had a post office, a fuel station, an emergency clinic, a craft shop, two swimming pools and even a nightclub.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, Chitengo Building

PN Gorongosa workers in front of one of the buildings in Chitengo.

The Harmless Years of the War of Independence

From 1964 to 1975, the war for independence generated by the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) hardly affected the park.

In 1972, a Portuguese Company supported by several members of such a Provincial Volunteer Organization parked in the area to protect it.

In 1976, a new count confirmed several thousand animals and far more than the 200 lions previously verified, the highest number to date.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, twilight lions

Young lions roam a shore of the golden lake Urema at sunset.

Its ecosystem proved to be as healthy as ever.

Until, financed and armed by the South Africa and by the “white” government of Southern Rhodesia, the National Resistance of Mozambique (RENAMO), in opposition to FRELIMO, entered the scene.

1981-1992: The Traumatic Destruction of PN Gorongosa

It was 1981. The Civil War took over the country and, for Gorongosa, the worst possible scenario was confirmed: that RENAMO would soon use it as its headquarters.

That same year, RENAMO attacked Chitengo. He kidnapped several of his workers and two foreign scientists.

In 1983, the park was closed. From then onwards, violence and destruction increased. Ground battles and aerial bombardments destroyed the buildings.

Soldiers on both sides of the conflict slaughtered hundreds of elephants to sell ivory and obtain new weapons.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, Lioness

Lioness rests warmed by the soft late afternoon sun.

Hungry soldiers killed thousands of distinct herbivores and the lions themselves – now protected and monitored with location collars – and other predators were decimated for sheer fun or starved to death for lack of their prey.

The civil war ended in 1992 but the park's fauna continued to be poached. By the end of the atrocities, nearly all large animals had been reduced by 90% or more.

Obviously, in 2017, there was still a lot to be done.

Infrastructure and fauna recovered and how.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, Baboons and Pivas

Baboons pass in front of a curious herd of piva.

Back to the Discovery of Gorongosa BP

The next morning, we left early, in a new game drive mode led by Moutinho, a young native guide. A dense fog envelops Gorongosa.

Along the way, spooky silhouettes of animals appear at intervals on the narrow dirt road that the tropical vegetation struggled to invade: imbabalas, inhacosos and sables – the Mozambican name for Angola's emblematic black sables.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, Pala-Pala

Palanca negra, as it is better known in Angola, crosses the mist and one of the PN Gorongosa's trails.

We have a look at lakes bequeathed by the rainy months (January to April), full of birds:

egypt geese, ibises, marabouts, yellow-billed and black-backed storks, pelicans and many others.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, Pelicans

despite the distance to the ocean
Indian Ocean, pelicans abound in PN Gorongosa.

The more we traveled through the park, the more we were enchanted by its fifty-odd ecosystems:

the endless tando, the yellow wattle forest and the savannah dotted with exotic palm trees, the grassy and swampy shores of the Urema, the lake itself shared by hippos and crocodiles.

The tropical forest on the slopes of the mountains and many other environments.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, fog in the great Gorongosa

The slope of the Gorongosa mountain range shrouded in fog, a common scene in the mornings of this interior region of Mozambique.

In Search of the Park's Elusive Elephants

After intense search, we found a lone elephant male there, later another. It is not by chance that the memory of these pachyderms is as famous as it is.

In Gorongosa, barely detecting jeeps, elephants remember past traumas during and after the Civil War.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, elephant

Elephant tries to notice what is coming and then reacts angrily and withdraws.

They react with immediate suspicion and even chase vehicles. Unlike the lions – which we easily find again on the edge of the Urema – they are elusive.

But with time, everything heals.

This is how the Mozambican government considered that, in 1994, with the support of the African Development Bank and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, it sought to recover infrastructure, open trails and roads.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, road.

One of the many roads that ply PN Gorongosa.

Demining the region and fighting poaching with the support of eighty newly hired employees, some former park workers and even ex-combatants.

Greg Carr: From the Mozambican Ambassador's Message to the UN to Action

After the turn of the century, Greg Carr, the American who invented Voicemail and prospered with it, entered the equation.

The Idaho multimillionaire welcomed a suggestion by the Mozambican ambassador to the UN during a meeting promoted by the Kennedy family to support Mozambique's recovery from the war.

Shortly thereafter, he visited Gorongosa. He was surrendered and convinced that the park could function as a strong tourist mobile for the development of central Mozambique.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, Drª de Turno

Chitengo doctor on duty for workers and visitors to PN Gorongosa.

In 2004, Joaquim Chissano validated a partnership between the Mozambican Ministry of Tourism and the Carr Foundation, which Greg had created in 1999 for a thirty-year tenure of Gorongosa. This partnership foresaw an investment of almost 25 million euros.

In infrastructure, reintroduction of animals – as happened with the 54 elephants he bought from South African neighbor Kruger Park – integration of Gorongosa communities and their benefit from the project's estimated profits.

Vasco Galante: The Right Arm and the Man Always on the Ground by Greg Carr

By this time, Vasco Galante became Carr's right-hand man. Fed up with the business life he led in Portugal, he had already decided to change his life and Mozambique had stayed in his heart.

When he found out that Greg Carr was looking for someone responsible for the Gorongosa team, the delicious film by Miguel Spiguel with voiceover by Fernando Pessa flashed through his mind.

Vasco became an unavoidable part of the park's family. how is it Matthew Mutemba, the administrator we are equally privileged to live with, recently awarded by National Geographic as one of their “Emerging Explorers”From 2017.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, ducks

Geese leave a lake full of amphibious vegetation.

American Interest in Gorongosa vs Donald Trump's Isolationist Policy

On the days he welcomes us, Chitengo is in a frenzy.

Dozens of Americans from Idaho, most of them connected to Greg Carr or his family, were visiting.

The presence of these Yankees does not prevent the successive sieges and incursions of baboons into the restaurant's kitchen. Nor the nutritional walks of the warthog bands all over the complex.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, Warthog, Warthog

A warthog lurks from within its den.

We join one of the jeeps they follow. We realized that, in most cases, they were the first safaris in which they participated and how they lived with enthusiasm and redoubled interest all the biological learning of Gorongosa:

a team of ornithologists that captured, weighed and identified vultures for further study;

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, Vulture

Greg Kaltenecker's team of ornithologists obtain data on a white-headed vulture, a species that he studies and tracks in Gorongosa.

the amazement of its ever-changing ecosystems and the exuberant sunset, melting towards the sides of the mountain.

When the dark sets in, we help them and the guide Moutinho – Monty as they preferred to call him – with a bright spotlight, to find nocturnal species: horse riders, civets and shrill jagras.

On our way back to Chitengo, we passed one of the fires that the authorities used to keep vegetation under control during the dry season.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, Fire

Gorongosa National Park guides observe a fire in Gorongosa National Park.

At the farewell barbecue that followed, one of the representatives of the American group thanked the park for the opportunity.

He took the opportunity to snipe Donald Trump's international relations policies, which cut back on support from USAID and other US programs. USA to the countries most in need.

"We save on the programs that we make friends in the world, we will see ourselves spending on weapons to fight new enemies."

PN Gorongosa is about to receive a land extension to the banks of the Zambezi River.

Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, Wildlife, sunset

Impala scrutinizes the Gorongosa tando on sunset.

These days, it is just as crucial for Gorongosa that foreign aid is for Mozambique to remain at peace.

Ibo Island, Mozambique

Island of a Gone Mozambique

It was fortified in 1791 by the Portuguese who expelled the Arabs from the Quirimbas and seized their trade routes. It became the 2nd Portuguese outpost on the east coast of Africa and later the capital of the province of Cabo Delgado, Mozambique. With the end of the slave trade at the turn of the XNUMXth century and the passage from the capital to Porto Amélia, Ibo Island found itself in the fascinating backwater in which it is located.
bazaruto, Mozambique

The Inverted Mirage of Mozambique

Just 30km off the East African coast, an unlikely but imposing erg rises out of the translucent sea. Bazaruto it houses landscapes and people who have lived apart for a long time. Whoever lands on this lush, sandy island soon finds himself in a storm of awe.
Ilha de Mozambique, Mozambique  

The Island of Ali Musa Bin Bique. Pardon... of Mozambique

With the arrival of Vasco da Gama in the extreme south-east of Africa, the Portuguese took over an island that had previously been ruled by an Arab emir, who ended up misrepresenting the name. The emir lost his territory and office. Mozambique - the molded name - remains on the resplendent island where it all began and also baptized the nation that Portuguese colonization ended up forming.
Cape Cross, Namíbia

The Most Turbulent of the African Colonies

Diogo Cão landed in this cape of Africa in 1486, installed a pattern and turned around. The immediate coastline to the north and south was German, South African, and finally Namibian. Indifferent to successive transfers of nationality, one of the largest seal colonies in the world has maintained its hold there and animates it with deafening marine barks and endless tantrums.
PN Hwange, Zimbabwe

The Legacy of the Late Cecil Lion

On July 1, 2015, Walter Palmer, a dentist and trophy hunter from Minnesota killed Cecil, Zimbabwe's most famous lion. The slaughter generated a viral wave of outrage. As we saw in PN Hwange, nearly two years later, Cecil's descendants thrive.
Enxame Mozambique

Mozambican Fashion Service Area

It is repeated at almost all stops in towns of Mozambique worthy of appearing on maps. The machimbombo (bus) stops and is surrounded by a crowd of eager "businessmen". The products offered can be universal such as water or biscuits or typical of the area. In this region, a few kilometers from Nampula, fruit sales suceeded, in each and every case, quite intense.
Miranda, Brazil

Maria dos Jacarés: the Pantanal shelters such Creatures

Eurides Fátima de Barros was born in the interior of the Miranda region. 38 years ago, he settled in a small business on the side of BR262 that crosses the Pantanal and gained an affinity with the alligators that lived on his doorstep. Disgusted that once upon a time the creatures were being slaughtered there, she began to take care of them. Now known as Maria dos Jacarés, she named each of the animals after a soccer player or coach. It also makes sure they recognize your calls.
Saint Lucia, South Africa

An Africa as Wild as Zulu

On the eminence of the coast of Mozambique, the province of KwaZulu-Natal is home to an unexpected South Africa. Deserted beaches full of dunes, vast estuarine swamps and hills covered with fog fill this wild land also bathed by the Indian Ocean. It is shared by the subjects of the always proud Zulu nation and one of the most prolific and diverse fauna on the African continent.
Lake Manyara NP, Tanzania

Hemingway's Favorite Africa

Situated on the western edge of the Rift Valley, Lake Manyara National Park is one of the smallest but charming and richest in Europe. wild life of Tanzania. In 1933, between hunting and literary discussions, Ernest Hemingway dedicated a month of his troubled life to him. He narrated those adventurous safari days in “The Green Hills of Africa".
Amboseli National Park, Kenya

A Gift from the Kilimanjaro

The first European to venture into these Masai haunts was stunned by what he found. And even today, large herds of elephants and other herbivores roam the pastures irrigated by the snow of Africa's biggest mountain.
Iberá Wetlands, Argentina

The Pantanal of the Pampas

On the world map, south of the famous brazilian wetland, a little-known flooded region appears, but almost as vast and rich in biodiversity. the Guarani expression Y bera defines it as “shining waters”. The adjective fits more than its strong luminance.
Serengeti NP, Tanzania

The Great Migration of the Endless Savanna

In these prairies that the Masai people say syringet (run forever), millions of wildebeests and other herbivores chase the rains. For predators, their arrival and that of the monsoon are the same salvation.
savuti, botswana, elephant-eating lions
Safari
Savuti, Botswana

Savuti's Elephant-Eating Lions

A patch of the Kalahari Desert dries up or is irrigated depending on the region's tectonic whims. In Savuti, lions have become used to depending on themselves and prey on the largest animals in the savannah.
Herd in Manang, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 8th Manang, Nepal

Manang: the Last Acclimatization in Civilization

Six days after leaving Besisahar we finally arrived in Manang (3519m). Located at the foot of the Annapurna III and Gangapurna Mountains, Manang is the civilization that pampers and prepares hikers for the ever-dreaded crossing of Thorong La Gorge (5416 m).
A Lost and Found City
Architecture & Design
Machu Picchu, Peru

The City Lost in the Mystery of the Incas

As we wander around Machu Picchu, we find meaning in the most accepted explanations for its foundation and abandonment. But whenever the complex is closed, the ruins are left to their enigmas.
lagoons and fumaroles, volcanoes, PN tongariro, new zealand
Adventure
Tongariro, New Zealand

The Volcanoes of All Discords

In the late XNUMXth century, an indigenous chief ceded the PN Tongariro volcanoes to the British crown. Today, a significant part of the Maori people claim their mountains of fire from European settlers.
self-flagellation, passion of christ, philippines
Ceremonies and Festivities
Marinduque, Philippines

The Philippine Passion of Christ

No nation around is Catholic but many Filipinos are not intimidated. In Holy Week, they surrender to the belief inherited from the Spanish colonists. Self-flagellation becomes a bloody test of faith
Porvoo, Finland, warehouses
Cities
Porvoo, Finland

A Medieval and Winter Finland

One of the oldest settlements of the Suomi nation, in the early XNUMXth century, Porvoo was a busy riverside post and its third city. Over time, Porvoo lost commercial importance. In return, it has become one of Finland's revered historic strongholds.  
Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo, Japan
Meal
Tokyo, Japan

The Fish Market That Lost its Freshness

In a year, each Japanese eats more than their weight in fish and shellfish. Since 1935, a considerable part was processed and sold in the largest fish market in the world. Tsukiji was terminated in October 2018, and replaced by Toyosu's.
the projectionist
Culture
Sainte-Luce, Martinique

The Nostalgic Projectionist

From 1954 to 1983, Gérard Pierre screened many of the famous films arriving in Martinique. 30 years after the closing of the room in which he worked, it was still difficult for this nostalgic native to change his reel.
Bungee jumping, Queenstown, New Zealand
Sport
Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown, the Queen of Extreme Sports

In the century. XVIII, the Kiwi government proclaimed a mining village on the South Island "fit for a queen".Today's extreme scenery and activities reinforce the majestic status of ever-challenging Queenstown.
Gyantse, Kumbum temple
Traveling
Lhasa a Gyantse, Tibet

Gyantse, through the Heights of Tibet

The final target is the Tibetan Everest Base Camp. On this first route, starting from Lhasa, we pass by the sacred lake of Yamdrok (4.441m) and the glacier of the Karo gorge (5.020m). In Gyantse, we surrender to the Tibetan-Buddhist splendor of the old citadel.
Conversation between photocopies, Inari, Babel Parliament of the Sami Lapland Nation, Finland
Ethnic
Inari, Finland

The Babel Parliament of the Sami Nation

The Sami Nation comprises four countries, which ingest into the lives of their peoples. In the parliament of Inari, in various dialects, the Sami govern themselves as they can.
ice tunnel, black gold route, Valdez, Alaska, USA
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

Sensations vs Impressions

Celestyal Crystal Cruise, Santorini, Greece
History
Nea Kameni, Santorini, Greece

The Volcanic Core of Santorini

About three millennia had passed since the Minoan eruption that tore apart the largest volcano island in the Aegean. The cliff-top inhabitants watched land emerge from the center of the flooded caldera. Nea Kameni, the smoking heart of Santorini, was born.
View of Serra do Cume, Terceira Island, Unique Azores
Islands
Terceira Island, Azores

Terceira Island: Journey through a Unique Archipelago of the Azores

It was called the Island of Jesus Christ and has radiated, for a long time, the cult of the Holy Spirit. It houses Angra do Heroísmo, the oldest and most splendid city in the archipelago. These are just two examples. The attributes that make Terceira island unique are endless.
St. Trinity Church, Kazbegi, Georgia, Caucasus
Winter White
Kazbegi, Georgia

God in the Caucasus Heights

In the 4000th century, Orthodox religious took their inspiration from a hermitage that a monk had erected at an altitude of 5047 m and perched a church between the summit of Mount Kazbek (XNUMXm) and the village at the foot. More and more visitors flock to these mystical stops on the edge of Russia. Like them, to get there, we submit to the whims of the reckless Georgia Military Road.
silhouette and poem, Cora coralina, Goias Velho, Brazil
Literature
Goiás Velho, Brazil

The Life and Work of a Marginal Writer

Born in Goiás, Ana Lins Bretas spent most of her life far from her castrating family and the city. Returning to its origins, it continued to portray the prejudiced mentality of the Brazilian countryside
Pico Island, west of the mountain, Azores, Lajes do Pico
Nature
Pico Island, Azores

The Island East of the Pico Mountain

As a rule, whoever arrives at Pico disembarks on its western side, with the volcano (2351m) blocking the view on the opposite side. Behind Pico Mountain, there is a whole long and dazzling “east” of the island that takes time to unravel.
Sheki, Autumn in the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, Autumn Homes
Autumn
Sheki, Azerbaijan

autumn in the caucasus

Lost among the snowy mountains that separate Europe from Asia, Sheki is one of Azerbaijan's most iconic towns. Its largely silky history includes periods of great harshness. When we visited it, autumn pastels added color to a peculiar post-Soviet and Muslim life.
El Tatio Geisers, Atacama, Chile, Between ice and heat
Natural Parks
El Tatio, Chile

El Tatio Geysers – Between the Ice and the Heat of the Atacama

Surrounded by supreme volcanoes, the geothermal field of El Tatio, in the Atacama Desert it appears as a Dantesque mirage of sulfur and steam at an icy 4200 m altitude. Its geysers and fumaroles attract hordes of travelers.
Forested Peaks, Huang Shan, China, Anhui, Yellow Mountain Floating Peaks
UNESCO World Heritage
Huang Shan, China

Huang Shan: The Yellow Mountains of the Floating Peaks

The granitic peaks of the floating yellow mountains of Huang Shan, from which acrobat pines sprout, appear in artistic illustrations from China without count. The real scenery, in addition to being remote, remains hidden above the clouds for over 200 days.
Correspondence verification
Characters
Rovaniemi, Finland

From the Finnish Lapland to the Arctic. A Visit to the Land of Santa

Fed up with waiting for the bearded old man to descend down the chimney, we reverse the story. We took advantage of a trip to Finnish Lapland and passed through its furtive home.
Fisherman maneuvers boat near Bonete Beach, Ilhabela, Brazil
Beaches
Ilhabela, Brazil

In Ilhabela, on the way to Bonete

A community of caiçaras descendants of pirates founded a village in a corner of Ilhabela. Despite the difficult access, Bonete was discovered and considered one of the ten best beaches in Brazil.
Vairocana Buddha, Todai ji Temple, Nara, Japan
Religion
Nara, Japan

The Colossal Cradle of the Japanese Buddhism

Nara has long since ceased to be the capital and its Todai-ji temple has been demoted. But the Great Hall remains the largest ancient wooden building in the world. And it houses the greatest bronze Vairocana Buddha.
Back in the sun. San Francisco Cable Cars, Life Ups and Downs
On Rails
San Francisco, USA

San Francisco Cable Cars: A Life of Highs and Lows

A macabre wagon accident inspired the San Francisco cable car saga. Today, these relics work as a charm operation in the city of fog, but they also have their risks.
patpong, go go bar, bangkok, one thousand and one nights, thailand
Society
Bangkok, Thailand

One Thousand and One Lost Nights

In 1984, Murray Head sang the nighttime magic and bipolarity of the Thai capital in "One night in bangkok". Several years, coups d'etat, and demonstrations later, Bangkok remains sleepless.
Saksun, Faroe Islands, Streymoy, warning
Daily life
Saksun, StreymoyFaroe Islands

The Faroese Village That Doesn't Want to be Disneyland

Saksun is one of several stunning small villages in the Faroe Islands that more and more outsiders visit. It is distinguished by the aversion to tourists of its main rural owner, author of repeated antipathies and attacks against the invaders of his land.
Newborn turtle, PN Tortuguero, Costa Rica
Wildlife
PN Tortuguero, Costa Rica

A Night at the Nursery of Tortuguero

The name of the Tortuguero region has an obvious and ancient reason. Turtles from the Atlantic and the Caribbean Sea have long flocked to the black sand beaches of its narrow coastline to spawn. On one of the nights we spent in Tortuguero we watched their frenzied births.
Napali Coast and Waimea Canyon, Kauai, Hawaii Wrinkles
Scenic Flights
napali coast, Hawaii

Hawaii's Dazzling Wrinkles

Kauai is the greenest and rainiest island in the Hawaiian archipelago. It is also the oldest. As we explore its Napalo Coast by land, sea and air, we are amazed to see how the passage of millennia has only favored it.
PT EN ES FR DE IT