La Digue, Seychelles

Monumental Tropical Granite


incredulous brigade
Visitors to La Digue underwater capturing the incredible cliffs of Anse Source d'Argent.
blue shadow
Woman photographs the turquoise waters of the north coast of the island.
Big anse
Wave rolls on the coral sand of the east coast of La Digue, the hardest hit by the Indian Ocean.
Bye!!
Thomas and Yencel return to La Passe after catching octopus and cuttlefish in the low waters of Anse Gaulettes.
cyan green
Tropical cove in front of the village of Patatran.
tropical rest
Friends relax by the sea at Anse Source d'Argent.
easy fishing
Thomas and Yencel display their catch of the day.
Heart of stone
Isolated cliffs in the waterlogged jungle northeast of La Digue.
In a geological balance
Granite boulders stand out from the idyllic beach of Petite Anse.
sweet glimpse
Dazzling colors from another of La Digue's east coast coves.
Welcome to Grande Anse
Owner of a bar at the entrance to Grande Anse de La Digue, prepares to grill fish.
Attention
Large poster clarifies visitors to La Union about taking care of local turtles.
Tropicality juices
Juice seller at the stand usually managed by her brother.
Of departure
Trawler about to leave the port of La Digue.
underwater life
Fish surround the bathers who remove the sand from their territories.
Homes. On vacation
Houses on the forested hillside around the dock where ferries dock.
bozoo
Guide in a golf cart, greeting acquaintances.
Flower & Stone
Creeper fits the predominant granite in La Digue and the Seychelles in general.
Granite Heart
Large granite block inside La Digue.
Marina
Sailboats fill the marina at La Digue, next to the ferry dock.
Beaches hidden by lush jungle, made of coral sand washed by a turquoise-emerald sea are anything but rare in the Indian Ocean. La Digue recreated itself. Around its coastline, massive boulders sprout that erosion has carved as an eccentric and solid tribute of time to the Nature.

Until some time ago, car ownership was not allowed on the small island.

Today, they are still rare.

Daniel was waiting for us at a golf club, the most popular type of vehicle in La Digue, side by side with the bicycle. He welcomes us as we leave the dock where the ferry from Praslin is moored and invites us to board.

With us installed, inaugurates the short trip from the west to the east coast. We advance along a path made of cement blocks that the vegetation wraps around and makes it dark.

Daniel meets all the non-foreigners he comes across, also driving golf carts, bicycles or on foot, and greets them alternately. He greets some with a simple “Allo”, others give a “bozo”, the local creole for “Hello".

La Digue, Seychelles, Road

Guide in a golf cart, greeting acquaintances.

Still others see them so regularly that they give them only a sketch of a nod. Five minutes later, we arrived at the lush entrance to the Grande Anse.

Having overcome a persistent hesitation, we agreed on the time when he would pick us up and set out on the short trail that, between coconut trees, led to the beach.

The Wild Beaches of East La Digue

A plaque marks its end and the beginning of the true coastline. The warning it broadcasts alarms as much as it can, in white and red and in five different dialects, starting with Seychellois: “Atansyon: Kouran three dance".

Still, what catches our attention the most is the beauty of the huge beach that stretches both north and south, the white sand, the crystalline sea bathed in blue gradients that fits perfectly into the bay.

La Digue, Seychelles, Beach next to Patatran

Bather leaves the turquoise sea off Patatran.

And the small peninsulas covered with cliffs that enclose its length, from the sea, which is now without foot, to the verdant edge of the equatorial jungle, which the natives call “pointes".

We had been in the Seychelles for a week.

After the sister islands Mahé and Praslin, such rock formations weren't exactly new. They had, however, an unprecedented harmony of shapes and lines that, together with some intrepid coconut trees and shrubby vegetation, made them unique.

La Digue, Seychelles, arrow signposted Petite Anse

Trail indication for Petite Anse.

Grande Anse was just the first of the deserted, wild and seductive beaches we explored on that radiant sunny morning. To the north of this, lurked the Petite Anse.

Beyond this minor was Anse Coco.

punchline after punchline, the Perfect Anses of La Digue

Once the sands of each one were finished, the access to the next followed trails that went through small wetlands and climbed to the top of new ones "pointes” both through the rainforest and among the sharp rocks that stand out from it.

Wherever we went, the dampness remained oppressive and, however much water we drank, it slowly distilled.

The jungle grew so unrestrained that it was not always possible to conquer the top of these “pointes” guaranteed us unobstructed views of the bays below. More than once, to achieve them we had to perform stunts on the sharp rocks, sometimes in really precarious balances.

When, finally, we reached points free of rocks or coconut palms, the panoramas of the “handles” rounded, with its colonies of granite pebbles, the blue sea and the bright green jungle left us awestruck.

La Digue, Seychelles, East Coast

Dazzling colors from another of La Digue's east coast coves.

We went down to the sandy beach of Anse Cocos soaked in sweat.

A sign similar to the one on the Grande Anse signaled more treacherous sea currents, but cooked as we were by the hot chlorophyll of those latitudes, we couldn't resist.

We chose a corner with no apparent abnormalities in the coming and going of the sea and bathed ourselves as that small island in the Seychelles deserved: in absolute ecstasy.

Urged on by the shameful delay that we already had in view of the agreement with Daniel, we completed the return to the Grande Anse in a fifth of the time.

Delayed return to the village of La Digue

When we got there, I had already returned to the village of La Digue.

We recovered our energy in a Creole beach bar in contact with the owners and with a crazy fifty-year-old foreigner who seemed to return there after a few years and who, to the trio's astonishment, treated them as if they were intimate.

La Digue, Seychelles, Bar in Grande Anse

Owner of a bar at the entrance to Grande Anse de La Digue, he is getting ready to grill fish.

Daniel appears with a calm but resigned air. Once again on your ride we return to the almost urban center of the island. In La Passe, we changed from the golf cart to two bikes without gears, as stiff as possible, possibly the worst on the island.

Even in whining mode, we cycled up the north coast.

Cyclists, La Digue, Seychelles

Residents share bicycles in the small village of La Digue.

Right on the first ramp, we saw why several other tourist-cyclists were driving their bicycles on foot.

It is on foot that we reach the edge of the local cemetery, a conglomeration of tombs and white crosses colored by flowers that followed one another over the grass to the highest area of ​​the forest.

Anse Severe and the Urbanized Coast of La Digue

The first French settlers from La Digue landed on the island accompanied by African slaves, starting in 1769.

Many returned to France, but the names of several others can be found in the oldest tombstones we had before us, as in the surnames of the current inhabitants, descendants of the settlers who remained, the slaves that were freed in the meantime and the Asian emigrants who joined them.

We went down from the cemetery again to the Anse Severe's seafront.

We stopped to examine that semi-hidden beach in the shadow of a mighty army of takamaka trees with branches that invaded the sand.

Underneath one of these trees, we found a juice vendor set up behind a stall covered with colorful tropical fruits that she had decorated with pink hibiscus flowers.

A Refreshing Get-together with Dona Alda dos Sumos

We asked how much each juice cost. Alda, the lady, answers us ten euros as if it were nothing. We explain to him that we cannot spend twenty euros out of the blue on two juices.

The lady recognizes that the price is exaggerated and resorts to a plethora of explanations: “you know it's not mine, it belongs to my son and it was the price that he and his wife decided.

La Digue, Seychelles, Juice Seller

Juice seller at the stand usually managed by her brother.

Contrary to what most people think, the fruit here in La Digue is expensive, it comes from Mahé at very high prices.” In the meantime we introduced each other. Alda comments what intrigued us the most: “it's not that easy for us to plant fruit around here.

Land is very expensive throughout Seychelles. Each of us has minimal spaces around the houses. What we manage to plant is for the family to consume.” We spent half an hour talking to the lady who relieves us of half of her life's problems.

Sensitized by the company, it offers us the juices we drink, given to more conversation. After the drinks, we return to the bicycles and the winding cement road.

We pedal hard but rehydrated as we reach the tight meander of the far north of the island and go from Anse Severe to Anse Patates.

La Digue Seductive from Patatran to Southeast

Around the village of Patatran, the coast of La Digue, there much smoother than the one facing the great Indian Ocean on the east coast, gets better again.

Dress up in a fabulous palette of navy blues and cyans lingering over the sky. Vertical white skeins cross the sky and above and hide the far horizon.

On the plane below the balcony we could enjoy this fabulous, unique tropical panorama, although comparable to the “The Baths” from the Caribbean island of Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands.

A reflective white emanated from the sand that the waves of decoration could not wet.

Coconut trees, thirsty for freshness, lean over the sea and leave their silhouettes on the sand, once again delimited by "pointes” elegant granite.

As we skirt the coast from north to west, La Digue's coastline derives little from this pristine setting.

La Digue, Seychelles, Silhouette in Cyan

Woman photographs the turquoise waters of the north coast of the island.

Thomas and Yencel's Mad Fishing

Already pedaling at Anse Gaulettes, we stopped to peek at the activity of two natives who searched the sea, with the water up to their knees. We gestured to them with our curiosity. They tell us to wait a bit. They spend just a minute lying in the water.

When they get up, they show us the result of their demand: an octopus and a cuttlefish freshly caught.

Satisfied with the almost instantaneous prize, they walk out of the water. Even before they leave, one of them still manages to surprise us: “Wait there! They thought it was over.

La Digue, Seychelles, Fishing

Thomas and Yencel display their catch of the day.

There's still more.” Dip your hands in the water and remove them already holding a small turtle. “If you want to photograph, be quick!

They get stressed if we hold them out of the water too long.

OK, I'll drop it!" Thomas tells us with Yencel's agreement, sharing easy, sunny laughter as they struggle with the turtle's biting attempts and with the waves that, even measured, unbalanced them.

La Digue, Seychelles, Turtle

Turtle in a hurry to return to the Indian Ocean that bathes La Digue and the Seychelles.

We leave them to pack the shellfish and continue to pedal ahead. We don't get any further when we drop a bottle of water and have to pull over to the curb.

As we pull ourselves together, the duo walks past us with great fuss. Thomas rides on a pink kid's bike that looks like it came out of some Barbie promotion.

The two wave "goodbye" to us with huge smiles and "bye” shrill below a cloud with a mascot look and misplaced at low height. Thomas shouted at her, showing his big, perfect teeth, even whiter by the contrast to the black skin.

La Digue, Seychelles, Cyclists

Thomas and Yencel return to La Passe after catching octopus and cuttlefish in the low waters of Anse Gaulettes.

So comical and surreal, the scene reminds us of part of one of those historic Malibu rum TV commercials shot in the Caribbean.

La Digue and its Hyperbolic and Near Jurassic Turtles

We continue down the east coast until we reach the “punchline” from Anse Caiman that separated us from Anse Cocos where we had finished our morning walk.

There, we return once more to the starting point of La Passe, buy groceries at a grocery store that is about to close, and point to Union's now historic copra farm and factory.

La Digue, Seychelles, turtle care

Large poster clarifies visitors to La Union about taking care of local turtles.

In times, this property concentrated the main production of La Digue, coconuts.

Today it is an informal theme park.

It houses the largest and one of the oldest granite boulders on the island, 700 million years old, forty meters high and said to have an area of ​​4000 m.2 and, at its base, a smelly, noisy colony of giant tortoises from Knife.

La Digue, Seychelles, Granite and Coconut Trees

Large granite block inside La Digue.

Also libidinous, we must say.

La Digue, Seychelles, Turtles in copulation

Old turtles from La Digue caught in full sexual activity.

Anse Source d'Argent: a La Digue Monumental

We peeked at them and also at the old local cemetery.

We proceeded to the farm outside and arrived at the most famous of the beaches of La Digue: Anse Source d'Argent. We enter its even more eccentric granite stronghold through some of the rocks that so characterize it.

On the other side, we found the low tide as it would be perfect if it were. We enter the sea with care, among corals and submerged algae banks.

And when we get far enough away from the waterfront, we notice the sumptuousness of the scenery ahead.

We see it made up of successive striated and striped rocks, some perched on top of others, the lower ones crowned by coconut palms and surrounded by lush and thriving forest.

La Digue, Seychelles, Anse d'Argent

Visitors to La Digue underwater capturing the incredible cliffs of Anse Source d'Argent.

During all the time we admire and photograph the landscape, a family of round batfish swims around our legs, checking what they could take advantage of from the turbulence we were causing on the seabed.

La Digue, Seychelles, Anse d'Argent fish

Fish surround the bathers who remove the sand from their territories.

Sunset was coming and the ferry to Praslin was leaving in an hour.

Without a scheduled stay in La Digue, we ran to the beach, picked up the bicycles still attached to coconut trees and pedaled at the speed that those pastry shops allowed towards the La Passe dock.

We took the ferry smoothly and still with enough light for one last look at some of La Digue's amazing granite artworks.

Praslin, Seychelles

 

The Eden of the Enigmatic Coco-de-Mer

For centuries, Arab and European sailors believed that the largest seed in the world, which they found on the coasts of the Indian Ocean in the shape of a woman's voluptuous hips, came from a mythical tree at the bottom of the oceans. The sensual island that always generated them left us ecstatic.
Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands

Virgin Gorda's Divine "Caribbeans"

Discovering the Virgin Islands, we disembark on a tropical and seductive seaside dotted with huge granite boulders. The Baths seem straight out of the Seychelles but they are one of the most exuberant marine scenery in the Caribbean.
Male Maldives

The Maldives For Real

Seen from the air, Malé, the capital of the Maldives, looks little more than a sample of a crammed island. Those who visit it will not find lying coconut trees, dream beaches, spas or infinite pools. Be dazzled by the genuine Maldivian everyday life that tourist brochures omit.
Cilaos, Reunion Island

Refuge under the roof of the Indian Ocean

Cilaos appears in one of the old green boilers on the island of Réunion. It was initially inhabited by outlaw slaves who believed they were safe at that end of the world. Once made accessible, nor did the remote location of the crater prevent the shelter of a village that is now peculiar and flattered.
Reunion Island

The Bathing Melodrama of Reunion

Not all tropical coastlines are pleasurable and refreshing retreats. Beaten by violent surf, undermined by treacherous currents and, worse, the scene of the most frequent shark attacks on the face of the Earth, that of the Reunion Island he fails to grant his bathers the peace and delight they crave from him.
Mauritius

A Mini India in the Southwest of the Indian Ocean

In the XNUMXth century, the French and the British disputed an archipelago east of Madagascar previously discovered by the Portuguese. The British triumphed, re-colonized the islands with sugar cane cutters from the subcontinent, and both conceded previous Francophone language, law and ways. From this mix came the exotic Mauritius.
Tortuguero NP, Costa Rica

The Flooded Costa Rica of Tortuguero

The Caribbean Sea and the basins of several rivers bathe the northeast of the Tica nation, one of the wettest and richest areas in flora and fauna in Central America. Named after the green turtles nest in its black sands, Tortuguero stretches inland for 312 km.2 of stunning aquatic jungle.
Tortuguero NP, Costa Rica

Tortuguero: From the Flooded Jungle to the Caribbean Sea

After two days of impasse due to torrential rain, we set out to discover the Tortuguero National Park. Channel after channel, we marvel at the natural richness and exuberance of this Costa Rican fluvial marine ecosystem.
Mahé, Seychelles

The Big Island of the Small Seychelles

Mahé is the largest of the islands of the smallest country in Africa. It's home to the nation's capital and most of the Seychellois. But not only. In its relative smallness, it hides a stunning tropical world, made of mountainous jungle that merges with the Indian Ocean in coves of all sea tones.
Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles

From Francophone "Establishment" to the Creole Capital of the Seychelles

The French populated their “Etablissement” with European, African and Indian settlers. Two centuries later, British rivals took over the archipelago and renamed the city in honor of their Queen Victoria. When we visit it, the Seychelles capital remains as multiethnic as it is tiny.
Felicité Island and Curieuse Island, Seychelles

From Leprosarium to Giant Turtles Home

In the middle of the XNUMXth century, it remained uninhabited and ignored by Europeans. The French Ship Expedition “La Curieuse” revealed it and inspired his baptism. The British kept it a leper colony until 1968. Today, Île Curieuse is home to hundreds of Aldabra tortoises, the longest-lived land animal.
Believers greet each other in the Bukhara region.
City
Bukhara, Uzbequistan

Among the Minarets of Old Turkestan

Situated on the ancient Silk Road, Bukhara has developed for at least two thousand years as an essential commercial, cultural and religious hub in Central Asia. It was Buddhist and then Muslim. It was part of the great Arab empire and that of Genghis Khan, the Turko-Mongol kingdoms and the Soviet Union, until it settled in the still young and peculiar Uzbekistan.
Skipper of one of the bangkas at Raymen Beach Resort during a break from sailing
Beach
Islands Guimaras  e  Ave Maria, Philippines

Towards Ave Maria Island, in a Philippines full of Grace

Discovering the Western Visayas archipelago, we set aside a day to travel from Iloilo along the northwest coast of Guimaras. The beach tour along one of the Philippines’ countless pristine coastlines ends on the stunning Ave Maria Island.
Lion, Elephants, PN Hwange, Zimbabwe
safari
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.
Yak Kharka to Thorong Phedi, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal, Yaks
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit 11th: yak karkha a Thorong Phedi, Nepal

Arrival to the Foot of the Canyon

In just over 6km, we climbed from 4018m to 4450m, at the base of Thorong La canyon. Along the way, we questioned if what we felt were the first problems of Altitude Evil. It was never more than a false alarm.
by the shadow
Architecture & Design
Miami, USA

A Masterpiece of Urban Rehabilitation

At the turn of the 25st century, the Wynwood neighbourhood remained filled with abandoned factories and warehouses and graffiti. Tony Goldman, a shrewd real estate investor, bought more than XNUMX properties and founded a mural park. Much more than honoring graffiti there, Goldman founded the Wynwood Arts District, the great bastion of creativity in Miami.
Tibetan heights, altitude sickness, mountain prevent to treat, travel
Aventura

Altitude Sickness: the Grievances of Getting Mountain Sick

When traveling, it happens that we find ourselves confronted with the lack of time to explore a place as unmissable as it is high. Medicine and previous experiences with Altitude Evil dictate that we should not risk ascending in a hurry.
Tiredness in shades of green
Ceremonies and Festivities
Suzdal, Russia

The Suzdal Cucumber Celebrations

With summer and warm weather, the Russian city of Suzdal relaxes from its ancient religious orthodoxy. The old town is also famous for having the best cucumbers in the nation. When July arrives, it turns the newly harvested into a real festival.
scarlet summer
Cities

Valencia to Xativa, Spain

Across Iberia

Leaving aside the modernity of Valencia, we explore the natural and historical settings that the "community" shares with the Mediterranean. The more we travel, the more its bright life seduces us.

Lunch time
Margilan, Uzbekistan

An Uzbekistan's Breadwinner

In one of the many bakeries in Margilan, worn out by the intense heat of the tandyr oven, the baker Maruf'Jon works half-baked like the distinctive traditional breads sold throughout Uzbekistan
Conversation between photocopies, Inari, Babel Parliament of the Sami Lapland Nation, Finland
Culture
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.
Sport
Competitions

Man: an Ever Tested Species

It's in our genes. For the pleasure of participating, for titles, honor or money, competitions give meaning to the world. Some are more eccentric than others.
Herd in Manang, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal
Traveling
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).
Tulum, Mayan Ruins of the Riviera Maya, Mexico
Ethnic
Tulum, Mexico

The Most Caribbean of the Mayan Ruins

Built by the sea as an exceptional outpost decisive for the prosperity of the Mayan nation, Tulum was one of its last cities to succumb to Hispanic occupation. At the end of the XNUMXth century, its inhabitants abandoned it to time and to an impeccable coastline of the Yucatan peninsula.
portfolio, Got2Globe, Travel photography, images, best photographs, travel photos, world, Earth
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Portfolio Got2globe

The Best in the World – Got2Globe Portfolio

Yucatan Peninsula, Mérida City, Mexico, Cabildo
History
Mérida, Mexico

The Most Exuberant of Meridas

In 25 BC, the Romans founded Emerita Augusta, capital of Lusitania. The Spanish expansion generated three other Méridas in the world. Of the four, the Yucatan capital is the most colorful and lively, resplendent with Hispanic colonial heritage and multi-ethnic life.
view mount Teurafaatiu, Maupiti, Society Islands, French Polynesia
Islands
Maupiti, French Polynesia

A Society on the Margin

In the shadow of neighboring Bora Bora's near-global fame, Maupiti is remote, sparsely inhabited and even less developed. Its inhabitants feel abandoned but those who visit it are grateful for the abandonment.
Masked couple for the Kitacon convention.
Winter White
Kemi, Finland

An Unconventional Finland

The authorities themselves describe Kemi as “a small, slightly crazy town in northern Finland”. When you visit, you find yourself in a Lapland that is not in keeping with the traditional ways of the region.
Baie d'Oro, Île des Pins, New Caledonia
Literature
Île-des-Pins, New Caledonia

The Island that Leaned against Paradise

In 1964, Katsura Morimura delighted the Japan with a turquoise novel set in Ouvéa. But the neighboring Île-des-Pins has taken over the title "The Nearest Island to Paradise" and thrills its visitors.
Ponta de Sao Lourenco, Madeira, Portugal
Nature
Ponta de Sao Lourenco, Madeira, Portugal

The Eastern, Somehow Extraterrestrial, Madeira Tip

Unusual, with ocher tones and raw earth, Ponta de São Lourenço is often the first sight of Madeira. When we walk through it, we are fascinated, above all, with what the most tropical of the Portuguese islands is not.
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.
Walvis Bay, Namibia, bay, dunes
Natural Parks
Walvis Bay, Namíbia

The Outstanding Shoreline of Walvis Bay

From Namibia's largest coastal city to the edge of the Namib Desert of Sandwich Harbour, there is an unrivaled domain of ocean, dunes, fog and wildlife. Since 1790, the fruitful Walvis Bay has been its gateway.
Visitors at Jameos del Agua
UNESCO World Heritage
Lanzarote, Canary Islands

To César Manrique what is César Manrique's

By itself, Lanzarote would always be a Canaria by itself, but it is almost impossible to explore it without discovering the restless and activist genius of one of its prodigal sons. César Manrique passed away nearly thirty years ago. The prolific work he left shines on the lava of the volcanic island that saw him born.
Zorro's mask on display at a dinner at the Pousada Hacienda del Hidalgo, El Fuerte, Sinaloa, Mexico
Characters
El Fuerte, Sinaloa, Mexico

Zorro's Cradle

El Fuerte is a colonial city in the Mexican state of Sinaloa. In its history, the birth of Don Diego de La Vega will be recorded, it is said that in a mansion in the town. In his fight against the injustices of the Spanish yoke, Don Diego transformed himself into an elusive masked man. In El Fuerte, the legendary “El Zorro” will always take place.
Santa Maria, Sal Island, Cape Verde, Landing
Beaches
Santa Maria, Sal Island, Cape Verde

Santa Maria and the Atlantic Blessing of Sal

Santa Maria was founded in the first half of the XNUMXth century, as a salt export warehouse. Today, thanks to the providence of Santa Maria, Sal Ilha is worth much more than the raw material.
orthodox procession
Religion
Suzdal, Russia

Centuries of Devotion to a Devoted Monk

Euthymius was a fourteenth-century Russian ascetic who gave himself body and soul to God. His faith inspired Suzdal's religiosity. The city's believers worship him as the saint he has become.
Chepe Express, Chihuahua Al Pacifico Railway
On Rails
Creel to Los Mochis, Mexico

The Barrancas del Cobre & the CHEPE Iron Horse

The Sierra Madre Occidental's relief turned the dream into a construction nightmare that lasted six decades. In 1961, at last, the prodigious Chihuahua al Pacifico Railroad was opened. Its 643km cross some of the most dramatic scenery in Mexico.
Reindeer Racing, Kings Cup, Inari, Finland
Society
Inari, Finland

The Wackiest Race on the Top of the World

Finland's Lapps have been competing in the tow of their reindeer for centuries. In the final of the Kings Cup - Porokuninkuusajot - , they face each other at great speed, well above the Arctic Circle and well below zero.
Daily life
Arduous Professions

the bread the devil kneaded

Work is essential to most lives. But, certain jobs impose a degree of effort, monotony or danger that only a few chosen ones can measure up to.
Amboseli National Park, Mount Kilimanjaro, Normatior Hill
Wildlife
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.
Passengers, scenic flights-Southern Alps, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Aoraki / Mount Cook, New Zealand

The Aeronautical Conquest of the Southern Alps

In 1955, pilot Harry Wigley created a system for taking off and landing on asphalt or snow. Since then, his company has unveiled, from the air, some of the greatest scenery in Oceania.