Vale das Furnas, São Miguel

The Azorean Heat of Vale das Furnas


Our Lady of Victories
The neo-Gothic chapel built by José do Canto, as a vote because his wife suffered from a serious illness.
Nostra Lagoon
Bathers delighted in the warm water of the Terra Nostra Park lagoon.
water lilies
Water lilies gleam in the sun on lakes in Terra Nostra Park.
Rural Art
A kind of installation in the vicinity of Lagoa das Furnas.
View from Pico do Ferro
Part of the view from the Pico do Ferro Viewpoint, with Lagoa das Furnas on the right.
Smoke from Fumaroles
Visitors walk along the walkways that reveal Furnas' fumaroles and boilers.
Furnas Cozidos Tocas
One of the holes used for cooking the Furnas fumega stews.
Furnas Lagoon
Lagoa das Furnas seen from the Pico do Ferro Viewpoint.
The Burial of the Stews
Employee of Povoação covers up a stew, from then on ready for five hours of cooking.
Furnas village
The village of Furnas concentrated in the heart of Vale das Furnas.
A Vegetated Bridge
Friends cross a bridge in Terra Nostra Park, over a river of vegetation.
Chapel Our Lady of Victories
The neo-Gothic chapel built by José do Canto, as a vote because his wife suffered from a serious illness.
The Oven of the Earth
Town officials remove a stew from its cooking hole.
The Those of the Valley
Cows graze in a pasture in Vale das Furnas.
Furnas Cooked Kit
A historical and inseparable duo from Furnas stew.
Iron Top View
A group of visitors is dazzled by the view of the Furnas Valley from Pico do Ferro.
saffron dip
A bather immerses himself in the iron water of the Terra Nostra Park lagoon.
Furnas Valley and Lagoon
Part of the view from the Pico do Ferro Viewpoint, with Lagoa das Furnas on the right.
Casario das Furnas
The cluster of buildings, homes and others, in the heart of Vale das Furnas.
Boiling and Bubbling Earth
Some of the small boilers in the vicinity of Lagoa das Furnas.
We were surprised, on the biggest island of the Azores, with a caldera cut by small farms, massive and deep to the point of sheltering two volcanoes, a huge lagoon and almost two thousand people from São Miguel. Few places in the archipelago are, at the same time, as grand and welcoming as the green and steaming Vale das Furnas.

It was a mere chance that we started in the direction of Furnas from the detour that appears after the Fábrica de Chá Gorreana, in the vicinity of Barreiros.

All of a sudden, the road imposes itself on the slope that pointed us to the crest of São Miguel. We come face to face with a herd of Frisian cows, rocked by the descent. In front of him, a lone cowboy is anxious to control two or three heads in trammel and to slow down the cars.

Instead of despairing, that black and white bovine transit throws us a new challenge. We pull the car to the curb, get out of prepared chambers and face the cows.

Dozens of photographic shots later, with the cowboy stunned by the speed of the operation, we see the tail of the herd enter a gate with access to a pasture.

Reformed, we return to the car. We resume driving.

On a sinuous diagonal, the EN2-1A approaches the top of the island, there, sometimes exposed, sometimes half-veiled by successive dense hedges. One of them hides a golf course already announced and the indication of a viewpoint, Pico do Ferro.

The Inevitable Dazzle Generated by Vale das Furnas

At that time, we were more than aware of the added value that these observation points have in the Azores. We dodged without hesitation. We walked along a dark, damp lane, almost drenched in the northern mist that condensed there. When the grove opens to the light, we find ourselves on an unlikely threshold.

At a glance, onwards, especially downwards, a whole side of São Miguel is revealed. Close and insinuating, a large lagoon, even greener than the surrounding São Miguel.

In its extension, to the southeast, a patchwork of pastures, woods, bollards, old craters covered with vegetation and a white village nestled in the vastness.

Furnas, São Miguel, Azores

The village of Furnas concentrated in the heart of Vale das Furnas.

The blue sky of Estio, sprinkled with a few skeins that ventured to the unfavorable slope, allowed us to still see a forested edge of a caldera that did not contain only a short fringe of Atlantic and the ethereal firmament.

Em São Miguel, who comes from Sete Cidades, is tempted to think that he won't see the same anytime soon.

Well, just a few dozen kilometers to the east of the island, there it was. A scenario that no one in their right mind would dare to fault.

Surrendered, we appreciate it and photograph it in a silence broken by clicks, almost ceremonial.

Not to mention, with so much contemplation, we lose track of time.

Furnas stew. An Old Geothermal Ritual

If there is a sacred time in Vale das Furnas, it is lunch. Not so much for the almost ready regional delicacy in each home. More because it smokes and bakes in the open-air kitchen between the boilers and Lagoa das Furnas.

We have lunch scheduled at Hotel Terra Nostra which serves the famous local stew. The plan held, before we devoured it, we see it coming out of the ground.

To ours and others, also to be buried, that the quantity of orders, those from restaurants and private toilets, and the five hours of underground cooking recommended, require several shifts. We had to fly low.

Now, what we lacked along the way was not exactly given in a hurry.

Cozido das Furnas, Sao Miguel, Azores, Portugal

A historical and inseparable duo from Furnas stew.

The road runs along the edge of the Caldeira. A flurry of meanders entertains us with new perspectives, less panoramic as we approached the background.

Soon, an open straight line, flanked by white houses with classic Portuguese tile, points us to the predominant houses.

Finally, we entered Furnas. We navigate the route from one side of the village to the other and head for the lagoon.

When we parked next to the fumaroles, two employees from Povoação, Rui Pareço and Eduardo Bettencourt, were already working their hoes.

Afraid that those pots would be the last of the day, we ran towards them.

"Calm down, calm down, there's still a lot to see, there's no need for all this affliction!" Rui Pareço reassures us, who then authorizes us to follow in their footsteps.

Cozido das Furnas, Sao Miguel, Azores, Portugal

Povoação officials remove a stew from its cooking hole.

Gradually, the two colleagues remove more and more pots with the already boiling contents from the holes. They pass them to the box of the van they were driving.

In a flash, they re-occupy the vacant holes with uncooked meals and cover the wooden lids with the blessed volcanic soil of the EARTH.

Holes from Furnas stews, São Miguel, Azores, Portugal

One of the holes used for cooking the Furnas fumega stews.

The Potentially Destructive Volcanism of Furnas Valley

While the stews boiled, we walked along the walkways that revealed the boilers and fumaroles next door, more steaming and sulphurous than any uncovered pot.

Despite its idyllic appearance, Vale das Furnas is real volcanic.

When we say serious, we mean eruptive, potentially disruptive and catastrophic, taking into account that almost two thousand people live in the 7km diameter of the caldera.

The authorities themselves classify the Furnas stratovolcano (located west of Povoação) as one of the three potentially most active on the island of São Miguel.

Lagoa das Furnas, São Miguel, Azores, Portugal

Lagoa das Furnas seen from the Pico do Ferro Viewpoint.

The discovery of São Miguel took place between 1426 and 1439. The island began to be populated around 1444. It is estimated that, just four years before, there was a significant eruption, from one called Pico do Gaspar.

There is also the certainty that, in 1630, an even more damaging one occurred, with an eruptive center in the south of the great caldera, the caldera, in turn, generated by a massive volcanic event some thirty thousand years ago.

The eruption of 1630 has been worthily described. By hermits who had settled in Vale das Furnas, first in a room provided by the grantee Manuel da Câmara.

Later, in improvised mud huts next to a chapel they founded, that of Nª Srª da Consolação. And, meanwhile, in a real convent.

Well, the eruption of 1630 leveled everything that the hermits had built.

This unexpected destruction forced them to settle elsewhere, while the inhabitants of eastern São Miguel cultivated a mystical fear of the valley.

Not even the shepherds there wanted to return with their cattle.

Cows on pasture in Vale das Furnas, Sao Miguel, Azores, Portugal

Cows graze in a pasture in Vale das Furnas.

Over the years and the soil re-fertilized by the eruption, the vegetation recovered at an unprecedented rate. Without noticing new volcanic activity, the religious returned.

From Abandonment to the Uninterrupted and Prolific Population of Furnas

Thus, they blessed the definitive village of Furnas, as we saw from the top of Pico do Ferro, still spiritually validated today by a church with two towers, that of Nª Srª da Alegria.

Gradually, residents of Ponta Garça, Maia, Povoação, Vila Franca and other places arrived.

As much as we put it off, it was time to follow his example.

We inspected yet another hidden fumarole on the edge of the lagoon, next to a food and drink trailer that we found surrounded by an army of ducks vying for offers of bread.

Chapel of Our Lady of Victories. A Tribute to Faith

We also take a walk around the lake in order to admire the chapel of Nª Srª das Vitórias, built in neo-Gothic style by José do Canto (1820-1898), a great owner and intellectual from São Miguel, as I vote for having afflicted him with a disease. wife's grave.

The chapel stands out from the shore of the lagoon and the vegetation above. It has the company of José do Canto's holiday home where the couple is buried.

They form an unlikely architectural duo that, especially on foggy days, reinforces the aura of mystery of the lagoon and the valley of Furnas.

Chapel of Our Lady of Victories. Furnas, São Miguel, Azores, Portugal

The neo-Gothic chapel built by José do Canto, as a vote because his wife suffered from a serious illness.

Finally, we reversed course towards the heart of the village.

We landed, rested, in the dining room of the Terra Nostra hotel, eager to taste the stew we had seen buried and deserved, a stew different from those on the mainland, mainly due to the slight sulfur flavor and the presence of two Azorean ingredients: sweet potato and the yam.

Terra Nostra Park: Botanical and Architectural Exuberance in the Already Exuberant Furnas

The Terra Nostra hotel that welcomed us is part of the homonymous Furnas historical park, a luxuriant haven, in certain parts, with a more tropical than temperate look.

With time until the end of the afternoon, we walk through its landscaped forest, blossomed from the passion of a well-heeled Boston merchant, Thomas Hicking, through Furnas.

Terra Nostra Park Bridge, Furnas, Sao Miguel

Friends cross a bridge in Terra Nostra Park, over a river of vegetation.

Aware of the beauty and therapeutic value of the valley's hydropolis, in 1755, Hicking had a house built with a huge water tank with an islet in the center and surrounded by trees.

He named it Yankee Hall. Seventy-three years later, the influential Viscount of the Beach, Terceira island, acquired the property and erected the current mansion in place of Yankee Hall.

His wife, the viscountess, was adept at gardening. Accordingly, the Viscount added two hectares to the property.

He and his descendants ordered them to be filled with the lush and graceful garden that fills the air of Furnas with chlorophyll, one of the most exuberant gardens in the Azores and, dare we say it, in the Atlantic islands.

Terra Nostra Park, Furnas, São Miguel, Azores, Portugal

Bathers delighted in the warm water of the Terra Nostra Park lagoon.

These days, the Hicking tank is the great attraction of Terra Nostra Park.

It is filled with a warm thermal water so ironic that, instead of translucent, it is ocher, when hit by the sun, almost saffron.

It attracts a multitude of visitors who splash around and swim in it in absolute delight. Our day of exploration of São Miguel was approaching sunset.

It was time to bathe in the geothermal affability of Vale das Furnas.

São Miguel, Azores

São Miguel Island: Stunning Azores, By Nature

An immaculate biosphere that the Earth's entrails mold and soften is displayed, in São Miguel, in a panoramic format. São Miguel is the largest of the Portuguese islands. And it is a work of art of Nature and Man in the middle of the North Atlantic planted.
Pico Island, Azores

Pico Island: the Azores Volcano with the Atlantic at its Feet

By a mere volcanic whim, the youngest Azorean patch projects itself into the rock and lava apogee of Portuguese territory. The island of Pico is home to its highest and sharpest mountain. But not only. It is a testament to the resilience and ingenuity of the Azoreans who tamed this stunning island and surrounding ocean.
Santa Maria, Azores

Santa Maria: the Azores Mother Island

It was the first in the archipelago to emerge from the bottom of the sea, the first to be discovered, the first and only to receive Cristovão Colombo and a Concorde. These are some of the attributes that make Santa Maria special. When we visit it, we find many more.
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.
Flores Island, Azores

The Atlantic ends of the Azores and Portugal

Where, to the west, even on the map the Americas appear remote, the Ilha das Flores is home to the ultimate Azorean idyllic-dramatic domain and almost four thousand Florians surrendered to the dazzling end-of-the-world that welcomed them.
Horta, Azores

The City that Gives the North to the Atlantic

The world community of sailors is well aware of the relief and happiness of seeing the Pico Mountain, and then Faial and the welcoming of Horta Bay and Peter Café Sport. The rejoicing does not stop there. In and around the city, there are white houses and a green and volcanic outpouring that dazzles those who have come so far.
Capelinhos Volcano, Faial, Azores

On the trail of the Capelinhos Mistery

From one coast of the island to the opposite one, through the mists, patches of pasture and forests typical of the Azores, we discover Faial and the Mystery of its most unpredictable volcano.
Graciosa, Azores

Her Grace the Graciosa

Finally, we will disembark in Graciosa, our ninth island in the Azores. Even if less dramatic and verdant than its neighbors, Graciosa preserves an Atlantic charm that is its own. Those who have the privilege of living it, take from this island of the central group an esteem that remains forever.
São Jorge, Azores

From Fajã to Fajã

In the Azores, strips of habitable land at the foot of large cliffs abound. No other island has as many fajãs as the more than 70 in the slender and elevated São Jorge. It was in them that the jorgenses settled. Their busy Atlantic lives rest on them.
Corvo, Azores

The Unlikely Atlantic Shelter on Corvo Island

17 km2 of a volcano sunk in a verdant caldera. A solitary village based on a fajã. Four hundred and thirty souls snuggled by the smallness of their land and the glimpse of their neighbor Flowers. Welcome to the most fearless of the Azorean islands.
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.
Paul do Mar a Ponta do Pargo a Achadas da Cruz, Madeira, Portugal

Discovering the Madeira Finisterre

Curve after curve, tunnel after tunnel, we arrive at the sunny and festive south of Paul do Mar. We get goosebumps with the descent to the vertiginous retreat of Achadas da Cruz. We ascend again and marvel at the final cape of Ponta do Pargo. All this, in the western reaches of Madeira.
Castro Laboreiro, Portugal  

From Castro de Laboreiro to Raia da Serra Peneda - Gerês

We arrived at (i) the eminence of Galicia, at an altitude of 1000m and even more. Castro Laboreiro and the surrounding villages stand out against the granite monumentality of the mountains and the Planalto da Peneda and Laboreiro. As do its resilient people who, sometimes handed over to Brandas and sometimes to Inverneiras, still call these stunning places home.
Sistelo, Peneda-Gerês, Portugal

From the "Little Portuguese Tibet" to the Corn Presidia

We leave the cliffs of Srª da Peneda, heading for Arcos de ValdeVez and the villages that an erroneous imaginary dubbed Little Portuguese Tibet. From these terraced villages, we pass by others famous for guarding, as golden and sacred treasures, the ears they harvest. Whimsical, the route reveals the resplendent nature and green fertility of these lands in Peneda-Gerês.
Campos do GerêsTerras de Bouro, Portugal

Through the Campos do Gerês and the Terras de Bouro

We continue on a long, zigzag tour through the domains of Peneda-Gerês and Bouro, inside and outside our only National Park. In this one of the most worshiped areas in the north of Portugal.
Montalegre, Portugal

Through Alto do Barroso, Top of Trás-os-Montes

we moved from Terras de Bouro for those of Barroso. Based in Montalegre, we wander around the discovery of Paredes do Rio, Tourém, Pitões das Júnias and its monastery, stunning villages on the border of Portugal. If it is true that Barroso has had more inhabitants, visitors should not miss it.
Porto Santo, Portugal

Praised Be the Island of Porto Santo

Discovered during a stormy sea tour, Porto Santo remains a providential shelter. Countless planes that the weather diverts from neighboring Madeira guarantee their landing there. As thousands of vacationers do every year, they surrender to the softness and immensity of the golden beach and the exuberance of the volcanic sceneries.
Pico do Arieiro - Pico Ruivo, Madeira, Portugal

Pico Arieiro to Pico Ruivo, Above a Sea of ​​Clouds

The journey begins with a resplendent dawn at 1818 m, high above the sea of ​​clouds that snuggles the Atlantic. This is followed by a winding, ups and downs walk that ends on the lush insular summit of Pico Ruivo, 1861 meters away.
Terra Chã and Pico Branco footpaths, Porto Santo

Pico Branco, Terra Chã and Other Whims of the Golden Island

In its northeast corner, Porto Santo is another thing. With its back facing south and its large beach, we unveil a mountainous, rugged and even wooded coastline, dotted with islets that dot an even bluer Atlantic.
Funchal, Madeira

Portal to a Nearly Tropical Portugal

Madeira is located less than 1000km north of the Tropic of Cancer. And the luxuriant exuberance that earned it the nickname of the garden island of the Atlantic can be seen in every corner of its steep capital.
Residents walk along the trail that runs through plantations above the UP4
City
Gurué, Mozambique, Part 1

Through the Mozambican Lands of Tea

The Portuguese founded Gurué in the 1930th century and, from XNUMX onwards, flooded it with camellia sinensis the foothills of the Namuli Mountains. Later, they renamed it Vila Junqueiro, in honor of its main promoter. With the independence of Mozambique and the civil war, the town regressed. It continues to stand out for the lush green imposing mountains and teak landscapes.
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.
Jabula Beach, Kwazulu Natal, South Africa
safari
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.
Prayer flags in Ghyaru, Nepal
Annapurna (circuit)
Annapurna Circuit: 4th – Upper Banana to Ngawal, Nepal

From Nightmare to Dazzle

Unbeknownst to us, we are faced with an ascent that leads us to despair. We pulled our strength as far as possible and reached Ghyaru where we felt closer than ever to the Annapurnas. The rest of the way to Ngawal felt like a kind of extension of the reward.
Music Theater and Exhibition Hall, Tbilisi, Georgia
Architecture & Design
Tbilisi, Georgia

Georgia still Perfumed by the Rose Revolution

In 2003, a popular political uprising made the sphere of power in Georgia tilt from East to West. Since then, the capital Tbilisi has not renounced its centuries of Soviet history, nor the revolutionary assumption of integrating into Europe. When we visit, we are dazzled by the fascinating mix of their past lives.
Totems, Botko Village, Malekula, Vanuatu
Aventura
Malekula, Vanuatu

Meat and Bone Cannibalism

Until the early XNUMXth century, man-eaters still feasted on the Vanuatu archipelago. In the village of Botko we find out why European settlers were so afraid of the island of Malekula.
portfolio, Got2Globe, Travel photography, images, best photographs, travel photos, world, Earth
Ceremonies and Festivities
Cape Coast, Ghana

The Divine Purification Festival

The story goes that, once, a plague devastated the population of Cape Coast of today Ghana. Only the prayers of the survivors and the cleansing of evil carried out by the gods will have put an end to the scourge. Since then, the natives have returned the blessing of the 77 deities of the traditional Oguaa region with the frenzied Fetu Afahye festival.
Towers of Puelba Cathedral illuminated during sunset
Cities
Puebla, Mexico

A City Filled with Faith at the Foot of the Volcano

Such was the impetus for Catholic proselytism at the founding of Puebla de Los Angeles in the 5426th century that some chroniclers reported a church there for every day of the year. Puebla has almost two hundred and ninety. In a baroque and majestic ex-colonial domain, the challenge of Popocatépetl (XNUMXm), Mexico's “smoking mountain”.
Beverage Machines, Japan
Lunch time
Japan

The Beverage Machines Empire

There are more than 5 million ultra-tech light boxes spread across the country and many more exuberant cans and bottles of appealing drinks. The Japanese have long since stopped resisting them.
Impressions Lijiang Show, Yangshuo, China, Red Enthusiasm
Culture
Lijiang e Yangshuo, China

An Impressive China

One of the most respected Asian filmmakers, Zhang Yimou dedicated himself to large outdoor productions and co-authored the media ceremonies of the Beijing OG. But Yimou is also responsible for “Impressions”, a series of no less controversial stagings with stages in emblematic places.
Spectator, Melbourne Cricket Ground-Rules footbal, Melbourne, Australia
Sport
Melbourne, Australia

The Football the Australians Rule

Although played since 1841, Australian Football has only conquered part of the big island. Internationalization has never gone beyond paper, held back by competition from rugby and classical football.
Christmas in Australia, Platipus = Platypus
Traveling
Atherton Tableland, Australia

Miles Away from Christmas (part XNUMX)

On December 25th, we explored the high, bucolic yet tropical interior of North Queensland. We ignore the whereabouts of most of the inhabitants and find the absolute absence of the Christmas season strange.
Bathers in the middle of the End of the World-Cenote de Cuzamá, Mérida, Mexico
Ethnic
Yucatan, Mexico

The End of the End of the World

The announced day passed but the End of the World insisted on not arriving. In Central America, today's Mayans watched and put up with incredulity all the hysteria surrounding their calendar.
Got2Globe Photo Portfolio
Got2Globe Portfolio

life outside

Moai, Rano Raraku, Easter Island, Rapa Nui, Chile
History
Rapa Nui - Easter Island, Chile

Under the Moais Watchful Eye

Rapa Nui was discovered by Europeans on Easter Day 1722. But if the Christian name Easter Island makes sense, the civilization that colonized it by observant moais remains shrouded in mystery.
Seixal, Madeira Island, pool
Islands
Seixal, Madeira, Portugal

The Island of Madeira at the Heart

Visitors to Madeira are enchanted by its almost tropical drama. In this case, the author must confess that it was the destination of his first three plane trips. That he has a friend from there, who made him be a bit from there. From the Madeira facing the endless North. From the fearless and welcoming Seixal.
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.
On the Crime and Punishment trail, St. Petersburg, Russia, Vladimirskaya
Literature
Saint Petersburg, Russia

On the Trail of "Crime and Punishment"

In St. Petersburg, we cannot resist investigating the inspiration for the base characters in Fyodor Dostoevsky's most famous novel: his own pities and the miseries of certain fellow citizens.
Banks Peninsula, Akaroa, Canterbury, New Zealand
Nature
Banks Peninsula, New Zealand

The Divine Earth Shard of the Banks Peninsula

Seen from the air, the most obvious bulge on the South Island's east coast appears to have imploded again and again. Volcanic but verdant and bucolic, the Banks Peninsula confines in its almost cogwheel geomorphology the essence of the ever enviable New Zealand life.
Mother Armenia Statue, Yerevan, Armenia
Autumn
Yerevan, Armenia

A Capital between East and West

Heiress of the Soviet civilization, aligned with the great Russia, Armenia allows itself to be seduced by the most democratic and sophisticated ways of Western Europe. In recent times, the two worlds have collided in the streets of your capital. From popular and political dispute, Yerevan will dictate the new course of the nation.
Chapada dos Guimarães, Mato Grosso, Brazil, Véu de Noiva waterfall
Natural Parks
Chapada dos Guimarães, Mato Grosso, Brazil

In the Burning Heart of South America

It was only in 1909 that the South American geodesic center was established by Cândido Rondon, a Brazilian marshal. Today, it is located in the city of Cuiabá. It has the stunning but overly combustible scenery of Chapada dos Guimarães nearby.
Matukituki River, New Zealand
UNESCO World Heritage
Wanaka, New Zealand

The Antipodes Great Outdoors

If New Zealand is known for its tranquility and intimacy with Nature, Wanaka exceeds any imagination. Located in an idyllic setting between the homonymous lake and the mystic Mount Aspiring, it became a place of worship. Many kiwis aspire to change their lives there.
now from above ladder, sorcerer of new zealand, Christchurch, new zealand
Characters
Christchurch, New Zealand

New Zealand's Cursed Wizard

Despite his notoriety in the antipodes, Ian Channell, the New Zealand sorcerer, failed to predict or prevent several earthquakes that struck Christchurch. At the age of 88, after 23 years of contract with the city, he made very controversial statements and ended up fired.
Tombolo and Punta Catedral, Manuel António National Park, Costa Rica
Beaches
PN Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

Costa Rica's Little-Big National Park

The reasons for the under 28 are well known national parks Costa Ricans have become the most popular. The fauna and flora of PN Manuel António proliferate in a tiny and eccentric patch of jungle. As if that wasn't enough, it is limited to four of the best typical beaches.
Peasant woman, Majuli, Assam, India
Religion
Majuli Island, India

An Island in Countdown

Majuli is the largest river island in India and would still be one of the largest on Earth were it not for the erosion of the river Bramaputra that has been making it diminish for centuries. If, as feared, it is submerged within twenty years, more than an island, a truly mystical cultural and landscape stronghold of the Subcontinent will disappear.
The Toy Train story
On Rails
Siliguri a Darjeeling, India

The Himalayan Toy Train Still Running

Neither the steep slope of some stretches nor the modernity stop it. From Siliguri, in the tropical foothills of the great Asian mountain range, the Darjeeling, with its peaks in sight, the most famous of the Indian Toy Trains has ensured for 117 years, day after day, an arduous dream journey. Traveling through the area, we climb aboard and let ourselves be enchanted.
Women with long hair from Huang Luo, Guangxi, China
Society
Longsheng, China

Huang Luo: the Chinese Village of the Longest Hairs

In a multi-ethnic region covered with terraced rice paddies, the women of Huang Luo have surrendered to the same hairy obsession. They let the longest hair in the world grow, years on end, to an average length of 170 to 200 cm. Oddly enough, to keep them beautiful and shiny, they only use water and rice.
Coin return
Daily life
Dawki, India

Dawki, Dawki, Bangladesh on sight

We descended from the high and mountainous lands of Meghalaya to the flats to the south and below. There, the translucent and green stream of the Dawki forms the border between India and Bangladesh. In a damp heat that we haven't felt for a long time, the river also attracts hundreds of Indians and Bangladeshis in a picturesque escape.
Gandoca Manzanillo Refuge, Bahia
Wildlife
Gandoca-Manzanillo (Wildlife Refuge), Costa Rica

The Caribbean Hideaway of Gandoca-Manzanillo

At the bottom of its southeastern coast, on the outskirts of Panama, the “Tica” nation protects a patch of jungle, swamps and the Caribbean Sea. As well as a providential wildlife refuge, Gandoca-Manzanillo is a stunning tropical Eden.
Full Dog Mushing
Scenic Flights
Seward, Alaska

The Alaskan Dog Mushing Summer

It's almost 30 degrees and the glaciers are melting. In Alaska, entrepreneurs have little time to get rich. Until the end of August, dog mushing cannot stop.