There are countless unusual natural areas and landmarks that appear on people’s travel bucket lists yet are passed up in favor of more mainstream tourist spots. However, in this modern world of bustling cities, vehicular emissions, and noise, it’s more important than ever to embrace natural tranquility and experience some of the stranger and more fascinating places in the world.
While it’s crucial not to participate in over-tourism or cause damage to these wondrous natural environments, everybody should have the chance to respectfully visit these phenomenal sites. Some people – like Jako Hall, a superyacht and fleet captain who has traveled to unusual and remote places across the globe – have already experienced many of these natural wonders, but they’re still yet to fully enter mainstream tourism.
The most truly rewarding places to visit are the stranger ones. From awe-inspiring landmarks, like Italy’s 2.5-meter-tall underwater Christ of the Abyss statue, to terrifying spots, such as the deadly Tanzanian Lake Natron, which calcifies animal carcasses, there are things in nature that the human brain can barely comprehend as being real. Nature plays with colors, such as in the Colombian Caño Cristales river, and texture, as witnessed on Peru’s iconic Rainbow Mountain, in fascinating ways.
It’s also possible to spend entire days exploring these natural wonders. Travelers who prefer hot climates will enjoy Dead Vlei in Namibia, an eerie clay pan with vast sand dunes, and the Indonesian Kawah Ijen volcano, which has lava that appears to burn blue. For cooler conditions, there’s the captivating Spotted Lake in Canada and the sixty-million-year-old basalt columns that make up Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland.
Even places that we most often associate with urban activity, like New York, have some of the most uniquely fascinating natural features. In this case, that’s the Eternal Flame Falls in Chestnut Ridge Park, which features a burning flame behind a heavy waterfall. These types of lesser-known natural wonders are better to visit because they’re less likely to experience over-tourism than more famous landmarks.
Many people don’t truly appreciate how strange, beautiful, and utterly fascinating these natural places are until they see them in person. The feeling of awe that forces humans to fully comprehend the majesty, power, and significance of nature is more often achieved by witnessing natural wonders, rather than manmade ones. Humans and nature have a very special but fragile relationship, and traveling to visit such awe-inspiring sites is one of the best ways to cherish it.