10 Natural Wonders of the World You May Not Know About
We love the natural wonders of this world. We should all know about the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls and the Great Barrier Reef. However, these are not the only natural beauties the world has to offer. There are many more.
Some of the world’s natural wonders don’t appear on postcards and in the news, but they are just as incredible as the wonders we all know. In some cases, these natural wonders are more breathtaking than the popular ones. These are ten natural wonders in the world that you may not know about:
Related: Top 10 attractions to visit for a weird tour of Europe
10 Chocolate Hills: The Philippines
Although these sound like something out of a movie, the Chocolate Hills are actually a geological formation in the Bohol province of the Philippines. The Chocolate Hills are unique because of their “chocolate” color during the dry season. At this location there are 1260 mounds close together, and as many as 1776 mounds spread over an area of approximately 50 square kilometers. During the rainy season, the hills are covered with green grass, but as soon as the rain stops, the grass dies. When the grass dies, the color changes to a chocolatey shade.
The hills vary in height, with the highest reaching 120 meters. Their formation is still a subject of geological debate, but they are believed to be the result of weathering and erosion of marine limestone over millions of years. The Chocolate Hills are featured on the provincial flag of Bohol Province in the Philippines as a symbol of the province’s abundance of natural attractions. The hills have been developed into a tourist resort, but tourists are not allowed to climb them. However, you can observe the hills from an observation platform with 214 steps.[1]
9 Zhangjiajie National Park: China
Zhangjiajie National Park is a national forest park in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province, China. It’s an enchanting world of towering sandstone pillars and awe-inspiring landscapes that look like something out of a science fiction movie. There are also deep ravines, deep gorges and unusual peaks at the location. The rock formations in the park are its most popular features and what the park is known for around the world. Some of these rock formations reach up to 600 meters high. Zhangjiajie National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and also inspired the floating mountains in James Camron’s Avatar.
There are three ways you can explore the site as a tourist: you can traverse the park’s extensive network of hiking trails or use the Bailong Elevator, the highest outdoor elevator in the world. Finally, you can take a walk on the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass bridge, the longest and highest glass-bottom bridge when it opened to the public in 2016. We must warn you that the Glass Bridge is not for the faint of heart. Many tourists who tried to take a walk on it ran back in fright after just a few steps.[2]
8 Salar De Uyuni: Bolivia
Bolivia’s Salar De Uyuni is considered one of the most extreme and remarkable natural vistas in the world. It is the largest contiguous salt-rich desert in the world, with an area of 10,582 square kilometers. This area is normally breathtaking and amazing, but it is much more beautiful after it rains because the rain turns it into a giant mirror that reflects the sky above, creating the optical illusion that you are walking in the clouds.
The Salar De Uyuni is a photographic attraction. This is an unforgettable location for people who love nature. Salar De Uyuni is home to the world’s first salt hotel: a hotel built from salt blocks. It is located on the edge of Salar De Uyuni and is known as ‘Palacio De Sal’, which means ‘Palace of Salt’. The Salt Palace was built to serve tourists who come from great distances to visit the Salar De Uyuni. Salt is the most abundant resource in the area, which is why it was made into a building material. [3]
7 Pamukkale Pools: Turkey
Pamukkale is a nature reserve in the Denizli province in southwestern Turkey. The name means ‘Cotton Castle’ in the English language and is located in the Inner Aegean region of Turkey, in the valley of the Menderes River. Pamukkale is an interesting scene with white travertine terraces and natural hot springs. This creates a breathtaking spot because of the way the natural hot springs are arranged.
As a tourist you can enjoy a swim in the pool. To reach the pools you have to walk barefoot, all the way from the lower entrance of the site to the top, where the small natural hot springs are located. One of the reasons why Pamukkale is also an interesting place to visit is that it is close to the ruins of Hierapolis.[4]
6 The Wave: United States of America
The Wave is a sandstone rock formation in Arizona, USA, close to the Arizona-Utah border. The formation is popular among hikers and photographers because of its stunning, colorful and undulating shapes and also because of the difficult hike to get there. Access to “The Wave” is limited due to its delicate nature.
Since there is a large number of people willing to visit it, there is a daily lottery system used to select up to 16 people or four groups of people to visit it at the same time. Permits for each day are available four months in advance of a planned trip. The best time of year to visit “The Wave” is during spring or autumn, as the weather is neither too hot nor too cold. The best photos can be taken during the day when there are no shadows to be seen, or in the early evening when stark shadows across the land create dramatic images.[5]
9 Jiuzhaigou Valley: China
The Jiuzhaigou Valley is a nature reserve and nature park in Sichuan Province in southwestern China. It was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992 and a World Biosphere Reserve in 1997. It extends over 177,915 acres (72,000 hectares) and is known for its many multi-tiered waterfalls, colorful lakes and snow-capped peaks.
Jiuzhaigou preserves a range of important forest ecosystems that provide vital habitats for several endangered species of plants and animals. The Jiuzhaigou Valley is known for its breathtaking scenery and the way it integrates all the elements of nature: lakes, waterfalls and limestone terraces, with their clear and mineral-rich waters in the spectacular alpine mountains.[6]
4 Iguazu Falls: border between Argentina and Brazil
Iguazu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River on the border of the Argentine province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paraná. Together they form the most extensive waterfall system in the world. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu. The falls are surrounded by lush rainforests that echo the thundering sound of crashing water.
The Iguazu Falls consists of over 275 waterfalls and waterfalls, making it a very spectacular sight to behold. The Iguazu Falls are on this list because of their relative obscurity. Despite being the best in almost every way possible, Niagara Falls is much more popular because the Argentina-Brazil border is not a popular destination for tourists.[7]
3 Tsingy De Bemaraha: Madagascar
Tsingy De Bemaraha consists of karst plateaus where groundwater has undermined the elevated highlands and carved caves and gorges into the limestone, giving the rock formation a unique appearance. The word “Tsingy” originally comes from the Malagasy language; it means ‘where one cannot walk barefoot’. Tsingy De Bemaraha is a challenging and rewarding destination for adventurers who may want to explore it.
The park is only accessible via wooden walkways and rope bridges that dangle over vertical gorges below. The site contains communities of rare and endangered species. The Tsingy De Bemaraha is located in the district of Antsalova and in the region of the central western part of Madagascar. The unique features of the site mean that it is widely regarded as a center for endemism due to its wealth of fauna and floral species.[8]
2 Mount Roraima: Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela
Mount Roraima is located at the intersection of Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela. Mount Roraima is a geological wonder because of its characteristic large, flat surface. The highest point of Mount Roraima is located on the southern edge of the cliff at an altitude of 2810 meters in Venezuela. But there is another prominence at an altitude of 2,772 meters at the intersection of the three countries in the north of the plateau in Guyana.
Many of the species found on Mount Roraima are unique to the plateau. Various types of forests grow on the mountain with a wide variety of orchids, bromeliads and carnivorous plant species. Almost all tourists who go to the mountain approach it from the Venezuelan side.[9]
1 Lake Hillier: Australia
Lake Hillier is a salt lake on the edge of Middle Island, known for its pink color. In case you don’t know, the colors are formed naturally and are not influenced by human actions. Lake Hillier is approximately 600 meters long and approximately 250 meters wide. The lake is surrounded by a sandy edge and a dense forest of paperbark and eucalyptus trees, with a narrow strip of sand dunes covered in vegetation separating the northern edge from the northern shore of Middle Island.
The lake was first discovered in 1802 by navigator and cartographer Matthew Flinders, who took samples of the lake and recorded its existence in his diary. The lake was used as a salt mine for some time, but now the lake is used exclusively for tourist purposes. Lake Hillier’s pink waters have made it an Instagram-worthy destination, attracting curious travelers from all over the world. Swimming in the lake is prohibited, but visitors can take a helicopter tour of the length and breadth of the lake.[10]