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Hawaii USA North America left-media tall

Honokohau Falls

Remember Jurassic Park? Good. Puʻu Kukui, in the West Maui Mountains (Hawaii, USA), is the most similar place to the fictional island featured in the movie you can find. It’s also one of the wettest spots on Earth, receiving an average of 9,820mm of rain a year. This makes the vegetation grow so wildly, that the valley is totally inaccessible from the ground and can be reached only by helicopter.

Near the summit of Pu’u Kukui you will then find the second highest waterfall in the US and the tallest on Maui island, Honokohau Falls, plunging in two tiers from the height of 341m.

Where is it?

Photo: Royce Bair

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Iceland Europe left-media

Silfra

Located in the Þingvallavatn Lake in the Þingvellir National Park in Iceland, Silfra is a rift that is part of the divergent tectonic boundary between the North American and Eurasian plates. The location is a unique dive site in the whole world with a visibility that reaches end-of-sight and is rated at 150 to 300 meters.

The main reasons for this clarity are two: the costant temperature between 2°C and 4°C all year round, and the fact that the water, coming from a glacier 50km away, travels for about 50 to 100 years in a lava field before coming out at the north end of Thingvellir lake through underground wells. This makes it perfectly clear and even drinkable! (Some locals also say that is particularly good for hangovers ;) )

If you’re into snorkeling or scuba diving, you should visit Silfra at least once in your life. Swimming in a deep and narrow crack in the earth with such a clear water is the closest thing to flying without leaving the ground.

Silfra is actually rated one of the top 3 diving destination in the world and the Þingvellir National Park has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, both for its cultural and historical significance as well as natural and geological uniqueness.

Where is it?

Photo: r.gielen, Thomei08

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Peru South America left-media

Alpamayo

Cosidered one of the most beautiful mountain in the world, Alpamayo is a steep and almost perfect pyramid of ice. With its 5,947m peak, it is one of the most conspicuous one in the Santa Cruz massif, the northernmost massif of the Cordillera Blanca mountain range of the Peruvian Andes.

Generally, the ascent to Alpamayo is considered rather safe. On July 21st, 2003 however, an ice-avalanche killed 8 climbers in Alpamayo SW-face.

Alpamayo is a really well-known peak nowadays and sometime can be a little overcrowded, transforming a beautiful 5 hours climb into a long and endless nightmare of 15+ hours. Be prepared!

You should also know that on July 1966, on the German magazine “Alpinismus”, a photo made by American photographer Leigh Ortenburger, came together with an article resulting from an international survey among climbers, photographers, etc., making the choice for Alpamayo as “The Most Beautiful Mountain in the World”.

Where is it?

Photo: Brad Mering, Rick McCharles