Angel Falls got its name from the American bush pilot Jimmy Angel, who saw the incredible sight from his plane shile searching for gold in 1937.  When Mr. Angel described the falls to his friends, they would not believe him, saying he exaggerated their proportions.  The falls were never actually measured until thirteen years after their discovery when American journalist Ruth Robertson led a team to the falls in 1949.

The falls are a spectacular 3,212 feet high making them twenty times as tall as the Eiffel Tower.  A steep cliff that is over 8,000 feet high forms the majestic backdrop of these wonderful Angel Falls.

The Angel Falls are located in a region called the Guayana Highlands.  These highlands cover about half of Venezuela.  The high, flat topped mountain is massive wity vertical sides that rise up into the clouds.  Narrow, deep river valleys are cut into the mountain, supplying the falls with water.  The volcanic rock that forms these mountains is ancient and counted among the oldest rock that has been dated in the world.

The steep sided mountains are called tepuis and are billions of years old.  The mountain ridge over which the Angel Falls flow is call the Auyan Tepui and covers more than 270 square miles at its base. It is situated in Venezuela's Canaima National Park, which incidentally is the sixth largest national park in the world.

The ancient rock of the Auyan Tepui contain  a treasure of diamonds, gold, iron and other minerals.  Because of this, there has been an increase of prospectors in the area that have led to concern for preserving this natural wonder. 

Some local residents, called Pemons are afraid to go near the mountain.  This is because Mount Auyan Tepui is called "Devil Mountain" by the Pemon.  They name came from the fact that they believed that evil spirits live in the mountain.  Many Pemon guides will paint their faces red before approaching the mountain in order to protect themselves from these spirits.

To see Angel Falls, visitors today can fly in a small plane, take a boat trip or even hike to Augyan Tepui during certain times of the year.

There are a number of National forests in the western United States that contain most of the Sequoia Trees in the world.  As you can see by the photo above, these trees dwarf everything around them.

There were many more Sequoia Trees in the past.  Today, only about 200,000 of these trees are still alive.  Many of them were cut down before they were protected by the U.S. Government when they were proclaimed to be National Parks and Forests.  Most of these lost trees were used to build houses and other buildings in the 19th century.

Some of the Redwood trees that grow along the Pacific Coast are actually taller the Sequoias.  However, what makes the Sequoias so amazing are their age and the huge diameters of the trunks.  Just one branch of a Sequoia tree is as big as the trunks of most other trees on earth.

The worlds thickest tree is called the General Grant Tree.  It is 40 feet in width, which is about the same width as an average street.  The tallest giant Sequoia is 310 feet tall.  It is the General Sherman Tree though, that is overall, the largest known Sequoia tree in the world.  It weighs about 6,000 tons and is still growing.

Some of the giant Sequoia were known to be almost 4,000 hears old.  That means they were alive during the time that the ancient Egyptian pyramids were being built.  Many wonder how these trees managed to live so long.  The reason is mostly because of their wide but shallow root systems.  Because of their characteristics, their root systems allow the trees to drink and store a huge amount of water in their gigantic trunks.  The trunk of a Sequoia tree can hold about 8,000 gallons of water at any given time.  Another reason for their longevity are their thick barks. These thick barks are excellent protection from insect infestation as well as being fire resistant.

It is amazing, by the way that these huge trees grow from very small seeds.  A Sequoia pinecone is about 4 to 6 inches long.  Their seeds are about one sixteenth of an inch long.  In fact, the seeds themselves are so small that it would take about 123,000 of them to weigh just 1 pound. 

The Sequoia tree was named after Sequoia, who was the Cherokee Indian who invented the Cherokee written alphabet.  Sequoia was born in about 1770 and died in 1843.

One can only regard these trees with awe for their majesty.  We must do all we can to protect these natural wonders of our natural world.  New challenges these trees face are changing climates due to global warming and pollution.

The Grand Canyon

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Located in the northern part of Arizona, the Grand Canyon is a very large and steep gorge carved by the Colorado River, located one mile below the rim. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long (446 kilometers) and ranges in width from 0.1 to 18 miles (0.2 to 29 kilometers). At the bottom of the rim, the river exposes million-year-old rocks, which are one of the oldest rocks on earth. The Grand Canyon contains 75 species of mammals, 300 species of birds, 25 species of fish, and 50 species of reptiles. This canyon became a national park in 1919 and millions of people still visit the canyon for its beautiful landscape and amazing size.

The Great Barrier Reef

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Located off the coast of Queensland in northeast Australia, the colorful Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system in the world, about the size of the state of California, with an area of 135,000 square miles (349,648 square kilometers). You can see the reef from outer space and is the world's largest single structure created by living organisms. The Great Barrier Reef supports a wide diversity of life, with over 300 different species marine animals. Because of its warm waters, about two million people, including tourists and scuba divers, visit the reef each year for its beauty and marine life, yet, it is presently facing environmental threats. The most significant threat is the climate change because mass coral bleaching have occurred due to the rising ocean temperatures in the summers of 1998, 2002, and 2006. Climate change also affect the wildlife on the coral reef because when fish's preferred temperature lead them to new areas, seabird chick mortality rate increases because of the lack of fish they feed on. The crown-of-thorns starfish is a predator, which feeds on coral polyps, destroying large parts of the coral reef. The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park protects the Great Barrier Reef to limit the human impact of overfishing and tourism so that this magnificent reef can maintain its beauty and continue to be part of a natural wonder.

Victoria Falls

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Located in Zimbabwe in Southern Africa, Victoria Falls is 355 feet high (108m) and 1.06 miles wide (1.7 kilometers), making it the largest curtain of water in the world. During the wet season, over 132,086,026 gallons (500 million liters) are poured into the Zambezi River. The water generates a large amount of spray, which shoots 1000 feet (304.8 meters) into the sky and can be seen 30 miles (48.3 kilometers) away. The locals call the falls "Mosi-oa-Tunya" which means the smoke that thunders. The best time to see this spectacular waterfall is during the rainy season, from March to May, to enjoy the full blast of spray, noise, and view the constant presence of the rainbow.

Aurora Borealis

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Now, this is one spectacular scenery. Also known as the Northern Lights, the Aurora Borealis is the natural display of nights created by particles visible only in the northern hemisphere. The counterpart, aurora australies, is the same thing, except that it's only visible in the southern hemisphere. Traveling closer to the Earth's poles increases the chance of viewing the aurora. It is only visible in the sky, displaying a more spectacular scene during the night. Aurorae, plural for the aurora, are produced by the collision of charged particles, also called ions that travel at speeds of 186 to 746 miles per second (300 to 1200 kilometers per second). The stream of plasma, which is a cloud of ions, that comes from the sun is called the solar wind. When the solar wind merges into the earth's magnetic field, some of the ions are trapped and are forced down into the ionosphere, which is 37 to 373 miles (60 to 600 kilometers) above the earth's surface. When the ions collide with the gases in the ionosphere, arrays of colors are produced. Different gases in the ionosphere will produce different colors, including red, blue, violet, and green. The Northern Lights are in constant motion when they are displayed, so this is one spectacle everyone must see.

Mount Everest

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Located in the Himalayas, Mount Everest is the Earth's tallest mountain, measuring 29,029 ft (8,848 meters) and still rises a few millimeters each year because of the geological forces. This spectacular mountain attracts thousands of climbers of all levels to try to climb the mountain. Climbers, including experts and novices, are willing to pay large amounts of money to professional mountain guides to successfully reach the summit. They must know the dangers and risks when climbing the mountain, especially for avalanches, since they are the leading cause of death. There have been around 4,000 attempts to scale the mountain, but only 660 were able to successfully reach the summit. Nepal, Tibet, and India can be seen at the summit. Just seeing it from the nearby countries will make you gape in amazement. Therefore, if you ever decide to climb this mountain, may God be with you all the way to the top.

Paricutin Volcano

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Located in the Mexican state of Michoacán, this cone volcano was born in February 1943… in the middle of a cornfield! The volcano grew 30 feet in one night, erupting violently for the first time and grew another 120 feet by the end of the day. During the night, large rocks of lava flew up more than 1,000 feet into the dark sky, and large masses of lava flowing in the cornfield. Ashes reached Mexico City, located 200 miles west of the volcano, and almost all the vegetation around the crater was destroyed. During the summer of 1943, the most violent period of the volcano, lava rose 50 feet below the crater's rim, and destroyed the nearby villages the following year. The volcano now stands 1,345 above the ground. With such a mysterious and sudden eruption, and the surprises it gave to bystanders and scientists, the Paricutin Volcano is also one of the natural wonders.

Harbor of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

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As the second largest city in Brazil, the Harbor of Rio De Janeiro is famous for its natural setting. In Brazilian Portugese, it means "City of January" and is nicknamed A Cidade Maravilhosa, which means "Marvelous City." The Rio has the two largest forests in an urban area in the world, Parque Estadual da Pedra Branca, or White Stone State Park, and Floresta da Tijuca, which means "Tijuca Forest." The Rio is home to the famous giant statue of Jesus the Redeemer on top of Corcovado Mountain, located in the center of the city. The bay was once thought as a river, which is one of the illusions that Rio has. The city was filled with wildlife, including jaguars and tapirs, but now the shores of the bay hold the loud city. Viewing the city is highly diverse because at different viewpoints, the bay can be seen as a lake or a strange shape, and the mountains can seem as if the bay is surrounded. The mountains actually provide an entrance to the city.

Mayon Volcano is a strato volcano which is famous to have a perfec cone with the height of 2,463 meters above sea level. This volcano is found in Albay province and the last erruption was on 2006.

Taal Volcano is the smallest volcano in the world. The crater has only 406 meters high. This is located between the town of Talisay and San Nicolas Batangas. This volcano is an island with a lake surrounded on it which is the lake Taal. Last erruption of this volcano last 1977. 

Maria Makiling is a volcano which is surrounded with hot spring. It is found in Los Banos Laguna. It is became a tourist attraction because of many hot spring resort which is a therapheutic water. It is also known as a mysterious mountain because any person that will bath in the mysterious pools will be refresh body and soul because of the mystery of a woman which is Goddes Maria Makiling protect the people in the place.

Mount Apo is the highest peak mountain in the philippines because of its highest point of 9,692 feet. It is being called the grandfather of mountains in the philippines and this mountain is found in Mindanao Island. This is a famous hiking place of many mountainers and it takes three to four days before you reach to the top of the mountain. Actually this is a volcanic mountain which is the appearance is a snowcapped mountains that covered with white sulfur and the peak of the mountain is the home of the philippine eagle.

Banaue Rice Terraces is known as the eight wonders of the world and found in Ifugao province. The terraces is 4000 feet above sea level.

Chocolate Hills are made up of cone hills that is perfectly spread 50 kilometers in Bohol island, which are all covered with green grasses and it will all turns to brown when the season is dry. The hill itself is very uniformly shape to 30 and 50 meters high. The hills are not a man made artifacts but a natural wonders.

Maria Cristina Falls is a twin falls of Agus river. It is well known with its grandeur waterfalls and natural beauty. It has a 320 feet high water falls. This is located in Iligan city. This is the primary source of electrict power that generates 70 percent of the electricity of Mindanao which is operated by the National Power Corporation which is NAPOCOR. Maria Cristina falls powers the Agus VI hydroelectric plant which has 200 mw capacity that supplied by a water flow about 130 cubic meter per second.

Palawan Island is the biggest province of the philippine because it compose of 1,780 islands. This is one of the 7,000 islands that make philippine country an archipelago. The island is encircled with different marine life, enfold of rain forest and mountains and where ancient caves were found here, fresh and clean beaches surrounds here which is also a very good dive site. This is an island province which is the capital city is Puerto Princesa. It is in this island found the longest natural cave of the country and this is the sanctuary of wild life and endangered animals.

Philippine island is the land of promise.  

The Grand Canyon

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The Grand Canyon is located in the northwest part of Arizona. This “Grand Valley” was made by the cut of the running water. Colorado River flows through the Canyon and that over the years it cut through the rock. You can see many layers of the rock which are at least two billion years old according to the Geologists.

Glass Bridge is a special attraction of Grand Canyon.

Glass Bridge is horseshoe-shaped bridge suspended 4,000 feet above the Colorado River on the very edge of the Grand Canyon. Tourists can skywalk here and get the thrilling experience of the Grand Canyon.

Rainbow Bridge

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Rainbow Natural Bridge is salmon-red Navajo sandstone arching over Bridge Canyon and located in Southern Utah, USA. Rainbow Bridge is the World's natural bridge with the span of 275 feet, at the top it is 42 feet thick and 33 feet wide. This bridge is made from sandstone formed during the end of the Triassic and Jurassic period.

Devils Tower

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According to geologists, Devils Tower is formed by the intrusion of igneous material. It is composed of sedimentary rocks like red sand stones, silk stones belonged to the Triassic Time, i.e.225 to 195 million years ago. Once upon a time there was a sea here, slowly gypsum, sandstone and limestone was deposited and a sudden volcanic eruption of the earth made it like a strong tower nearly 50 million years ago.

Devils Tower rises 1267 feet above the Belle Fourche River and has base 1,000 feet across. This 1.5 acre park is covered with beautiful pine forests, woodlands and grass lands. President Theodore Roosevelt established Devils Tower National Monument in 1906.

Polar Aurora (Northern/Southern lights)

Auroras are natural colored light displays in the sky particularly in the polar zone. They occur in the ionosphere and usually observed at night.

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Aurora borealis (Northern lights) appear in green or red colors and in the months of September to October and March to April.

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Aurora australis (Southern lights) is caused by plasma particles from the sun i.e. part of the solar wind. These can be seen at the South Pole during the six month from March to September.

The collisions in the atmosphere electronically excite atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere. Benjamin Franklin was the first person to theorize this.

The Bay of Fundy

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The Bay of Fundy extends from the northern coast of Maine and into Canada between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The Bay creates the highest tides; some reach more than 50 feet. It was formed as the continental plates parted millions of years ago. The Bay of Fundy is a 170-mile-long, funnel- shaped bay and splits into two narrow bays, Chignecto Bay and the MinasBasin.

Ayers Rock

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Ayers Rock (called as Uluru by Aborigines) is one of the oldest rocks on the Earth. It is located in Australia. This rock is formed over a period of about 500 million years. The top of this rock is 1,142 feet above the plains and the base is 5 miles around. This is covered with many caves and grooves. According to a legend of Aborigines, Uluru was once an ocean, but due to a great battle on its shores it rose up in revolt, forming the great blood-colored rock.

Eisriesenwelt Ice Caves

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Eisriesenwelt ice cave is the largest ice cave in the world. It is a natural limestone ice cave and located at the height of 1640 meter in Werfen, Austria. The temperature inside the cave is under zero. Though the length of the cave is 42km, only the first kilometer is covered in ice and the rest of the cave is formed of limestone.

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You can visit this cave from May 1st to October 26th every year.

Dead Sea

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The Dead Sea is a salt lake located between Israel and Jordan. It is 1,083 feet deep, 67 kilometers long and 18 kilometers wide. It is the deepest hyper-saline lake in the world with 30% salinity. No animals can flourish in this lake due to its high salinity, hence the name.

Thousands of ancient stone jars can be found in Laos' Plain of jars. Each jar is large enough to fit a person inside. Archaeologists are not sure who made them and why.

Spectacular water towers dominate the skyline of Kuwait City. The water towers are part of desalination plants that turn seawater into fresh water by removing the salt. Freshwater is scarce in Kuwait, and these plants are its main source.

If you think the unusual design of this luxury hotel looks like a ship under full sail- you are right. Built in 1999, the Burj al Arab (meaning “Tower of the Arabs”) sits on an artificial island just off shore in the Persian Gulf. It's the world's tallest hotel

The Millau Bridge in France is a cable-stayed bridge. With its roadway 885 feet above the River Tarn, it became the highest road bridge when it opened in 2004. The top of its highest tower reaches a height of 1,125 feet, higher than the Eiffel Tower.

Ruined Buddhist Temples rise from the plain at the Ancient Myanmar. Founded in AD 849, the “City of a Thousand Temples” covered a vast area. It was partially destroyed by a Mongol Army invader.

From the walls of an Inca fortress at Sacsayhuaman, near Cuzco, crowds usually watch modern descendants of the Incas celebrate the “Festival of the Sun.”

How their ancestors move these huge stone building blocks from the quarries remains a mystery.

The Iron Gates are spectacular wall of rocks in the Samaria Gorge, on the island of Crete. This is Europe's largest ravine.

Black Rocks rise from the shallow waters of Lake Myvatn in Northern Iceland. They were formed from the cooked lava of ancient volcanoes. Iceland has over 200 volcanoes, many of them active.

The snow never melts on spectacular Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alps. A road tunnel had been bored through the mountain that links France with Italy.

The jagged limestone peaks of the Dolomites look like fantastic cathedral spires. This northeastern mountain range, which is more than 10,824 ft or 3,330 m, is a branch of the Alps. Its sheer rock faces and wonderful views attract rock climbers, hikers and tourists.

Ridges of ice edge down the Southern Alps, forming the huge Franz-Josef Glacier. This is one of over 360 glaciers in New Zealand. It was first explored in 1865, and today is popular with hikers and tourists.

The sea ice around Ellesmere Island, Canada's most northerly point, break up for a few weeks around June. There is 24 hour sunlight during this time, and the waters become a rich feeding ground for migrating whales and seabirds.

Bright lights twinkle against the sun at the fishing village of Angmagssalik on the east coast. Much of Greenland does not see natural daylight for several months in the winter because it lies north of the Arctic Circle.

Helsinki, the capital of Finland, is dark in the middle of a winter day. Like other Arctic countries, Finland is dark for most of each day in winter and light throughout midsummer nights. This is because of its northerly location.

Along the Arctic Circle there is one day each year during which the sun does not set, about June 21. The sun does not rise above the horizon on approximately December 22.

At the North Pole there are 6 months of continuous daylight from March 21 to September 23 and 6 months of darkness from September 23 to March 21.

Along the Antarctic Circle there is one day each year during which the sun does not set, about December 22. The sun does not rise above the horizon on approximately June 21.

At the South Pole there is 6 months of continuous darkness about March 21 to September 23 followed by 6 months of daylight from September 23 to March 21.

Islands of salts form in Lake Assal in Djibouti, the lowest place in Africa, when the lakes salty water evaporates in the hot sun, leaving a salt crust.

Hope you enjoyed your brief tour from these beautiful and wonderful places from around the world.

Some of the greatest stories about trolls originate in Norway. In fact, there are many amazing natural wonders there that are named after these mythical creatures. After visiting, it's not hard to see why!

The best place to start is with a ferry ride up the west coast of Norway. Some cruise lines follow the same course, but due to their size and schedules are unable to approach some of the more incredible scenery that dominates the fjords. Since the ferries are quite regular, one can jump off at any of the towns along the way to explore at will, joining a later ferry to continue your trip northward.

Eventually you will find yourself at Alesund, a very old city with a rich culture and an incredible history. Visit some of the fascinating local sights first, such as Stavkirke (the Stave Church), the Fisheries museum, and the beautiful white sands of the Giske and Vigra beaches. Eventually however, the siren call of the mountains will draw you in, as they have so many others, and your adventure will begin in earnest.

To begin, let us explore the site known as Trollveggen (the Troll Wall). Trollveggen is part of the mountain range called Trolltindene (the Troll Peaks). The shear size of these mountains alone can be enough to inspire awe in even the most seasoned traveler, but to stand at the base of Trollveggen is an experience not to be missed! Standing over 1800 meters high, 1000 meters of which are a straight vertical cliff, Trollvegen dwarfs any man-made structure to date. To illustrate, the Eiffel Tower is a mere 324 meters high, including the flagpole; the CN Tower is 553.3 meters tall; and the Sears tower is only 527 meters tall.

Anyone who's stood at the top of any tall structure knows the incredible feeling of looking down and seeing the ground so far below. Now, imagine base-jumping from a cliff nearly 2 kilometers high! Although base-jumping and hang-gliding off the cliff has been banned, there are still a few foolhardy souls who sneak in to experience this incredible rush. Other thrill-seekers prefer to take on one of the many challenging climbing routes pioneered over the years by climbing teams from Germany, France, Brittain, Russia, and elsewhere. For most travelers however, merely looking over the edge is thrilling enough as it is.

To reach the top of Trollveggen by car, one must experience another troll-related site known as Trollstigen (the Troll's Ladder), a winding road with 11 hair-pin turns that is so narrow that only one vehicle can travel on it at a time. Relatively gentle at first, it is difficult to tell how high up one is until one is forced onto one of the "passing lanes", where the road has been widened to allow two vehicles to pass one another. Should you encounter a vehicle coming in the opposite direction, one of you will need to back up to one of these passing lanes to allow the other vehicle to continue onwards. Stepping out of your vehicle at these spots in not recommended, as the lip of the road is often a mere two or three inches away from your tires.

The road at Trollstigen was built in 1936, and took 8 years to complete. Originally however, it was a footpath for shepherds bringing their flocks in and out of the valley to graze. Parts of this path are still available to those who enjoy a good hike, but be sure to wear boots and gloves, since some parts of the path are so steep that chains were installed to help one up the more difficult sections. Also, be sure to wear a nice smile, since you will most likely have your picture taken by a more than a few of the less adventurous tourists along the way.

The backside of Trollveggen, while not as well known, is equally impressive, although in a very different way. Driving through the valley, one can begin to understand how the Vikings might believe in the giant and powerful creatures known as trolls. To the casual eye, it looks as if a giant child was playing with stones, piling them together and then scattering them about. All through the valley, one can see immense piles of rocks, some leaning against one another, some perched precariously on top of one another much like the inuksuit (or rock stacks) built by the Inuits, but on a massive scale. Come and have your picture taken under a boulder the size of a four-story house, balanced just perfectly on a stone the size of a small car!

Other nearby natural formations are equally fascinating. According to legend, Trollhugget (the Troll Chop) was the result of a single blow from a troll's axe, marking the division between his own and a rival's territory. True to its name, the mountain range is abruptly cleaved in two, the valley between them full of shattered and pulverized stone. Trollkirka (the Troll's Church) is another interesting stone formation in the vicinity, with it's distinctive pyramid shape, looking much like many of the ancient stave churches built around 1300AD when early Christianity reached the area.

This incredible area is just one small piece of Norway's seemingly endless supply of natural beauty. Next time you're thinking of going to Europe, forget the cruise lines… come see the interior of one of the most incredible and rugged places on earth!