Indian peacock, Yala National Park

Indian peacock in Yala National Park, Sri Lanka 

(© Kevin Schafer/Minden Pictures)

Though native to South Asia, and especially India, the peafowl has been introduced all over the Western Hemisphere, Australia, and even in South Africa and Madagascar. The male, known as a peacock, has become a symbol of exotic beauty and its feathers have been used in fashion design for centuries.

Peacocks figure into various Eastern mythologies, with prominent roles in Hindu lore. A peacock, for example, is the steed of Kartikeya, the Hindu god of war. And, as if to demonstrate how far the peacock is distributed throughout the world, Viking warriors were sometimes buried with peacock feathers, and medieval knights of Europe sometimes wore peacock plumes on their armor.

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Torcross, South Devon, England

Torcross, South Devon, England 

(© Sebastian Wasek/age fotostock)

Torcross, on the Devon coast of southwest England, is just about the dictionary definition of an English seaside town. This fishing village on the English Channel has a freshwater lake called Slapton Ley on the west side and a nice stretch of beach called Slapton Sands facing the channel to the east.

Recent storms, especially the Valentine’s Day storm of 2014, have given Torcross and nearby villages a real beating. But Torcross soldiers on, with summer holiday visitors enjoying Slapton Sands and perhaps stopping in one of the local pubs for authentic fish and chips and a pint. Who’s ready to make the trek?

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Ronda in Málaga Province, Spain

Ronda in Málaga Province, Spain 

(© Marcp_dmoz on Flickr/Getty Images)


Ancient civilizations used this mountain perch in the south of Spain as a strategic location for fortified settlements, with Romans, Moors, and Visigoths each contributing to the modern-day city we now call Ronda.

Puente Nuevo is the bridge we see on the right side of this picture. It’s one of three bridges that straddle El Tajo canyon, the gap that separates Ronda’s two halves. At the base of El Tajo runs the Guadalevín River, supplying Ronda with water and, these days, another breathtaking scene to delight visitors to the city.

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Reykjavik, Iceland

Reykjavik, Iceland

(© Arctic-Images/Getty Images)

Like the wild variations of the landscape elsewhere in the country, Reykjavik is a city of contrasts. The population isn’t much more than 100,000, but the city has the feel of a bigger urban setting and is well known for its nightlife. Check any good travel guide and you’ll see that many music venues and bars in Reykjavik don’t fill up until midnight on weekends and then rage on into the early morning hours. But it’s not just a party town – museums, natural wonders, unique landmarks, and many stunning works of modern architecture all draw a steady stream of visitors to the world’s northernmost national capital.

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Balloons flying, New Mexico

Hot air balloons flying during the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, New Mexico 

(© Blaine Harrington III/Corbis)

The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is the world’s biggest festival of hot air balloons. Taking place every October in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the event fills the air with more than 500 colorful balloons, the smell of Albuquerque’s unique and delicious cuisine, and a sense of wonder.

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Giant lobelia in Mount

Giant lobelia in Mount Kenya National Park, Kenya 

(© Martin Zwick/Danita Delimont)


The giant lobelia (Lobelia telekii), endemic to the high mountains of East Africa, puts all its effort into growing a single bloom. This particular species of lobelia grows exclusively above the 12,000-foot elevation mark, shooting up as high as 10 feet, with a shaggy inflorescence that can give the lobelia the appearance of an escaped Muppet, or perhaps something from a Dr. Seuss book.

Lobelia telekii is named after Sámuel Teleki, a late 19th-century Hungarian explorer, who was the first European to venture into what is now northern Kenya. By all accounts, Sámuel Teleki did not look like a Muppet.

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Macarelleta Beach, Menorca, Spain

Macarelleta Beach, Menorca, Spain 

(© Michele Falzone/Getty Images)

This tranquil scene captures the serenity that can be found on the Spanish island of Menorca (aka Minorca), at least compared to the 24-hour party scene that some other islands in this archipelago are known for. For decades, tourists have flocked to the Balearic Islands of Majorca and Ibiza for their world-famous nightlife. Meanwhile, visitors report that on the more family-friendly Menorca (from the Latin for “small island,” distinguishing it from Majorca’s “large island”), the beaches are less crowded and generally more geared toward a relaxing vacation than a hedonistic weekend.

At Macarelleta Beach, not only can we see the jewel-blue waters of the Mediterranean, but also some of the many caves along Menorca’s coast. Some of the caves extend into the surrounding waters, giving scuba divers something to explore beyond the seabed.

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Hoover Dam

Hoover Dam, on the border between Arizona and Nevada 

© George Steinmetz/Corbis)


Happy birthday, Hoover Dam! President Franklin Roosevelt dedicated this engineering marvel 80 years ago today, and it still stands as a testament to the ingenuity, perseverance, and sheer hard work of the thousands who labored in harsh conditions for over five years to tame the flow of the mighty Colorado River and turn it into hydroelectric power.

When it was completed, Hoover Dam was the largest dam in the world. It required nearly 88 million cubic feet of concrete, which made it the first single structure to use more masonry than the Great Pyramid of Giza. All that concrete was poured into individual, rectangular-shaped sections that were then cured using over 582 miles of cooling pipes. If the concrete had been poured in a single, continuous pour—and left to cool naturally—it would still be settling today.

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Lightning over Kowloon, Hong Kong

Lightning over Kowloon, Hong Kong

(© Daniel Chui/Moment/Getty Images)

The skyline of Kowloon may be the most recognizable part of Hong Kong. Perhaps tonight lightning from Mother Nature will outdo the lights of the city. Still, Kowloon – a region of Hong Kong, but nearly a city of its own – will put up a good fight. Every night its skyscrapers are lit up in sync with music, as part of "A Symphony of Lights," a spectacular multimedia light and sound show that illuminates the Hong Kong waterfront.

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Geladas in Repose

Geladas in repose 

(© Pavel Blažek/500px)


You may hear these primates referred to as “gelada baboons” or “bleeding heart baboons.” And while they do share many physical traits with baboons, most scientists put these grass-eating monkeys in their own genus. But why “bleeding heart?” Both adult males and females have a bright-red, hourglass-shaped mark on their chests. They’re very social and gather on the grassy hills of Ethiopia’s Semien Mountains to munch on the grasses and groom each other.

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Elephant Trunk Hill, China

Elephant Trunk Hill, Guilin, China 

(© Ajancso/Shutterstock)


At the confluence of the Taohua and Lijiang Rivers outside Guilin, China, stands the stone arch known as Elephant Trunk Hill. The name comes from the cliff’s resemblance to an elephant with its trunk lowered into the water for a drink. At night, when the moon is positioned just so, visitors can see the moon right through the hole under the arch, hence its name: Water-Moon Cave.

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Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

Crown Point at Columbia River Gorge, Oregon

 (© JPL Designs/Shutterstock)

On this day in 1805, the Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived near this spot. Believing they had finally reached the Pacific, William Clark wrote in his journal “Ocian [sic] in View! O the joy." But this is the Columbia River Gorge and estuary, and it would be another 17 days before they made camp at the Pacific coast.

If you retrace the famous expedition’s steps along the Columbia, make sure to spend some time in the Crown Point Scenic Corridor, an Oregon state park, seen here on the right side of the photo. The park offers stunning views of the mighty Columbia, which marks the state border with Washington. And the Vista House (perched atop a bluff) offers a bit of shelter if the weather’s not cooperating. Built in 1917, the observatory came more than a century too late for the weary Lewis and Clark team.

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Village of Cemoro Lawang, East Java, Indonesia

Village of Cemoro Lawang near Mount Bromo, East Java, Indonesia 

(© Nat Wimolsiri/REX Shutterstock)

If you lived in Cemoro Lawang, the village on the edge of that cliff, the dramatic fog isn’t the only amazing view you’d see each morning. The hamlet looks across the crater and sand sea of Bromo-Tengger-Semeru National Park in Indonesia. Many visitors use Cemoro Lawang as a last stop before venturing into the park to climb Mount Bromo, one of the active volcanoes in the area.

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Black grouse males, Bergslagen, Sweden

Black grouse males, Bergslagen, Sweden 

(© E. Haarberg/Corbis)

Just before the sun rises each morning in spring, male black grouse gather on open meadows in the wooded moors and bogs they call home. They puff up their feathers and march around in plain view of the female black grouse, in a competitive display called “lekking.” If the prancing doesn’t get the attention of the ladies, the mating call might. In the western European portion of their range, a black grouse lek may involve only a few dozen birds. But in the Russian reaches of their territory, more than 100 males may assemble to strut their stuff.

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