Guairá Falls Brazil, Paraguay

About 20 KM north of the astonishing Iguazu Falls, there’s another natural wonder even more stunning than the Iguazu falls. This is so called Guaira Falls or Seven Falls or Sete Quedas in Portuguese along the border between Brazil and Paraguay. This was a beautiful series of 18 massive waterfalls on the Paraná River situated at a point where the river was forced through a narrow gorge. Moreover at the head of falls, the river becomes narrowed abruptly from a width of about 380 meters to 60 meters, creating one of the most potent waterfalls on earth with a flow rate double that of the Niagara Falls.

The whipping water formed a deafening noise that could be heard from 30 kilometer away. For several years, it was a popular tourist attraction and a favorite place among the locals, until 1982 when the Brazilian military blew away the rocks over which the water fell to create a lake for the newly constructed Itaipu Dam. The Itaipu Dam is the biggest operating hydroelectric plant in terms of annual energy generation, generating approximately 100 TWh of power each year that accounts for 75% of the electricity consumed by Paraguay and 17% of that consumed by Brazil. To construct such a gigantic dam some sacrifices had to be made, and one of them was to flood the Guaíra Falls. Amazingly a months before the great flood, thousands of sightseers flocked to the area to see the falls for the last time.

When a group of excited visitors walked over a miserable maintained suspended footbridge, it collapsed immensely under the weight resulting in the death toll of more than 80 people. Therefore as the waters starts to rise, hundreds of people congregated to participate in a guarup, an indigenous ritual in memory of the falls. The inundation took only 14 days, happening during the rainy season when the level of the Paraná River was high. Then on October 27, 1982, the reservoir was fully shaped and the falls had vanished. The Brazilian government later dynamited the submerged rock face of the falls, to encourage safer navigation on the river. The director of the company that built the dam, later issued a statement saying, "We're not destroying Seven Falls. We're just going to transfer it to Itaipu Dam, whose spillway will be a substitute for [the falls'] beauty" however apparently it is impossible to take pictures of the Guairá Falls these days, I’ve collected below pictures from different websites.

Hopetoun Waterfalls Victoria Australia

The gorgeous natural Hopetoun Falls is located in the Otways region of Victoria, Australia. It is well across the Air River and approximately five kilometers south of the locality of Beech Forest at an elevation of 1,030 feet above sea level and range between 148–161 feet in height. Hopetoun Falls nearby to the Apollo Bay Beech Forest Road around four  kilometers south of the Beauchamp Falls turnoff and approximately 20 kilometers northwest of the coastal town of Apollo Bay.

Hopetoun Falls was certainly one of the more pleasing waterfalls that had a healthy flow and the rainforest setting was misty, green, and lush. Furthermore to allowing ample access to tourists, extra attention has been given to preserving the natural characteristics of Hopetoun Falls. The Hopetoun falls have a large set of well-built and maintained stairs that lead down a natural patio to a seeing platform very close to the foot of the waterfall. Hopetoun Falls plunges 30 m in a classic rectangular shape. There’re countless visitors come every year to look at its natural beauty.

When you’ll see this waterfall, you’d realize the amazing beauty of waterfall, and would be a great place for a picnic. From Lavers Hill, follow the Colac-Lavers Hill Road east until you see a turn-off to the right to Hopetoun Falls and Beauchamp Falls. Then after a short distance down this road there is another junction where you will need to turn right to continue on to Hopetoun Falls car park is signed from here.

The Three Sisters: New South Wales Most Iconic Landmarks

The Three Sisters is the Blue Mountains actually a most remarkable landmark. This iconic place is a huge attraction by millions of people each year, which is actually an unusual rock formation representing three sisters who according to Aboriginal legend were turned to stone. The Three Sisters are located New South Wales, Australia, on the north escarpment of the Jamison Valley. They’re adjacent to the town of Katoomba and are one of the Blue Mountains' best recognized sites, towering above the Jamison Valley. Their names are Meehni (922 meters), Wimlah (918 meters), and Gunnedoo (906 meters). Therefore the part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, these weathered sandstone peaks, formed over thousands of years, and visitors may have best views are from the Echo Point at Katoomba.

Moreover Echo Point is also the gateway to numerous great nature walks and adventures such as abseiling, rockclimbing and caving, and soaks up the scenery, streams, waterfalls, forests, ravines and sheer cliffs on one of the 140 kilometers of heritage walking tracks throughout the region. It is well believed, that three Sisters were unusual formation is formed by land erosion. The soft sandstone of the Blue Mountains is easily eroded over time by wind, rain and rivers, causing the cliffs surrounding the Jamison Valley to be slowly broken up. The commonly told legend of the Three Sisters is that three sisters lived in the Jamison Valley as members of the Katoomba tribe.

The beautiful young ladies fell in love with three men from a neighboring Nepean tribe, but marriage was not allowed by tribal law. The three brothers were not happy to admit this law and then they decided to use force to capture the three sisters. A major tribal battle ensued, and the sisters were turned to stone by an elder to protect them, but he was killed in the fighting and no one else could turn them back.

This legend is claimed to be an Indigenous Australian Dreamtime legend. As the lives of the three sisters were seriously in danger however, Dr Martin Thomas, in his work "The artificial horizon imagining the Blue Mountains", visibly shows that the "aboriginal" legend is a fabrication shaped by a non-Aboriginal Katoomba local, Mel Ward, seemingly to add interest to a local landmark. Therefore the story initiated in the late 1920s or early 1930s and is unidentified prior to that date.

The Aboriginal traditional owners, the Gundungurra, have a legend that includes the Sisters rock formation. From nearby Echo Point, a bushwalking trail leads to the Three Sisters and down to the valley floor via more than 800 well-maintained steel and stone steps called "The Giant Stairway". Then a one and half hour walk on The Federal Pass trail leads to the base of Katoomba Falls and the Katoomba Picturesque Railway. Walkers who don't want to climb back to the top can take the Beautiful Railway back to the plateau for a fee. The character of the three isters ups and downs throughout the day & seasons as the sunlight brings out the wonderful colors.  Because the Three Sisters is also floodlit until around 11pm each evening looking simply remarkable set against the black background of the night sky.

Batura Muztagh is Ultra peak of 7,388 meter in Pakistan

Batura Muztagh is Ultra peak of 7,388 meter, and a sub-range of the Karakoram Range in Hunza Valley, GB Pakistan. It is ranked 70th highest peak of world and 31st highest peak in Pakistan.  Moreover Ultar Sar is the southeastern most foremost peak of the Batura Muztagh, a sub range of the Karakoram range. It lies about ten kilometers northeast of the Karimabad, a town on the Karakoram Highway in the Hunza Valley, part of the Gilgit District of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. Batura Muztagh has notable features and climbing history. 

Though it is not one of the highest peaks of the Karakoram, Ultar Sar is notable for its exciting rise above local terrain. Its south flank rises over 17,388 feet above the Hunza River near Karimabad, in only about 10 km of horizontal distance. Combined with its strategic position at the end of the Batura Muztagh, with the Hunza River bending around it, this makes Ultar a visually striking peak.

Ultar Sar also gained fame in the 1990s as supposedly the world's highest unclimbed independent peak. This was improper, as Gangkhar Puensum in Bhutan is higher, and remains unclimbed in 2007. Moreover; two other higher peaks are also reputedly unclimbed and of independent stature. However that perception did increase to the appeal of the peak, and a numeral of expeditions attempted to climb it. Therefore during the 1980s and 1990s over 15 expeditions made attempts, resulting in no success, but in a number of fatalities; the peak proved to be quite tough.

The first two ascents were made in July 1996 by two separate Japanese expeditions, the first from the Tokai section of the Japanese Alpine Club led by Akito Yamazaki who summited, but unluckily died on the descent and the second led by Ken Takahashi. The first summit team consists of Yamazaki and Kiyoshi Matsuoka who also died one year later on the adjacent peak Bublimotin. They climbed the peak from the southwest in alpine style, doing much of the climbing at night to evade danger from falling rock and ice. After their successful summit, they faced strong storms and bivouaced several days without food before returning to basecamp.

Nevertheless, Akihito Yamazaki died at basecamp of an internal disease due to the relentless stress of climbing. The 2nd summit team comprised Takahashi and 4 others: Masayuki Ando, Ryushi Hoshino, Wataru Saito, and Nobuo Tsutsumi. They climbed the south ridge. Then after 1996, there have been no recorded ascents of the peak.