Blue Lagoon Galapagos Islands in Ecuador

The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed on either side of the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, around 906 kilometers (563 miles) west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part. The Galápagos Islands and their surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian province, a national park, and a biological marine reserve. The islands have a population of more over 25,000, and their main language is Spanish. These attractive islands are so popular for their huge number of endemic species and were studied by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle. His deep observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.

These impressively beautiful islands are found at the coordinate’s 1°40'N – 1°36'S, 89°16' – 92°01'W. Because straddling the equator, islands in the chain are situated in both the northern and southern hemispheres, with Volcán Wolf and Volcán Ecuador on Isla Isabela being directly on the equator. Española Island, the southernmost islet of the archipelago, and Darwin Island, the northernmost one, are range more than a distance of 220 kilometers. The IHO (International Hydrographic Organization) considers them wholly within the South Pacific Ocean, however. The Galápagos Archipelago consists of 7,880 kilometers of land spread over 45,000 kilometers of ocean. Moreover the largest of the islands, Isabela, measures 2,250 sq mi/5,827 kilometers and makes up close to three quarters of the total land area of the Galápagos. Volcán Wolf on Isabela is the highest point, with an elevation of 1,707 meters above sea level.

Moreover the group consists of 18 main islands, 3 smaller islands, and 107 rocks and islets. And these islands are located at the Galapagos Triple Junction. The archipelago is located on the Nazca Plate, which is moving east/southeast, diving under the South American Plate at a rate of about 2.5 inches per year. It is also atop the Galapagos hotspot, a place where the Earth's crust is being melted from below by a mantle plume, making volcanoes. It is projected that the first islands formed here at least 8 million and perhaps up to 90 million years ago. Though the older islands have disappeared below the sea as they’ve moved away from the mantle plume, the youngest islands, Isabela and Fernandina, are still being formed, with the most recent volcanic eruption in April 2009 where lava from the volcanic island Fernandina started flowing both towards the island's shoreline and into the center caldera.

The history tell us, that the first recorded visit to these islands occurred by chance in 1535, when the Bishop of Panamá Fray Tomás de Berlanga went to Peru to arbitrate in a dispute between Francisco Pizarro and Diego de Almagro. De Berlanga was blown off course; however he ultimately returned to the Spanish Empire and described the conditions of the islands and the animals that inhabited them. Therefore the group of lovely islands was shown and named in Abraham Ortelius's atlas published in 1570. The first crude map of the islands was made in 1684 by the buccaneer Ambrose Cowley, who named the individual islands after some of his fellow pirates or after British royalty and noblemen. Though these names were used in the authoritative navigation charts of the islands organized during the Beagle survey under Captain Robert Fitzroy, and in Darwin's widespread book The Voyage of the Beagle. As the time passes, the new Republic of Ecuador took the islands from Spanish ownership in 1832, and afterward gave them official Spanish names. The older names remained in use in English language publications, including Herman Melville's The Encantadas of 1854.

Famous Walkway Known as the Most Dangerous in the World is Set to Re-open for Public in Spain

Well, this is famous as El Caminito del Rey (the King's little pathway) and was a very popular challenge for adventurers lovers, because until five people lost their lives while taking on the path between 1999 and 2000. Therefore, after a long gap of 14 years after it was closed due to safety fears, the renowned walkway - recognized as the most dangerous in the world is set to reopen to the public.

The beautiful narrow gorge in the province of Malaga, El Caminito del Rey is a risky walkway that rises over 100 metres (328ft) above the river below. Although after an extensive €2.8 million restoration it was in recent times reopened to the press and will officially open to the public on March 28. Well, a hard joint effort by the regional government of Andalusia and the local government of Malaga, who shared the costs of the renovation, the project has retained much of the walkway’s original features.

The picturesque pathway has also been reinforced with an additional security fence and despite offering up some dizzying views is entirely safe. The walkers can wear hard hats as they clutch the newly installed handrails on their way along the trail. A majestic cave is also incorporated into the path, and walkers can be seen entering and exiting it via a set of stairs. So far, the walk will be free to enjoy for the first six months before a small fee is brought in thereafter. Well, King Felipe is due to be among the first guests to take a walk along the renovated path.

Tristan da Cunha, The World’s Most Remotest Island

Tristan da Cunha, is 1,491 miles from the nearest continent and home to just one 300-person village at the foot of an active volcano, and experience life on the inhabited island, the world's most remote island. It is an arduous task to be there, and you have to be mentally and physically fit to journey this remote island, because it is accessible only by a 6-day boat journey from South Africa or as part of epic month-long cruises through the South Atlantic Ocean, Tristan da Cunha is about as far from a quick holiday destination as it gets. Tristan da Cunha is archipelago stands 1,243 miles from Saint Helena, its closest neighbor with residents, 1,491 miles from South Africa and 2,088 miles from South America.

The majestically beautiful island is just 7 miles long and 37.8 square miles in area, officially known as Edinburgh of the Seven Seas, referred to by locals - less than 300 of them - as The Settlement, located at the foot of the 6,765-foot Queen Mary's Peak. Although this is small unimposing size and formidable remoteness, “Tristan da Cunha” has great rich history and a plethora of native wildlife that is truly unique. Therefore Ocean-wide Expeditions have 4 cruises that take in 3 days stops at Tristan da Cunha, the name given to both the main island and the surrounding archipelago, including the uninhabited Nightingale Islands, and Inaccessible Island and the Gough Islands, which are nature reserves. However cruises, such as those which leave from Ushuaia in Argentina's Tierra del Fuego, are the most convenient way to see the island.

Moreover one of 12 spaces can be filled on the fishing vessel MV Edinburgh and the cargo ship MV Baltic Trader. Though, non-local travelers are at the bottom of an eight-tier priority pecking order that may also include those responding to medical emergencies, official visitors and locals. While the other cruise sails annually to Gough Island, run since 2012 by the South African Antarctic Research and Supply Vessel Agulhas II, and carries more than forty passengers to and from Tristan. Ocean-wide Expeditions' Atlantic Odyssey tours, the shortest and cheapest being the 27-night tour from £3,929 calls in on The Settlement, and aims to land on Nightingale and Inaccessible, which millions of millions of seabirds call home.

The landings aren't guaranteed though, with 30 % of attempts via zodiac boat since 1998 having been failed due to bad weather. Thankfully, tours often factor in a spare day. On Nightingale Island, the wandering, yellow-nosed and sooty albatrosses all breed, and the Rockhopper penguins that live on all four of the Tristan Islands are also immensely popular with those who manage to make it there. Despite of such attractions, tourism is a slight industry for Tristan, with the majority of earnings coming from their commercial crawfish or Tristan rock lobster (Jasus) operations and the sale of their exclusive postage stamps and coins to collectors. Though, a range of accommodation is offered in the form of home stays with locals - descendants of one of seven families originating from Scotland, England, The Netherlands, the United States and Italy - who also serve as guides and sell craft and souvenirs.

As expected, all inhabitants are farmers too, and the total area is communally owned. Historically, the island has proven a vital stop for sailing ships needing a stopover in the Atlantic, and was annexed by the United Kingdom in 1816 to ensure the French couldn't use it as a base to attempt a rescue of Napoleon Bonaparte, who was imprisoned at Saint Helena. The Settlement was named in honor of the 1867 visit of Queen Victoria's son Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, when the islands served as a Royal Navy outpost called HMS Atlantic Isle, also said to have been used to observer shipping movements in the ocean and the radio communications of Nazi U-boats. Prince Phillip, the second Duke of Edinburgh, also visited there on board the royal yacht Britannia in 1957.

After 4 years later, the whole population was enforced to evacuate to England via Cape Town when Queen Mary's Peak erupted. Luckily, the damage to the Settlement was found to be minimal and most inhabitants returned in 1963. Moreover the local penguin population was threatened in March 2011 when the MS Oliva freighter ran aground and created a potentially overwhelming oil slick around Nightingale Island, which has no fresh water. Rockhoppers had to be taken to Tristan to be cleaned. The remote island then got even more worldwide attention later the same year when Volvo Ocean Race competitor Puma's Mar Mostro broke a mast during its journey from Alicante to Cape Town and was enforced to stop there. The town turned it on for the eleven person crew, who visited the local St Mary's School, took a tour of the fish processing factory and picked up emergency supplies at the local shop.