The Kirstenbosch Centenary Tree Canopy Walkway in South Africa

Kirstenbosch is a world popular botanical garden and a special jewel for Capetonians and nature lovers alike. The stunning views, of flora and fauna, the paths and facilities are all of great quality and enjoyment. However, this is possible now to walk above the trees? The Kirstenbosch Centenary Tree Canopy Walkway in Cape Town is a raised walkway that allows visitors to view the forest and the trees the way a bird or a monkey might.

The canopy elegantly snakes its way along the treetops in the Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in South Africa. The striking walkway spreads a maximum height of 12 meters from the ground and only touches the ground twice. It has more than a few observation points from which visitors can relish the surrounding view, but it also descends among the tree canopy in a some places so that they can relish the foliage as well. Kirstenbosch is lovely and worth a visit. The "boomslang" is great, because it is unusual vantage point and the rather surreal feeling that comes with standing atop tree crowns that’s surely the raised boulevard’s greatest drawcard.

Well, you can look out for labels on the trees that document their family and common names as well as information boards along the path that provide details about the birds, animals and mountain peaks visible from the boardwalk. The good looking 427 feet walkway is open now and involves no extra charge, so if you’re ever in South Africa or plant to visit Cape town, then you should definitely consider paying the park a visit! Therefore the Botanical Society of SA has supported the project from the start. A number of similar projects were researched in other renowned botanical gardens such as Kew in London and Kings Park in Perth.

This project construction costs is almost R5 m are met entirely from bequests from many benefactors - in particular, R1m from the late Mary Mullins. The planning of the walkway started in 2012, and foundations were laid down in June 2013 and it was completed on 16 May and opened to the public on 17 May 2014.

Explore the World Largest Cave (Hang Son Doong)

Experience the world’s largest cave, Vitenam’s Hang Son Doong, from a quadcopter’s POV. The video was filmed by Ryan Deboodt near the entrance and the first and second dolines (skylights), which are 2.5 and 3.5 km inside the cave respectively. Ryan Deboodt used the following stuff: Canon 6D, Canon 16-35mm f4, DJI Phantom 2, GoPro Hero 4 Black. If you are really passionate about to learn more about the cave, there’s a great feature by National Geographic from 2011. In fact this is epic effort, and I’m sure you’d really enjoyed this video. Amazingly beautiful shot, our mother nature is extremely beautiful.  Thank you for your work!.

Hang Son Doong from Ryan Deboodt on Vimeo.

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.