11 Breathtaking Underground Lakes and Rivers

We often think that the most wonderful places to see are above our planet's surface. Not many people know that there are some real gems hidden underground. Calm waters of underground rivers, tranquile cave lakes, their tranquile surfaces untouched by human hand.
You can see some of those most spectacular Mother Earth's Underground Crown Jewels below:

1. Reed Flute Cave in Guilin, China was discovered during the Tang Dynasty almost 1,300 years ago.

Image by Ian Sewell

2. Cheddar Gorge is Britain’s biggest canyon and is found within the Cheddar Caves, where the UK’s oldest complete human skeleton was found in 1903. Known as the Cheddar Man, the remains were estimated to be 9,000 years old.

Snowman-1

3. Hamilton Pool Preserve, in Austin, Texas, was created quite naturally when the dome of an underground cave collapsed revealing this stunning natural pool. It is now frequented by day-trippers and naturalists. That’s naturalists not naturists, although no doubt someone has tried to go skinny dipping at one point!

Van Sutherland

Hamilton Pool from another perspective. When there’s been heavy rainfall, 45ft waterfalls cascade from the rim of the cavern. It must be pretty spectacular when you’re bathing.

Stuck in Customs

4. Stalagtites adorn the roof of Luray Caverns, Virginia, the still waters throwing a perfect reflection.

Ashley Dinges

5. Legend has it that early cavemen inhabited Wookey Caves in Somerset, England.

Wookey Caves

6. This underground lake in Mellisani Caves, near Kefalonia, was found when the roof of the cave collapsed after an earthquake in 1953.

Liana Photography

7. Lechuguilla Cave, in Carlsbad Caverns National Park, New Mexico is the fifth longest cave discovered yet at 120 miles (193 km) long and measures 489 metres (1,604 ft) deep, making it the deepest in continental United States.

Dave Bunnell

8. This underground lake near Macan Ché on the Yucatán Peninsula is one of many that are considered to be gifts from the gods by the Mayans, and therefore sacred.

sanghavedanta

9. The limestone flow feeding into this underground lake in Mexico resembles a waterfall turned to stone. Maybe the Ice Queen is privy to this particular cavern?

Adam

10. How long must it have taken for this little waterfall in Banff, Canada, to make this underwater lake?

Petr

Source:

flickr.com

http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com

If you know of other spectacular underground natural formations or if you have any pictures to share - go ahead, and write.

Latvia - Sun City, A Hobbit Dwelling Place

Latvian millionaire started near the town of Cesis (Latvia) a fantastic project.

He purchased over 3000 hectares of wild forest, a terrain rich in hills and water. And that's how this spectacular "Sun City" was built. When I look at the pictures, it reminds me of Hobbit Village from Tolkien's "Lord of The Rings". The area is full of lush green nature, serenity seems built into the landscape.

If you want to live at Sun City (which is as away from the concept of "Sin City" as possible), there are special rules to go by, including a routine different from a common life.

First, three-storey houses are made of environmentally friendly materials constructed in a manner, which takes the terrain into account. The specific design of the houses makes the windows of each house not visible to other houses.

Secondly, near each of the 300 houses there is a small lake and forest, all of it included in cost of land (from 0,4 to 1,3 ha each).

Thirdly, all houses are equipped with central sewer (there is a special equipment laid under the roots of pine and fir trees!), High-speed Internet, electricity, and each house has a geothermal heat pump with borehole 90-100m deep, which converts the energy of the earth into the heat. The amound of heat produced is enough to provide enough energy to heat the house (and water) all year round. The need for using additional traditional firewood heating may only occur during some severe winter days. Of course, a fireplace is also available in every home. Additionally, garbage collection and other urban amenities are also available.

Fourth, in this unique forest city, there are some more special rules - for example, it is forbidden to build a fence and have a guard dog (even if it's a chain dog). Dogs are allowed only in the houses. The reason for this rule is because of roe deer and other wild animals roaming freely in this "city", and barking dogs simply would chase them away.

For the Russian and Belarusian consumers, owner of Sun City offers special conditions - the sale of land with the house and unique postal address, the plot can be issued as a "production area" This entitles those customers to having a year-round "Schengen area" (very handy for those businessmen, who have their companies outside the EU).

Just an example for land and house pricing: plot Tilbites with a three-story house which includes all the necessary amenities, and also has a lake and forest area of 0.44 ha costs as much as 94000 Euros. The design of each house is unique, there are no identical buildings in there.

The Sun City lies in Cesis, about 80 km from Riga, the Latvian Capital City (about 50mins by car).

LINKS:
The "Sun City" website: http://www.amatciems.lv/rus/ideja.html
More information and source pictures: http://ochag7.narod.ru/351.htm

Top 10 Travel Tips - These Are Travel Lover's Top 10 Travel Tips To Ensure a Great Vacation

Traveling is such an enjoyable experience that we wish we could do it all the time. Unfortunately most of us only get a couple weeks a year (if we're lucky) to take our vacations.

In order to ensure that those trips are the very best and everything we expect (unlike the many travel movies where there are nightmares around every corner), we want to provide our top 10 travel tips so your vacations are very memorable - in a good way of course.

Discount Florida Vacations Top 10 Travel Tips (these are in no particular order):

1. Plan early and book when a good deal fits your budget or smells right. There are more and more travel companies popping up everyday. Why? Because as the baby boomer generation gets older and once they boot their children out of the house, they are traveling more and more. Good deals are easy to find and there are many reputable companies that offer great rates and fares.

2. Know about your destination and the best times to travel. Remember when Chevy Chase takes the whole family cross country only to find out their favorite fun park is closed? Don't let that happen to you. Know what is going on and when the best times to travel are. For example, most people know that March and April tend to be spring break times. Well, if you take your little ones to Panama City Florida during these months, chances are you are going to run into wild, college kids. Bummer for your children and you.

3. Take care of things at home. Making sure the family pet or the house is taken care of is important. You don't want to come home to a disaster after you've had a wonderful vacation.

4. Budget wisely. Even if you don't have a budget it is smart to take care of your money. Make sure that if the worst happened you still have funds to fall back on. If you are on a budget be smart and enjoy doing things on vacation that aren't going to have you taking out a 2nd mortgage just to pay for everything.

5. Don't forget your important documents. There is nothing more frustrating than forgetting something when you are hundreds or thousands of miles from home.

6. Plan things to do ahead of time. Again, get to know your area of choice to determine how
close you are to various activities and restaurants. There is nothing like landing a great deal on a hotel only to find out it is miles from anything or in a location that is not suitable for a great vacation. For example, a hotel that is so far away from the beach you need to catch a plane just to get there. Also, you want to make sure that everyone traveling with you will have fun! Again, in Vegas Vacation when the kids are too young to gamble, they have to come up with creative ways to have a good time (hence Nick Popagorgio).

7. Sign up for online newsletters and keep your ear to the ground about your destination of choice.

8. Read the fine print. This can really bite you in the behind on certain things like rentals and such.

9. Utilize a checklist and make sure everything is in order before and during the trip. From booking to packing to check in to relaxation, don't forget anything.

10. Have fun and enjoy yourself. No matter what type of vacation you are going on, the goal is to not want to come back.

Those are our top 10 travel tips and we live by them each time we take a vacation. Hope you will too because we know your trip will be much more pleasurable.  Joe Collinsworth

Singita - A Paradise in Africa

Singita (‘place of miracles’) is world-renowned for providing ‘the best safari experience in Africa’.














This unique "Paradise in Africa" has managed to win almost every travel and/or hotel award since the mid-90s, when the resort was opened.




You can read on their homepage:

The balance of hospitality, conservation and community is what sets Singita apart, and has been at our core from the very beginning.

Here one can feel the ancient magic of Earth and Sky, closer to the nature than ever before.


Truely blissful resort, wouldn't you say?



Singita's Webpage: http://www.singita.com/

Best Places to Travel

There is no single answer to the question of where are the best places to travel on vacation. The first question to ask is not what place to go but instead what kind of traveler are you?


What Kind of Traveler Are You?

1. Are you a Phileas Fogg? Are you a world traveler who measures success by the number of countries visited?
2. Are you a Robinson Curuso? Do you enjoy the out of the way and off the beaten path?
3. Are you a Geoffery Chaucer? Is the trip more about the people you travel with than the destination?
4. Are you a Henry David Thoreau? Is your ideal vacation just a quiet place near home?

 There are many different traveling styles or different goals for travel.

1. You can travel to get away from it all.
2. You can travel to learn about a new culture.
3. You can travel to party.
4. You can travel to reconnect with family and friends.
5. You can travel for adventure.

 What is Your Travel Style / Budget?

Some people would rather stay home than stay any place that did not have 5 stars. Others could not imagine staying in any place more fancy than a youth hostel. Some who would love to stay at the fancy resort can't afford to.

Before you travel you need to figure out your travel budget and style. What kind of style you like will help determine where you can afford to travel and for how long. My wife and I planned a trip to Hawaii before our first child was born. After looking at our budget we had to decide that a road trip to San Diego would be a better option.

One if by Land, Two if By Sea... Three if By Air?

Do you like road trips? If so how about an domestic itinerary. If you like the outdoors or history you could visit national parks. If you like sports consider a tour of major or minor league ballparks. If you like big city lights would a trip to New York, Chicago or Las Vegas be within your range?

Do you like cruises? Consider only packing and unpacking once and letting your hotel (ship) travel from port to port. From the East coast of the United States Bermuda and the Caribbean are both easily accessible. From the west coast Mexico or Alaska offer very different vacations.

If you love to fly and can afford it then Europe, Africa, Asia and South America beckon.

Europe offers familiarity for American visitors but with loads of history. Europe offers destinations from the familiar London and Paris to less familiar destinations like Croatia, Slovenia and Estonia. You have to be willing to deal with another language or driving on the other side of the road.

Africa offers unforgettable wildlife experiences or the wonders of ancient Egypt. It also offers ancient churches dug into the rocks of Ethiopia or far off destinations like Timbuktu. It will require many travels to get further outside their comfort zone.

Asia offers ancient cultures and new economic powerhouses. Your trip might be to overwhelming places like New Delhi which will challenge even veteran travelers or safer more familiar destinations like Singapore.

South America offers better exchange rates than europe but less political stability. It offers European style cities like Buenos Aires or ancient Incan cities like Machu Picchu.

One thing I have learned from hosting the Amateur Traveler for over three years is that there are many more places to travel than I had originally considered. It had never occurred to me to:

1. Go to Tonga and swim with whales.
2. See the stone churches in Ethiopia.
3. Do a night tour of Petra in Jordan.
4. See the wild horses in Mongolia.

The more I learn about travel the more places I want to go. What is the best place to travel to? For me it is always the next place.  Chris Christensen