Amazing places around the world that should be on your bucket list
1. Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, White Mountains, California
At 5,000-years-old these gnarled and wind-twisted trees are the oldest living organism on Earth, predating the birth of Christ, the invention of the alphabet and the Great Pyramids of Giza.
2. Kilauea, Hawaii
Kilauea is the most-active volcano on Earth, erupting near continuously since 1983.
This year is one of the best to see it as the lava is now spilling spectacularly into the sea.
3. Meteor Crater, Arizona
At 550ft deep and more than 4,000ft across, this is one of the largest and best-preserved meteor impact sites in the world.
4. Mosquito Bay, Vieques Island, Puerto Rico
It is the best place to see one of nature’s most spectacular, but lesser-known wonders: bioluminescence.
Glow in the dark plankton lights up the underwater world like stars.
5. Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve, Mexico
It is the over-winter nesting grounds for one of the most remarkable migrations in the animal kingdom.
Go on a sunny day in February to see tens of millions of Monarch butterflies fill the sky.
6. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia
This 4,000 square mile stark-white plain is the largest salt flat in the world.
From January to March, when a shallow film of water collects on the surface, the entire world can be seen in perfect mirror reflection.
7. Choquequirao, Peru
The ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu is rightly renowned as a wonder of the world, but Choquequirao, in the nearby Sacred valley, is almost as dramatic and receives just a fraction of the visitors.
8. Chauvet cave drawings, France
These 30,000-year-old etchings in stone are some of the oldest, most sophisticated and best preserved cave drawings on the planet.
9. Lake Baikal, Russia
At 400 miles long, 50 miles wide and deeper than three Empire State Buildings stacked on top of each other, this is the largest lake in the world.
And it holds more freshwater than all of the Great Lakes of America combined.
10. Burj Khalifa, UAE
Soaring 2,716ft over the Dubai skyline, Burj Khalifa is the world’s tallest building.
It’s so high that it’s possible to watch the sunset twice in a single day: once from the lower floors and then again from the top.
11. The Great Mosque of Djenne, Mali
It is the largest mud-brick structure in the world and is one of the African continent’s most striking landmarks.
12. Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
As part of the Great Rift Valley, this 30 mile ravine is known as the ‘cradle of mankind’ because it is home to the oldest known human fossils on the planet.
13. Son Doong, Vietnam
This is the largest cave on the planet at 600ft high, 300ft wide and 2.5 miles long.
A single cavern is big enough to fit an entire New York City block.
14. Kumbh Mela, River Ganges, India
This is the largest religious gathering on the planet with up to 100 million worshippers attending the 55-day event.
15. Bagan, Myanmar
This is a spectacular but lesser known complex of more than 2,000 individual temples rising from the plains of central Myanmar.
Aaron Millar’s new book, 50 Greatest Wonders of the World, is available on Amazon and other retailers. For more information, visit his website: www.thebluedotperspective.com, @AaronMWriter
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