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Casa no Geres is easy to love villa, located in Peneda-Geres National Park, along the Spanish border in northern Portugal, where the environment and its inviolability were crucial and the rules strict. The villa owns awesome beauty with its simple architecture, the openness of the views and the calm balance of the elements. The surrounding Nature has own way of being beautiful and this villa knows the secret.

At first glance the villa is quite unsuitable for its surroundings. From some angles the villa seems like an accident, some kind of disaster with transportation containers and building materials. One part of the villa is buried inside the hill, while another sticks out over the river.

Inside the villa is very spacious with huge windows, which makes 24/7 hours pure circulation of the air! The villa also has a cute kitchen overlooking the river, a stylish living room and two bedrooms, each with own suite bathroom. It’s prefect for families and friends vacations. The warmth and proper scale of the building become even clearer when the illuminated house is viewed at night. Casa no Geres is designed by Porto-based Correia/Ragazzi Aquitectos and it is a bold statement that hides nothing.

According to a huge number of tourist literature, Florida is in the list of planetary title for human perversity. There is something wondrously upside-down about a state to which people flock, purportedly for its climate and natural loveliness. If you are one of those people who has given up on Florida I advised you to explore about an hour and a half north of the Magic Kingdom, into Marion and Alachua Counties, where a green edema of hills rises from the coastal flatness and horses stalk rolling acreage beside the highway.

The picture displays the Herlong Mansion B&B in Micanopy. Micanopy is a one-boulevard town of aged brick and log buildings, a place with old-style charm and it’s hard to stand on the main drag without a faint anxiety that at any minute movie studio security guards are going to roust you off the set. Micanopy is one of the few places in the state that hasn’t been ruined yet.

A chapel in Micanopy.

Just 20 minutes drive east of Micanopy, is the settlement of Cross Creek. Cross Creek could probably be described as the Florida Cracker Capital of the World.

Three decades ago, Florida was pretty much lay in the blind spots of developers, snowbirds and vacationing throngs. In 1970, the entire population of the region was 70,000. In recent years due to skyrocketing coastal real estate prices and an influx of property owners who prefer an acre of backyard to meager square footage with an ocean view, the county’s population today is around 300,000, a numerous figure for a place that not long ago was mostly forest and pastureland.

For that reason is good to visit the northern edge of Ocala, which lies a nascent development called Jumbolair Aviation Estates, a neighborhood that is perhaps the most spectacular symptom of Marion County’s quickening divergence from its dozy, rural past. Jumbolair is a gated community whose nucleus is the largest private runway in the nation; Jumbolair also sells home sites to people who have their own aircraft.

The Okefenokee National Park spreads across 685 square miles in the southeastern corner of Georgia and northern Florida. During the winter the temperature rise up to 70 degrees and the dry air holds insects, making the months a perfect time for a canoe trip. The place is very special, due to its old and best preserved freshwater systems in America.

One lifetime is not enough to explore the Okefenokee park. There is so much to do and with almost 402,000 acres (that’s roughly 300,000 football fields in size) of cypress forest, marsh, lakes and islands. Filled with alligators, Sandhill cranes, red-cockaded woodpeckers and over 400 other species of animals, it is a wonderful place to learn about the wildlife of Georgia and Florida.

A flock of birds takes flight. The vast variety of lush greenery make up different habitats from dry upland forests to open wetlands. Golden sunsets and thundering storms gives one to experience this magical place at its most beautiful and most inspiring.

There are a lot of ways to explore the Okefenokee Swamp. Some boat tours taking tourists through cypress forests, historic canals and open prairies. Water trails and platforms allow people to canoe for the day or stay overnight deep within the 354,000 acre wilderness.

Rolling boardwalks and trails head through extraordinary habitats, to observation towers and viewing platforms. There are huge opportunities for nature and macro photography, hunting and fishing are readily available. Some can even drive a car or ride a bike to a restored homestead to discover how “swampers” once made their home here.

One of the very interesting features in this magical national park is the seven overnight campsites in the Okefenokee, including the campsite at Coffee Bay. Most of them are 600-square-foot wooden platforms, some suspended above the water.

Photography by: Stephen Morton

There is wildness to Cape Town – the big skies, the rugged canyons, the jagged outcroppings of sandstone and granite that rises over the icy South Atlantic at the tip of Africa. Today in Cape Town you can enjoy penguins waddle across white-sand beaches, elands wander the dunes, hungry baboons jump on unsuspecting tourists pifer apart their stuff.

Cape Town is a place, which can amused a visitor with its grand-scale landscapes. Besides it’s all became very cheap to explore  with the South African rand. You can stay in a good hotel room, rent a car, eat excellent meals and stroll in spectacular wilderness, all for a total of $300 per a day. The picture displays Kalk Bay – a funky mix of tidy Edgartown and rough-edged New Bedford — hug the coast.

In this image Table Mountain National Park, a tremendous area that encompasses the Table Mountain range and extends from Cape Town’s Signal Hill to the southernmost tip of the cape.

The neighborhood of Bo-Kaap, also emerged as its colorful architecture and large Muslim community.

Baboons scavenge for food in Table Mountain National Park.

A view of Cape Town.

The Alaska Southeastern Coast is emerged as the Inside Passage, and has long been a popular cruise route. Left, a Celebrity Cruise ship makes a stop in Juneau.

Southern Alaska has some of the most striking glaciers in the world, including Hubbard Glacier.

The Hubbard Glacier is the largest tidewater glacier in North America. Unlike most glaciers, which are retreating, it’s been thickening and advancing toward the Gulf of Alaska since it was first mapped in 1895.

The coast is also one of the best places to spot humpback whales.

The number of eagles, which live in Alaska is huge than anywhere else in United States.

The picture display the port town of Ketchikan, originally a fishing settlement for the Tongass and Cape Fox Tlingit Indians. The region still hosts some of the best salmon fishing on the southeast coast.

A beach in the town of Sitka, originally inhabited by Tlingit Indians.

Children from a local day camp on an excursion in Sitka National Historical Park, a temperate rain forest.

Soria is a beautiful town in the heart of Spain. The time is stopped there and its ascetic grandeur — “somber oaks, harsh stony wastelands, bald peaks” — still retains the vision of Antonio Machado, one of the great lyric poets of the 20th century.

Poems from Machado are written on plaques on the walls of buildings. Although he only lived in the town for five years, it influences his most important work.

The monastery of San Juan de Duero was refashioned into a monastic complex by the Hospitallers, a group founded during the First Crusade.

Gormaz was once one of the largest castles in Europe. Situated on a hilltop with outstanding views to the horizon and the Duero on both sides, it was once a Muslim fortress.

Afghanistan is located approximately in the center of Asia. Afghanistan is a crossroads between the East and the West, and has been an ancient point of trade and migration. It has an important geostrategical location, connecting South and Central Asia and Middle East.

The country has many natural resources, that’s why there’s still a war there. The natural resources are  gold, silver, copper, zinc and iron ore in southeastern areas; precious and semi-precious stones such as lapis, emerald and azure in the north-east; and potentially significant petroleum and natural gas reserves in the north. The country also has uranium, coal, chromite, talc, barites, sulfur, lead, and salt.

The most common languages spoken in Afghanistan are Persian and Pashto. Both are Indo-European languages from the Iranian languages sub-family.

Afghanistan has a complex history that has survived either in its current cultures or in the form of various languages and monuments. However, many of the country’s historic monuments have been damaged in recent wars.

The two famous statues of Buddha in the Bamyan Province were destroyed by the Taliban, who regarded them as idolatrous. Other famous sites include the cities of Kandahar, Heart, Ghazni and Balkh.

Boquete is a small town situated between the green mountains of Panama, about 60km from the border of Costa Rica. Boquete is also emerging as one of Central America’s latest eco-tourism destinations.

Surrounded by green mountains as we mentioned, and topped by misty peaks, Boquete offers plenty of outdoors activities, such as hiking, climbing, bird-watching and white-water rafting.

The weather is warm during the daytime, bracing at night and perfect for growing bananas, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, strawberries and coffee.

Some of its landmarks include nearby Volcán Barú, a dormant volcano and, at 3,475 meters, the tallest point of land in Panama. Hikers enjoy a relatively easy hike up and over the volcano, along the Sendero de los Quetzales, which runs from Boquete up to Cerro Punta and Volcan, on the other side of the volcano.

Panama also offers magnificent bird-watching. The forests in and around Boquete are home to a dazzling array of quetzals, toucans and parrots.

Laos or the Lao People’s Democratic Public is a landlocked country in southeast Asia, offering an untouched glimpse of traditional life.

In Laos, a bungalow is the best place to enjoy sunset along the Nam Song River. the town is famous for its adventure destination, due to the many options for kayaking and caving.

The road from Ban Beng to Tha Taeng in southeastern Laos, where is possible to bump into  the indochinese tiger, the giant gaur and the Asian elephant.

Fresg vegetables are available at the main market called Talat Nyai in Attapeu.

A vendor at the Attapeu market. The Lao economy is heavily dependent on investment and trade with its neighbors, Thailand, Vietnam, and, especially in the north, China. Pakxe has also experienced growth based on cross-border trade with Thailand and Vietnam. Much of the country, however, lacks adequate infrastructure. Laos has no railways, except a short link to connect Vientiane with Thailand over the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge.

Kyoto is an ancient mysterious city, once been Japan’s old capital and the emperor’s residence from 794 until 1868. Over the centuries wars and fires destroyed the city, but today Kyoto rises with its beautiful gardens, temples and shrines. Left, a purification ceremony with period costumes at the Jonengu shrine.

Kyoto is located in a valley, part of the Yamashiro (or Kyoto) Basin. The Yamashiro Basin is surrounded on three sides by mountains known as Higashiyama, Kitayama and Nishiyama, with a height just above 1000 meters above sea level. The picture displays Shosei-en Garden at Higashi Hongan-ji Temple.

A tea ceremony performed by local high school students at Shosei-en Garden was organized by the Tale of Genji Association

Kyoto sits atop a large natural water table that provides the city with freshwater wells. Due to large scale urbanization, the amount of rain draining into the table is dwindling and wells across the area are drying at an increasing rate.

The park surrounding the Kyoto Imperial Palace, where emperors and nobles once lived.

Java is an island of Indonesia formed mostly as the result of volcanic events. The Losari Coffee Plantation was started in 1922 and during the years was expanded into a resort.

Central Java is both the agricultural center and the cultural heart of Java: the city of Yogyakarta is famous for its gamelan music, its kulit theater and its universities.

The Losari Resort is a mixture of older plantation buildings and newer villas.

The picture shows the Losari Coffee Plantation impossibly delicious dishes like ikan bakar colo colo, a spicy grilled fish with a sauce that is sweet, sour and spicy.

An owl at Yogyakarta’s bird market where you can find anything with wings.

The Water Palace in Yogyakarta today used for relax and meditation.

Workers stop for a break close to Sindoro Mountain in Central Java.

Steam rises from the active volcano, Mount Merapi.

St. Petersburg, Russia is a spectacular city but the winter nights are long, which means there’s more time for night life. St. Petersburg is a city with broad boulevards, graceful bridges, glittering palaces, winding canals and beautiful, snow-blanketed parks illuminated throughout the long, dark nights.

Saint Petersburg is often described as the most Western city of Russia. Among cities of the world with over one million people, Saint Petersburg is the northernmost. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A statue atop St. Isaac’s Cathedral, the Russian Orthodox church whose gold dome is one of the skyline’s most familiar landmarks.

Nevsky Prospekt, a broad boulevard lined with department stores, boutiques, cafes, restaurants, office buildings and palaces.

It is not possible to get to Easter Island, without traveling a long distance. For example if you live in New York City you will travel to Santiago, Chile (almost 12 hours), probably you should rest a day and then catching another jet plane 5 hours into the Pacific to reach your goal. The adventure trip will be an hour shorter if you live in New Zealand, but don’t count on it.

Easter Island (Rapa Nui: Rapa Nui, Spanish: Isla de Pascua) is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeastern most point of the Polynesian triangle. The island is a special territory of Chile.

Easter Island (10 miles by 15 miles) was formed eons ago by three massive volcanoes rising from the sea. Most of the island is strewn with stone, with jagged cliffs for a coastline. The island is also strewn with over 800 gigantic and breathtaking statues averaging over 20 feet high. Only a relative few of these are upright and in original placement, but many of the rest can be seen and visited, half buried or prone. The experience is very much like visiting a fiction we have not imagined.

The island was settled — probably about A.D. 700.

There are several hundred free-roaming horses on the island, families mostly, and they often share the roads with you but are thoughtful in moving aside. There are 10 or 12 hotels, the most desirable one being the Hotel O’TAI, with lovely gardens, comfortable rooms, a pool, good breakfast, a friendly staff and reasonable rates. The people who live on Easter Island are friendly and often very beautiful.

According to the international boom in ecological and adventure tourism, lodgings have sprung up all over the Brazilian Amazon region in the past four or five years.Travelers with a sense of the exotic and a tolerance for the unpredictable can now book a stay in the jungle. One night at the Tiwa Amazonas Ecoresort costs 595 reals, $298, at 2 reals at the dollar.

A display depicts local fauna at Tiwa Amazonas Ecoresort.

The Tiwa Amazonas Ecoresort, which opened in 2003, has 52 air-conditioned rooms on stilts over a lagoon, plus a common area with a restaurant, bar, game room and a view of the Manaus skyline.

A forest around the Amazon Riverside Hotel.

The Amazon Riverside Hotel has arranged hammocks at the dock for guests keen on doing nothing but watching the river flow.

Every lodge tries to offer something its competitors do not. The Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge offers tours of the nearby archipelago.

From left, piranha, a caiman and a monkey, all denizens of the Amazonian jungle.

A tourist from São Paulo plies a wooden canoe around the Anavilhanas archipelago.

The rain forest is like a wallpaper at the restaurant at the Anavilhanas Jungle Lodg.

Victoria Falls, also called Mosi-oa-Tunya or ”the smoke that thunders” are magnificent falls in Zimbabwe. The Victorian Falls sits on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, so travelers must choose which country will be their spot of arrival.

The falls Boiling Point is the bridge which links Zambia on the left and Zimbabwe on the right. They are paradoxical places. Geologists describe them as among nature’s most destructive forces, place, where fluid water destroys solid rock, carving canyons so slowly to be predicted.

Livingstone Island.

The destructive power of the waterfalls is mostly marked by beauty: a heightened awareness of, and exculation in, the more fact of being present.

But all the glory of this place and of any other waterfall on earth has just natural purpose: it’s river’s way of getting back to normal.