#855 Pink and White Terraces (Otukapuarangi), New Zealand

John Clarke Hoyte painting. Pink and White Terraces, Lake Rotomahana and Mount Tarawera. Watercolor and gouache on paper. ca 1870s. Hocken Collections. Uare Taoka o Hakena, University of Otago.
http://www.whoi.edu/oceanus/viewImage.do?id=223993&aid=135809

This is an unusual one: The pink and white terraces are an amazing place -- however they no longer exist. Actually, they no longer exist in the form that made them famous.

http://www.buriedvillage.co.nz/pink_and_white_terraces/p/49

The pink and white terraces were two sets of beautiful geyser formations of silica terraces in Lake Rotomahana near the dormant volcano Mt. Tarawera, around 25 km south of the New Zealand town of Rotorua, but they disappeared during an 1886 eruption of Mt. Tarawera. 800m apart, it is thought they had different appearances because of the amount of sunlight they each received, with the white ones being the larger set, around 50 layers and cascading over 40m in height, and the pink ones being the preferred area for swimming.

"The journey from Auckland was typically by steamer to Tauranga, the bridle track to Ohinemutu on Lake Rotorua, by coach to Te Wairoa by canoe across lake Tarawera, and then on foot over the hill to the swampy shores of Lake Rotomahana and the terraces." (Wikipedia)

http://www.virtualoceania.net/newzealand/photos/volcanic/terraces/whiteterraces.shtml

The eruption at 3am on 10 June 1886 caused the lake floor to explode, showering the area with liquid mud, ash, stones and other debris, not only reclaiming the terraces, but burying two Maori villages, Moura and Te Ariki. After the eruption, there was a crater where the terraces had been, which was eventually filled with the water of the lake

http://www.virtualoceania.net/newzealand/photos/volcanic/terraces/waterbasins.shtml

In Maori they were known as Otukapuarangi, "fountain of the clouded sky" and they were a popular tourist attraction from the 1840s, especially after Prince Albert, the Duke of Edinburgh, visited in 1870, but were a source of racist resentment from the white (pakeha) New Zealanders because the Te Arawa tribe that owned them became wealthy from their control and ownership of the area (they even had their marae (meeting house) in Hinemihi made with gold florins instead of paua (abalone shell) eyes. After the eruption killed and displaced members of the tribe, the New Zealand government unfairly converted the area into crown land in a payment-for-relief-assistance system, although much of this (including 13 lakes in 2006) has been returned to the tribe in the past decades as part of the Treaty of Waitangi tribunal.

Lake Tarawera before the eruption and today -- the eruption enlarged the lake. A narrow isthmus separates lakes Tarawera and Rotomahana.

http://www.virtualoceania.net/newzealand/photos/volcanic/terraces/laketarawera.shtml#

http://www.virtualoceania.net/newzealand/photos/lakes/rotorua/nz0277.shtml

I've been fascinated with the pink and white terraces since I was a girl and saw a beautiful painting of them. It was only after a while that I learned that they had been destroyed -- I had dreamed of visiting them!

In a marvel of modern science, the lowest two tiers of the pink terraces were rediscovered 60 metres underwater while mapping the lake floor in 2011, and it is thought that the rest may be buried under sediment, and the increased-level lake.

Sources: http://themeetingplacenz.blogspot.com/2012/07/pink-and-white-terraces-backstory-to.html 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_and_White_Terraces
http://www.virtualoceania.net/newzealand/photos/volcanic/terraces/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Rotomahana

#872 Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina

In any tourist brochure of Argentina, it is likely that there will be a photo of the Perito Moreno Glacier in Los Glaciares National Park. Perito Moreno isn't the largest glacier, nor the widest, but it's unique feature is that it buttresses up against a peninsula making it very easy to see it from above, allowing visitors to imagine how all glaciers calved valleys and lakes across the world. The other really cool thing about it is that when it hits the peninsula it forms a natural dam, causing the southern arm of Lago Argentino to be dammed and blocked from releasing its water into the main lake. Over time of course, the pressure builds up -- occasionally this breaks in a spectacular burst as the water pushes through all at once, but more often this carves a river under the glacier forming an ice-bridge (see pictures above) which eventually falls, also spectacularly, as it becomes too weak to support the weight of ice above. 

The north side of the glacier from the water -- the peninsula can be seen to the left side.

The peninsula forms a super lookout point from which to watch and hear the glacier calving - because it is a glacier that is growing, this happens often. The many kilometers of trails also hide native plants, animals and birds. We were lucky enough to see a woodpecker up close. The glacier can also be seen from air, boat (on both north and south sides of the glacier), and some visitors even walk on parts of it.

It is just one of many glaciers in Los Glaciares National Park that come from the Southern Patagonian Ice Field (shared with Chile) -- one of the largest masses of ice in the world. The glacier was named after important 19th Century Argentinian naturalist and explorer, Francisco Moreno.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perito_Moreno_Glacier

#884 Cape of Good Hope, South Africa

The southernmost point of Africa, south of Cape Town, is Cape Agulhas, but many people believe it to be at the end of Cape Peninsula - the Cape of Good Hope along with Cape Point. It is a windswept, wild place, colder and windier than you could ever imagine, even at the height of summer. Despite rumors, the two seas don't meet with different colors, although the currents join further east, but there are many sea birds and a sharp rock of a peninsula. The peninsula is also home to penguins, the odd seal and several farms.

Driving through Table Mountain National Park from Cape Town, past the pesky baboons, along steep cliffs and past gorgeous beaches helps to give a sense of how far away and how wild it is, and how it might have gotten a dubious reputation. Along with Cape Horn (#889), it has long held a special significance for sailors as a way point, and remains legendary.

#928 Chingaza National Park, Colombia

Before going to Chingaza, someone described visiting it as being like walking on the surface of the moon. If there had been a wet misty storm on the moon, perhaps I could have imagined it as such, but the vegetation was so unique that I could understand exactly what they were talking about. We climbed high above Bogota, up the Calera and into the Eastern Cordillera ranges behind it, through the pretty farmland plains until we were looking over the vast green Andean valleys, where the rain clouds were omnipresent and the coming mists could be seen from afar. As we left any cover of trees behind us and got progressively more wet, we marveled at the the low level of vegetation being able to hide deer, bears, tapirs, and pumas, though the ocelots, monkeys and turkeys seemed even more improbable. The one animal that is well suited to this environment, however, was the condor! 

The spiky alpine trees were a cross between cactuses and ferns, and emerged from the misty landscape as eerie shapes. The much cosier frailejones, furry leaved cactuses, seemed suited to the cold windy environment. Nearing 4200m above sea level, it was not an unusual thing for the park to be in the clouds while Bogota has a rare sunny day. The swamps and peat bog, and the constant mud were clear indications that this is not really a place to be traversed

We saw 3 of the approximately 40 glacial lakes that the park holds, which as a group are known as the Siecha Gaps, and found one or two of its swamps, too. It is a majestic area, with not a hint of civilization anywhere to be found other than the trails that people take in and out. We were thrilled to catch sight of the elusive dear soon after we set out.

Thankfully, the rain didn't continue forever -- a few clouds cleared themselves away, but the subsequent wind was almost as bad!

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chingaza_Natural_National_Park