Blogging with mehar_mah

"Victoria Falls and Rainbow" Zambia by  Dietmar Temps. A place where rainbows meet! Victoria Falls is a large waterfall located in the middle of the Zambezi River, which flows through the southeastern part of the African continent.  Located on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, it is also a World Heritage Site alongside the Iguazu Falls in South America and is a World Heritage Site.

The centuries couldn't change the beauty of this place. It's always been like this, the roofs of Paris! It is recognizable at a glance, the blue of the roofs of Paris, draped in zinc and slate, enhanced by the eternal red brick chimneys.  We saw them shine on the canvases, these roofs, on the canvas and in the movies.  We remember the Aristocats and the four hundred blows of little Antoine by François Truffaut… To those, the roofs offered a unique and personal escape, a parenthesis, in which they could sing, run, play and dream, floating almost at- above the world, like on a cloud ...

Daffodils in Dora’s Field, Rydal, Lake District by Simon Whaley Landscapes. Dancing daffodils! This sight of daffodils open a window from the past where we can hear the beautiful lyrics, wrote by  our nature loving poet,  William Wordsworth. The “host of golden daffodils, beside the lake, beneath the trees, fluttering and dancing in the breeze” that he describes are said to have been inspired by those in Glencoyne Bay, Ullswater, on a visit with his sister Dorothy in 1802. Wordsworth spent much of his life in the Lake District, the perfect place for a key figure in the Romantic movement and passionate environmentalist to get close to nature. To mark the anniversary, the Wordsworth Museum has been expanded and modernised and Dove Cottage has been refurbished to help generations of new fans discover Wordsworth.

A Kermode bear cub huddling with its sibling in Canada's Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia by Ian McAllister. Brothers rivalry! They’re very cute but we’re betting these two Kermode bear siblings are a handful (hang in there, mama bear!). Kermode bears are a subspecies of the American black bear, although they're obviously not always black. They have a recessive gene which sometimes results in cream or white fur. While most Kermode bears are black, scientists estimate that between 10 and 20 per cent of the population have ivory coats. Known as ‘spirit bears’, they are special to indigenous people of the British Columbia coastal regions in Canada where they live. Today is Siblings Day in the US, which celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters.

Aerial view of Santorini island, Greece by Amazing Aerial Agency. Beautiful, whitewashed buildings through the clouds! With its romantic sunsets, dazzling ocean views and whitewashed buildings clinging to rocky clifftops, the Greek island of Santorini (aka Thera) is the very picture of an idyll in the Aegean. But this tranquil scene belies the island's explosive geologic history, for this is the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history. The Minoan eruption, about 3,600 years ago, caused the centre of the Thera volcano to collapse into the ocean, leaving Santorini a jagged, crescent-shaped moon atop the sea. The impact of the eruption was more than just geologic - when the volcano blew its top, Santorini was home to a thriving outpost of the Minoan civilisation. A farming and fishing community had been established at Akrotiri on the island around 7,000 years ago, and by the time of the eruption had developed into a prosperous city built largel...

The April full moon, or pink moon, rises over St Michael's Mount, Cornwall, England by Simon Maycock. Once in a pink moon! We're seeing a vivid 'pink moon' rise above St Michael's Mount - a granite-encrusted isle connected to the rugged peninsula of Cornwall, England, by sandy flats and a man-made causeway that submerge at high tide. The same order of monks that established France's Mont-Saint-Michel built a church and priory here in the 12th century. In ensuing centuries of war, the insular monastic outpost was fortified into the imposing castle we see today. Privately purchased in 1659, the mount was opened to the public in 1954 - and is still managed by members of the family that bought it over 350 years ago. This photo may give the moon a somewhat salmon tint, but the term 'pink moon' doesn't arise from its colour, nor from any place near the Cornish shores. The April full moon is called the pink moon because Native Americans associa...

Castle on the hill! Cherry blossoms and Himeji Castle in Himeji, Japan by Tororo. In honour of Castle Day in Japan, we're featuring Himeji Castle - one of the most pristine examples of traditional Japanese castle architecture and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Castle Day is on April 6 (or 4/6) because the Japanese character for castle (城) is read as 'shiro', and the Japanese pronunciation of 'four' is 'shi' and 'six' is 'ro'. Samurai warrior Akamatsu Norimura built Himeji Castle in 1333 as a fortress. Over the years, the structure has been remodelled many times and buildings were added as it changed hands. The castle even survived World War One unscathed while surrounding areas were bombed mercilessly. Today, it’s perhaps the best-known castle in Japan.

Let's celebrate  ‘the sparkliest day of the year' because it's The Unicorn Day by honoring  the beast of sea: A pod of narwhals or  narwhales. A pod of narwhals near Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada by Eric Baccega. A pod of narwhals brandishing their tusks in the Arctic Ocean. Narwhals develop only two teeth, but - in males especially - the left canine can grow into a three-meter-long spiral tusk. As the tusk juts out of the top of their head, it's given the whale the nickname, 'unicorn of the sea'. For centuries narwhal tusks were sold to gullible buyers as rare unicorn horns with magical powers. These 'unicorn horns' were so prized for their medicinal and healing properties that in the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I paid around A$20,000 for one (equal to the cost of building a castle back then). By the late 17th century, scientific facts started replacing superstitious beliefs and the unicorn horn market fell out of favor. Today narwhals c...

Looking inland from Ponce de León Inlet toward the lighthouse, Florida by Jason Sponseller. We’re at the Ponce de León Inlet Light, a lighthouse in the US state of Florida, for Pascua Florida Day, marking the anniversary of the Spanish explorer's arrival here in 1513. Believing it to be an island, Ponce de León claimed the land for Spain and named it 'La Florida' because of the verdant landscape and because it was the Easter season, which the Spaniards called 'Pascua Florida' (Festival of Flowers). According to legend, Ponce de León arrived here in search of the Fountain of Youth, a mythical water source said to restore the youth of those who drink or bathe in its waters. While that mission was unsuccessful, his name lives on in history and on this lighthouse and the inlet where it shines.

A fool's hen? Ruffed grouse in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada by Jim Cumming. Various types of forest grouse are sometimes rather unkindly referred to as 'fool hens' because they don't fly away when approached by humans. In its northernmost habitat in Canada, the ruffed grouse pictured here is more likely to behave a little more ‘foolishly’, sitting and looking at people as they approach. But further south, they are more wary and fly off at the slightest sign of movement. And they can be quite the acrobatic fliers when needed, flying in short spurts and making sharp twists and turns as they navigate thick forests.