BA - The Club - The world’s weirdest phenomena

Mystery marvel #1

What country am I in? On a small island in the Indian Ocean, a midnight beach is illuminated by what appear to be millions of blue stars shimmering in the sea and on the shoreline. Other bays around the world experience this phenomenon, but the one on Mudhdhoo Beach is perhaps the most magical. The glow-in-the-dark wizardry is down to bioluminescent aquatic microbes that have evolved to radiate astral cobalt patterns when they are agitated by potential predators or the movement of crashing waves.

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Mystery marvel #2

What city am I in? It’s worth the slightly perilous hike to a small waterfall in the USA’s Chestnut Ridge Park, where you’ll find a grotto of fire that’s worthy of a Harry Potter adventure. Beneath the torrents, a flickering flame can be seen pretty much year round. It’s caused by a natural pocket of gas created by very old, very hot shale rocks. Despite the fact that it’s surrounded by a curtain of water, the mini inferno burns on – though bring along a lighter, just in case…

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Mystery marvel #3

What country am I in? Anyone flying over or cruising through the Recherche Archipelago would have to be asleep to miss this 600-metre-long bubblegum-pink lake surrounded by the greenest of forests and bluest of waters. Shaped like a huge Barbie footprint, Lake Hillier’s strawberry milkshake appearance is due to very high levels of salinity and the presence of a micro-algae that’s mad about salt. So, it’s not as tasty as it looks. Unless, of course, you happen to be a member of the Dunaliella salina species.

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Mystery marvel #4

What country am I in? It took more than 24 million years for these spectacular mountains to achieve their insane rainbow striations. Described by one awestruck geologist as “the earth’s paint palette”, the colours of the Zhangye Danxia rock formations are created from condensed layers of sandstone and minerals, while their rippled appearance is the result of buckling caused by the collision of tectonic plates and thousands of years of erosion. Little wonder the geopark became a Unesco World Heritage Site in 2009.

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Mystery marvel #5

What country am I in? The oldest account of Haukadalur’s geothermal fields dates back to 1294, when they were activated by an earthquake. This popular valley is famous for its hot springs, fumaroles, roiling mud pots and exploding geysers (which originated the English word). The ‘Great’ Geysir is less so these days, but its cousin Strokkur delivers a gushing floor show every five or so minutes. Visitors even get the chance to boil an egg in a hot spring. And some really luck out and catch the Northern Lights at the same time.

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Mystery marvel #6

What country am I in? Story has it that an Irish warrior giant, Fionn Mac Cumhaill, had beef with the – even bigger – Scottish heavyweight Benandonner. Mac Cumhaill (pronounced McCool, obviously), built a path of stepping stones to reach Scotland. Benandonner promptly tore the makeshift road up and the result is this awesome Unesco World Heritage Site of hexagonal basalt columns. The true story is a little more prosaic: this sweep of 40,000 stones was created by a volcanic eruption almost 60 million years ago.

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Mystery marvel #7

What country am I in? Discovered in 1887, the walls of this limestone cave in Waitomo are studded with thousands of luminescent glowworms, which cast a galaxy of tiny lights over an eerie subterranean world. Visitors can take boat rides through an ancient grotto of majestic stalactites and stalagmites bathed in the cosmic glow. The indigenous Arachnocampa luminosa is in reality more maggot than worm – and it’s actually strings of sticky mucus that emit the blue phosphorescence – but that doesn’t prevent it from being utterly magical.

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Mystery marvel #8

What country am I in? Running between three diverse ecosystems – the Amazon rainforest, the Andes mountain range and the savannah plains – this spectacular river morphs into a liquid rainbow during the summer months. Dubbed the ‘River of Five Colours’, the Caño Cristales (aka Crystal Channel) produces an explosion of luscious red, pink, yellow, green and blue in a natural display that is said to be unique on Earth. It’s all down to the endemic Macarenia clavigera, a water plant that blooms on the river bed.

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Mystery marvel #9

What country am I in? This geological phenomenon translates as ‘Cotton Castle’, due to the resemblance of its bleached steppes to cotton fields. Its striking white landscape is the result of calcite-rich thermal waters, which have hardened into petrified waterfalls, mineral forests and giant travertine terraces. From the end of the 2nd century BC, its 17 hot springs were a popular spa city, Hierapolis (Cleopatra is said to have swum here), and ruins of ancient Roman baths, temples and other edifices add to its dazzling otherworldliness.

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Mystery marvel #10

What country am I in? Despite their appearance and name, these hills are clearly not Hershey’s Kisses. Rather, they’re covered in grass that’s turned brown in the dry season. One legend has it that the 1,268 hills in Bohol province are the dried tears of a heartbroken giant (another less salubriously holds that they’re dried buffalo poo). In truth, they’re more likely to have been formed by eroded marine limestone that was fractured by tectonic shifts long ago. So, a feast for the eyes only…

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The world’s weirdest phenomena

Mystery marvel #1

Mystery marvel #2

Mystery marvel #3

Mystery marvel #4

Mystery marvel #5

Mystery marvel #6

Mystery marvel #7

Mystery marvel #8

Mystery marvel #9

Mystery marvel #10

Mystery marvel #1

Mystery marvel #2

Mystery marvel #3

Mystery marvel #4

Mystery marvel #5

Mystery marvel #6

Mystery marvel #7

Mystery marvel #8

Mystery marvel #9

Mystery marvel #10

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