A Gigantic Hole in the Ocean

If Marvel is an interest to you, then maybe Thor is your bias! LIKE OMG IT'S THOR!!! But to be serious and back on topic we actually have an area that's part of the country that relates to this topic. It's pretty amazing that we live in a country that has hidden places such as this. Thor's Well is one of these fantastic areas in the United States where you can explore and with places like Thor's Well hidden in plain sight, you'll never run out of things to look at. What exactly is Thor's Well though? It's an gigantic incredible hole in the ocean which looks like it came out of a comic book...which can also be interpreted as a fake place. But believe it or not it's actually a place you can find in Oregon. Ok so I know what you're thinking, most people say there's nothing to see in Oregon, but now I've proved you wrong right? LIKE there's a freakin' whole in Oregon which is popular!!


This picture is just so fascinating to stare at because this deep hole in the rock off a rough stretch off the Oregon coastline in the US. When the waves crash in and fills up the area, it sprouts at least 20 feet in the air and then overflows before it sucks the water back and out to sea! LIKE IT'S DRAMATIC! It's a remote place located in Cape Perpetua and reached from a winding road in what feels like a middle of nowhere.

There are also huge aggressive waves just by the looks of the picture and the tides are probably pretty high as well. Thor's Well is around 6-8 feet from the edge. The surface's surge rock is very unique and it makes a great photo because of the water that rushes towards the center of the hole. I feel that it would make a great surfing trip but you might not make it back up to shore. It's a very dangerous place to visit because of the roaring waves and tides, but we have to thank the photographers for taking pictures of these fascinating places. No wonder people say this is like a trip to the under world.

Thor's Well can be visited from the north side of Cook's Chasm, but there are sharp rocks in the surrounding area and the danger of a strong surge sweeping in brave visitors are very possible. When photographers go to shoot pictures during the sunset, many people don't know about the place and don't dare to stay long. But photographers and tourists who do come to Thor's Well are risk takers and actually have the guts to come and see the amazing sight!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/17/thors-well-oregon_n_5146466.html
https://roadtrippers.com/us/or/nature/thors-well-cape-perpetua
(453 words)

Mendenhall Glacier Caves, Alaska

If you're into cave traveling, this suggestion for a visit may be purrrfect for you! And please let me introduce to you that this cave isn't some ordinary cave you'll find anyway. Like this cave is a National cave kind of. If cave hunting is your thing, the Mendenhall Glacier Cave will be my present to you! Below is a fabulous picture taken in Alaska on how the cave looks from the inside and how pretty it is for a cave.

Mendenhall Glacier is about 12 miles long located in Mendenhall Valley, and 12 miles down from Juneau in the southeast region of Alaska. It's surrounded by a beautiful landscape and is protected by the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area, which is a federally designated unit of the Tongass National Forest.

But because of recent new of global warming the temperatures have begun to rise and it started to melt. Climate changes have caused the glaciers to melt naturally and over the past century because of human activity it has release large amounts of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.Since all that gas has been released it caused the environment to change and become a more warmer place and then the glaciers has begun to melt because of that. Then when temperatures rose and ice melted, water began to flow from the glaciers and ice caps caused the water to warm and expand to other territories. The rising temperature due to human actions caused the glaciers to retreat at a faster pace then it would naturally.! :(  Of course then there would also be negative effects which included the populations near glacial areas, because glaciers were a major source of fresh drinking water. People began to notice the shrinking of the cave in the late 50s but has stopped a little since then. Water carved caves into the insides, which created surreal, turquoise-toned worlds shapes.

Wouldn't it just be amazing just to take a trip up north this winter and just see the glaciers that they've made? I mean all that really involves includes a kayak ride or a long hike if your'e into walking a bunch, an ice climb, and faith that the melting caverns won't collapse on you while you're there. But this would definitely be a trip of a life time if you could just see these glistening caverns? (394 words)

Devils Tower, Wyoming

How about a trip to one of the largest geological deposit of igneous rock? More like Devils Tower Wyoming. Many tourists are fascinated by the  just the ginormous pile of rock located in the state of Wyoming. The rock gives the structure a very "monolithic fashion," that gave rise to many American pioneers and legend in the early times. The height of the structure is 1,267 feet from the surrounding area and 5,000 feet above sea level! Which is humongous!! The Devils Tower in Wyoming is also part of the Black Hills mountain chain and is near the Belle Fourche River. But asides from that on September 24, 1906, Devils Tower was declared the first National Monument of the United States by President Theodore Roosevelt. So I think that's pretty cool that this was the first National Monument of the United States.

SECRETS OF DEVILS TOWER:


An unknown fact about Devils Tower is that there were American Indian tall tales of two young Sioux boys who wandered away from their village and i large bear named, Mato tried to consume them when Wakan Tanka, the creator, raised from the ground underneath them. Mato then clawed at the side of the giant rock but ran away forming Bear Butte by Black Hills. Wanglee, the bald eagle came and whisked the boys off the monument and returned them to their village.

Each year dozens and dozens of people try to climb Devils Tower and each side of the monument has their own routes people can climb. Each trail has a different level of climbing for example there's trails that are extremely easy to climb while other trails may be impossible to even attempt. This picture down below show people attempting to climb one of the more moderate routes of the tower.

You can contact the ranger's office at the monument if you have an interest for climbing, and you can climb whenever, but they ask you to refrain from climbing during the month of June to honor the "wishes" of local tribes.
http://www.wyomingtourism.org/thingstodo/detail/Devils-Tower-National-Monument/2900
(390 words)

The swing at the "End of the World" Banos, Ecuador

 Wanna ride the swing that will take you to the end of the world? At the edge of Ecuador sits a rickety tree house overlooking an active volcano in the near distance where you can fulfill that crazy dream of yours. With that package it includes a swing with no harness and only the bravest of the risk- takers have the guts to experience this. Swing sets are usually used by children who play on a playground, but this new temporary device is known as the Swing at the End of the World. The Swing at the End of the World are only for the bravest adventurers who are willing to take the risk of falling off the edge of a cliff while swinging high in the air. The swing "greets hikers" at the elevation of 2,660 meters.

Tourists who choose to ride the swing are given a very cool perspective of the surrounding environment, which also include the Tungurahua volcano. Only one could imagine the excitement that rushes through one's body as they sway back and forth. Wouldn't your excitement rush as you're hovering over a long drop within every few seconds? OMG I think a serious adrenaline rush would just run through my body because I would be so nervous but scared at the same time. But maybe that's just me because I'm a mixed feeling kind of girl! But seriously like back to the swing, it may seem not a serious and scary as you think, but just thinking that it's just a plank of wood hung by two ropes attached to a metal rod high above a cliff could be a little disheartening.

So if you're interested in this daring act, why not take some time off work or get a vacation break and head down to Ecuador, where you can accomplish your dream for real. If you're really into swings and wanted to go on something more exciting, try it out on the best swing of your life where you're life may be in danger. But if you're into that stuff, I would say go for it and hanging above a cliff and seeing the landscape is a chance of a lifetime!
http://whenonearth.net/swing-end-world-banos-ecuador/
(367 words）

Dancing lights in Anchorage, Alaska

If you're just merely interested in seeing swaying colors of lights in the sky, why not check out Anchorage, Alaska? Varieties of greens, yellows, pinks and blues swaying in the sky can only mark one thing and that's the path of the dancing aurora borealis. You can see the swirling Anchorage starlit sky as early as 8 p.m during the winter months. Northern lights are a result of ionized gas particles increasing their speed and density while stirring within the Earth's magnetic field. The result is an amazing phenomenon of lights that glow, dance, sway, and ripple and disappear only to reform a new shape a few minutes later. 

The best times to see the northern lights are in the fall, winter, and spring. The best hours to see them are usually at midnight but it's not a guarantee when the aurora will be out so you might be in for a disappointment. Visitors who wish to spot the northern lights plan to spend a few days in Alaska because the aurora is variable. Weather conditions and man-made light also greatly influence the ability to see the auroras, so my best guess it that if you want to see it, make sure it's a dark area so it can be clearly spotted. 

A historical significance of an aurora happened in early September 1859. A Scottish physicist Balfour Stewart described both aurora events documented by a self-recording mangetograph at the Kew Observatory and established a connection between the 2 September 1859 auroral storm and the Carrington-Hodgson flare event when he observed that, "It is not impossible to suppose that in this case our luminary was taken in the act." The second auroral event happened on 2 September 1859 as a result of a white light flare, produced by auroras so widespread and brilliant that they were seen and reported in published scientific measurements., ship logs, and newspapers. 

Disturbances behind the aurora also have effects on the modern world. Intense storm activity on the sun and the increase in charged particles interacting with Earth's magnetic field can disrupt power grids, satelillite communications and even radio stations believe it or not.

If you're even the slightest interested in the northern lights, Anchorage isn't the only place where you can find the northern lights, just be sure to travel over the northern hemisphere and you'll find lights around midnight dancing all over the sky!

http://www.alaska.org/things-to-do/northern-lights-viewing

(400 words)

"Stairway to Heaven" Oahu, Hawaii

Believe it or not, I might have just found heaven on pinterest! In Oahu, Hawaii there is a steep hiking trail and it first began as a wooden ladder spiked to the cliff of the southern side of the Haiku Valley. It later was strung from one side of the cliff to the other. The hike up the Stairway of Heaven is one of the most popular of Oahu's "forbidden trails." In the past, people used to climb up there and take panoramic views and wait for others to reach the top as well. But the hike is difficult and almost impossible to make up. But since the view is absolutely spectacular who cares if it takes guts and sweat.

The stairway was originally built for the U.S Coast Guard to allow access to the LORAN radio antenna on the top of the mountain. But after the termination of Omega Station, other programs and operations led the the ending of stair maintenance. As a result, the stairs were very worn out and became extremely dangerous. The state eventually closed the stairs to the public in 1987.


Around 2003, the Haiku Stairs were repaired which costed the city almost a hundred thousand dollars to fix up, but until this day there is no legal entrance to the Stairway to Heaven. If you do try to hike there, you should probably expect to be rejected or even cited by the Honolulu Police.

But it takes the best to actually get there, because many tourists just come and visit Oahu, but they never actually attempt to climb the stairway up. Yes, I know it's not possible to going up the ladder anymore because it isn't safe but just touring there will give you a more authentic satisfaction than just looking at pictures on pinterest and just wishing you could go there when now you have plenty of opportunities to travel the world. So why not come to an island like Hawaii or more specifically sight-see the stairway that leads up to a place which is known for a way to Heaven! (348 words)

Santorini Island, Mediterranean Border

I've always been wanting to write a blog about an island, but never really knew which islands there were to right about because there was always too many to count. But then I realized that there was this one island that I've always wanted to go to, Santorini. I didn't want to go there just because the name sounded cool, but because of the marvelous colors and the scenery is magnificent. 

But to be honest just looking at the pictures in magazines or surfing the images on google makes it look a lot better because it's in a foreign land that not many people mention about and it's just really cool to find out secrets about this fascinating island. 

Santorini was named by the Latin Empire in the thirteenth century and was a reference to Saint Irene, which was the name of an old cathedral in the village of Perissa. The name Santorini is a contradiction of the name Santa Irini and before then, it was known as Kalliste (the most beautiful one), then it was named Strongyle (the circular one), then Thera. But the colloquial name Santorini is still in popular use. During the Ottoman Empire's domination of the Aegean Sea, the Turkish name for the island was "Santurin."

Santorini is an island off the southern Aegean Sea which is about 120 miles off the southeast coast of mainland Greece.  It forms part of the southernmost  part of the Cyclades group of islands with a population of 15,000 people. Other islands within the Santorini region include the islands of Nea Kameni, Palaia, Kameni, and Christiana. 

Santorini are the remains after an enormous volcanic eruption that destroyed the earliest settlements on the island before. There's a rectangular lagoon that's about 7.5 by 4.3 miles and is surrounded by a 900 ft high, steep cliffs on three sides. The island slopes downward to the Aegean Sea. On the other side of the lagoon, it's separated from the sea by another island called Therasia. 

The most active volcanic center is located in the South Aegean Volcanic Arc, though what remains now is a water -filled caldera. The volcanic arc is 310 miles long with a width about 12-25 miles wide. The island is the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in the whole world. The eruption left a large caldera surrounded by volcanic ash  that are hundreds of meters deep. 

You might of thought that water was easily accessible in Santorini back in the day but it's really wasn't! Santorini didn't have any rivers and water was scarce up until the 1990s when local citizens filled water cisterns from the rain that fell  on roofs and courts Which I personally thought was gross but I guess that's how they conserved water. But in the early 21st century a desalination plant provided running water to many houses and because rain is very rare on the island from spring and autumn, many plants depend on the moisture that's provided by the common, morning fog that makes dew on the ground!

A few more secrets are that Santorini is a favorite island across the entire planet and on the island of Santorini, man and nature live in harmony. Born from the fires of a volcano, today it's a land of sea and wind with villages on it's rocky cliffs! (556 words)

Slum Tourism?

Slum tourism…what does that mean? Based on what I researched recently it is a type of tourism that involves visiting impoverished areas with poor conditions and understanding other people’s lifestyles of local inhabitants.  More popular slum tourism tours exist around the world in cities like Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Cape Town, and others. Slum Tourism is now a controversial issue.

While slum tourism isn't a new phenomenon, slum tours have slowly become more popular in the 1990's. Slum tours in South Africa are called "township tours" because in South Africa the term "township" generally refers to impoverished and underdeveloped urban areas. Currently there area an estimated 40-50 township tour operators in Cape Town alone and about 25% of international overseas tourists to South Africa take a township tour. The segregation of people according to race during Apartheid-the political system that ruled in South Africa in 1994-led to a very segregated townships with most colored people being forced to live together in impoverished areas.

Some pros to slum tourism are that tourist get the opportunity to experience other parts of the world and how they manage to survive in the environments today. It's not like they can help the environment, but it's more like they can see how much better their lives are compared with people in some of these third world countries. Tourists also pay extra just to get into the specifics of these countries. They get to see the houses, bathroom (which aren't even real bathrooms, more like holes out in the open where no one sees), water, and other resources. In the picture above it shows how third world slums are and how dirty the environments people how to live in. People living in first world countries should be thankful of how clean our regions are and the fresh air we get to breathe everyday compared with these people. 

Some cons or disadvantages to the slums are that they are often being visited by outsiders and don't really get a peace and quiet environment because people always come into their areas to "observe how they are living. People who live in slums often are portrayed as poor and incompetent people. They have to live in areas where it's like trash and puddles of mud everywhere. When they have to go to the bathroom, there aren't even real bathrooms in those areas. People have to go find holes in the ground and pee. When they want to find places to shower they have to find the nearest pond or river and everyone sees them showering, sometimes they don't or can't even shower because the water is contaminated by bacteria. While other houses are in the hills and roofs are falling down. Many people living in the slums are always effected by water because water surrounds the roots of most of the bottom slums and the grounds are often dirty. (481 words)