Fascinating places

Patagonia, at the southernmost tip of the American continent, is a fascinating animal world. The rugged region is shaped by mountains, wind and water. Patagonia appears largely uninhabited, certainly not by humans, making it a paradise for animals. A honking sound can be heard along the Patagonian coast. September is the mating season of Magellanic penguins. At sunrise, the peaks of the Torres del Paine Mountains glow with reddish light. The mountains are the majestic center of the Chilean national park in the heart of Patagonia. Their name means Towers of Blue Skies. Rightly so, because the granite peaks reach nearly 3,000 meters into the sky. The enormous massifs are testimony to the enormous forces that have been creating the Andes for millennia. They influence the climate of all South America. Also to Patagonia, a raw, wild land at the very edge of the continent.

Masai Mara National Reserve is a protected area in Kenya with an area of ​​1,510 square kilometers, constituting the northern part of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem. In 2010, the Masai Mara was included on the UNESCO Tentative List for inclusion in the organization's World Heritage List.

Vosges – a mountain landscape in the heart of Europe. The symbol of the region is the stork. His return reconciles man with nature. The cold season is barely over when the storks are already returning from their winter quarters in Spain and Africa. 30 years ago the birds almost completely disappeared. Currently, there are 400 pairs nesting in the Vosges Mountains. Flying nearly 200 km a day, after two weeks they reach their winter quarters in Spain and North Africa. They winter in the stork valley in the Vosges Mountains.

The Vosges Mountains are home to numerous species of wild animals. There are mountains, valleys, vast forests and fields. In the southern Vosges the landscape is shaped by traditional Alpine farming. In the Northern Vosges, on the other hand, forests rich in species often reach higher slopes, interrupted only by deeply cracked sandstone outcrops towering above the trees. In the nature reserve of the Northern Vosges, large areas are protected from logging and agricultural crops. The domed peaks of the southern Vosges are mostly unvegetated. They are called balloons and only rarely can you encounter a wind-hardened beech tree. In the northern Vosges, ancient sounds echo. Autumn turns the Vosges deciduous forest into a sea of ​​colors. The trees will soon lose all their leaves. The Vosges forest must wait until spring before it comes to life again.

The Pantanal in southwestern Brazil is the largest marsh plain in the world, fed by numerous rivers. Tourists come here to admire the unique nature. The rivers and lakes of the Pantanal are fed by the Paraguay River. It belongs to the same Iguazu river system that is home to the largest waterfall on the planet. Huge masses of water fall from a height of 82 meters. The thundering waterfall is surrounded by dense rainforest.

The fascinating Black Forest, also known as the Black Forest or Selva Negrato, is a logging mountain range in southwestern Germany. It is heavily dissected by numerous river valleys. The Danube has its source in the eastern part of the Black Forest. Once upon a time, the Black Forest lived up to its name and was an inaccessible refuge for wild creatures. Today, this lush mountain region welcomes all visitors. There are unique landscapes and unique nature there. Ferns and mosses develop beautifully in the play of light and shadow, together with herbs, grasses, shrubs and flowering plants. In late summer, when the weather is warm and humid, mushrooms appear. There are over 800 different species of mushrooms in the Black Forest, but only 100 are edible.

Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world and the first in Africa. It is a paradise island in the Indian Ocean with a unique natural landscape and fun-loving inhabitants. The capital Antananarivo is located in the very center of the island, almost 1,200 meters above sea level. It has nearly two million inhabitants, almost one tenth of the entire population of Madagascar. Numerous towns and villages mark the roads crossing the geographical center of Madagascar. The mountainous region of Andringitra is less populated. Despite travel difficulties, the Andringitra region attracts visitors from all over the world. Water from the highlands eventually flows into the forests on the slopes and turns into numerous rivers and streams winding through the forest floor. The bizarre shapes of baobabs emphasize the uniqueness of nature in Madagascar. This is what makes the island so fascinating.

We will take a closer look at the lush forests of Madagascar. The Masoalas rainforest lies in a region with some of the highest rainfall in the world. Every year, 4,000 liters of rain fall per square meter. The north-eastern region of Madagascar has preserved a lot of untouched nature. But only if generations of Malagasy people continue to respect nature will Madagascar's fascinating natural heritage have a future.

Madagascar - a paradise island in the Indian Ocean with a unique natural landscape and fun-loving inhabitants. 500 km off the coast of Africa lies the island of Madagascar, the fourth largest island on Earth, separated from the rest of the world for 90 million years. Madagascar was discovered only 2,000 years ago. People came there from Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The diversity of origins of the Malagasy tribes is now clearly visible in their lifestyle and traditions. Anakao in the southwest of the island is the home of the Vezo fishermen. It is a remote region and difficult to access from land. The Vezo peoples are called children of the sea. You rarely see motorboats here because they are too expensive. Many families still live mainly at sea. They sail from islet to islet along the huge coral reef located west of the coast of Madagascar.

There are few places on Earth that would be closer to the stars. The Andes are a powerful, unique, mysterious and amazing mountain range. They are almost like a separate universe on our planet. At the foot of the chain is the largest reserve of drinking water in South America, Campo de Hielo Sur, the enormous Southern Patagonian Ice Sheet on the border between Chile and Argentina. The southwestern areas of the central Andes are exceptionally barren. There is the world's largest salt flat, Salar de Uyuni, which outside the rainy season looks like a desert of crystals.