Iguazú Falls lies on the border between Argentina and Brazil, within the Iguazu River. The falls consist of around 275 individual waterfalls. Iguazú Falls is nearly three times wider than Niagara Falls.

Kasbahs (also spelled qasbah, qasba, qasaba, or casbah), particularly in Morocco, are fortified citadels or palaces often constructed using rammed earth techniques. Rammed earth, a traditional building method, involves compacting a mixture of earth, water, and a binder (like straw) into forms to create strong, durable walls out of what is essentially sun-dried mud. The kasbahs of Morocco, especially in the Drâa-Tafilalet region, situated within the Atlas mountains, such as the ones pictured here, showcase this ancient architectural style, with walls often reaching several meters thick. Some of the kasbahs shown here are in ruins, whilst others have been faithfully restored back to their original glory (probably to attract tourist revenue).



The Drâa-Tafilalet region is renowned for its picturesque oases that cover nearly 90% of its area, and that traditionally has sustained its resilient, indigenous population and rich cultural heritage. Unfortunately, in parts of the region, such as in the villages of Tafilalet, the indigenous inhabitants are abandoning their quaint traditional rammed earth homes, because of drought, desertification, climate change and social marginalisation, and are migrating to the cities. (https: //inthesetimes.com/article/morocco-oasis-es-sfalat-tafilalet-abandoned-village-climate-change-ghost-town).

Traditional turf roofed farmhouses in Iceland (just a few miles northeast from Faroe Islands, which we visited in last week's post, and which also has these traditional turf roofed farmhouses — please see zafoid.com/post/view/12000). Such houses have amazing insulation qualities, and to boot they look cute, reminiscent of Hobbit houses, are they not? 🏡 😀

The North Atlantic island village of Saksun, on Faroe Islands (part of the Kingdom of Denmark). The views are simply breathtaking, but on Faroe Islands it rains or snows 210 days a year, on average.

Sunset over New Zealand from across the ocean © Guy Shelley from Monash University.

This scenery was not formed overnight — Nature took its sweet time to create these marvels. These images from the Arches National Park in Utah, USA, show the end result of almost 300 million years of erosion, uplift, and weathering. Over time, layers of sandstone cracked, moved, and wore away, revealing almost 2,000 natural arches, composed mostly of Entrada and Navajo sandstone. These natural arches were formed from the salt beds left behind by long gone oceans from the past. This park was designated as a national monument in 1929, and elevated to national park status in 1971.

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In the Atacama Desert region of northern Chile, the skies are exceptionally clear and dry for more than 300 days of the year. These conditions have attracted the world's scientific community to develop highly interesting astronomical projects in the Atacama Desert, as seen here in the images below.

Malta's rural and historical landscape along the Cottonera Lines, is unfortunately currently under imminent damage of irreversible damage by an unnecessary €8 million project that is being proposed by Transport Malta, consisting of a two-way bypass between Żabbar and Smart City. This project will destroy 5,686 square meters of agricultural land — half of which remains productive — disrupting local ecosystems and further eroding our already shrinking green spaces and agriculture. Moreover, this road will pass through and disturb an area rich in history and protected heritage. The project’s route threatens the context of Notre Dame Gate, the Cottonera bastions, the Capuchin Convent, and the surrounding scheduled structures — some of which are Grade I-listed and located in Areas of High Landscape and Ecological Importance.

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Mount Teide is the highest peak in Spain, and the 3rd tallest volcano in the world, measured from its base on the ocean. It is found in the Spanish Canary Islands.



For a short period of time, during sunrise, Mount Teide throws an impressive large shadow that is perfectly pyramidal in shape, with long straight lines. It is an awesome sight, especially when viewed from the peak of Mount Teide itself. Here are some images of that magnificent shadow, together with one image of Mount Teide itself.





(click on any image to view it full size.)