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It seems a bit weird that a river doesn’t reach the sea, but this is what happens to the Okavango, the fourth longest river on the African continent. It rises on the Angolan mountains to finish his race in Botswana, flowing into a sandy sea: the Kalahari desert.

The origin of this phenomenon dates back to the ice age, when the river flowed into the great Makgadikgadi lake, now a desert.

At its mouth, it forms an internal delta, a cradle of unbelievable biodiversity considered one of the best-preserved natural areas where huge quantities of animals can be found, of almost all the species of the African continent.

Often travellers have many doubts about the best seasons to visit Southeast Asia …. let’s clarify.

The Monsoon are seasonal winds accompanied by changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation due to the heating of land and sea.

On earth, there are many monsoon areas: the Gulf of Guinea, the Gulf of Mexico, Venezuela, Australia, Somalia, Spain, Portugal and northern Russia, but the area with the heaviest monsoon is southeastern Asia, due to the huge continental mass.

In the summer season, the Asian continent is warmer than the sea, becoming a low-pressure zone and creating fresh and humid winds from the sea, with heavy rainfalls.

In winter season, the Asian continent (high-pressure zone) cools, while the Indian Ocean (low-pressure zone) keeps their waters rather hot, creating dry and cold winds from the continent to the sea.

Best times to visit the Southeast Asian countries:

SRI LANKA
Southwest: from December to March
Northeast: from April to October

NEPAL
from September to November

MYANMAR – BANGLADESH
from November to February

THAILAND
North: from November to February
South: from March to May

LAOS – CAMBODIA
from November to February

VIETNAM
South: from December to April
Central Coast: from June to October
North: from May to October

MALAYSIA – INDONESIA
from May to October

The Meenakshi Temple, located in the ancient city of Madurai, is one of the most impressive Indian Hindu temples.

Rebuilt in the 14th century and renovated in the 17th century, the structure is formed by 14 gopurams (gatehouse towers) adorned with several (about a thousand) colourful sculpted pillars, celebrating the Princess Meenakshi and her marriage to Shiva.

Every evening it is represented the symbolic ceremony of the sexual union: Shiva, carried on a silver palanquin, is washed, perfumed, incensed and then taken to Parvati’s room.

The Sahara el Beyda, well known as the White Desert, is one of the most spectacular deserts in the world. Its chalk rock formations, after millions of years of wind and sand erosion, have bizarre shapes like, for example, the rock named “The chicken and the mushroom”.

The area is a National Park located about 50 km North of the town of Farafra, Egypt.

The desert was also the location of the music video of the song Echoes, the first single released by the British rock band Klaxons, from their second studio album, Surfing the Void.

Unfortunately, due to the armies and Islamist militant presence, the area is not safe, though local agencies organize trips for tourists.

The colorful flags, originated with the ancient Tibetan religion bön and typical of the mountain areas of Tibet and Himalayas are not ornaments or even simple flags: they spread wisdom, peace, strength and wellness to all living beings.

Horizontal prayer flags are called lung-ta (small and rectangular or square shape) and vertical flags are called darchor (rectangular and large, attached to vertical posts).

The wilderness area named La Mosquitia, located in the western part of Honduras, has one of the largest tropical rainforests in the world. It is characterized by great biodiversity and unexplored places.

In 2015, the National Geographic announced that a secret archaeological expedition with the assistance of the Honduran military discovered an unknown ruined city: the legendary Ciudad Blanca, also known as the City of the Monkey God.
Due to his extraordinary biodiversity and by the animals’ behavior, it is supposed that no humans have been in the lost city in the last 600 years, since it was abandoned.  To protect the area, its location is still not revealed.