Ngorongoro Crater, World's Largest Unbroken Caldera

Called the eighth wonder of the world, Ngorongoro Crater is the world's largest unbroken and unflooded volcanic caldera in the Eastern (Great) Rift Valley, northern Tanzania, Africa. It lies 75 miles west of the town of Arusha. The crater measures between 10 and 12 miles across and has an area of 102 square miles. It's rim is heavily forested and rises 2,000 feet above the caldera’s floor to an elevation of 7,500 feet. It is included within a UNESCO World Heritage site designated in 1979.

Panoramic view of the Ngorongoro Crater (Source)

When it was active some 2.5 million years ago, Ngorongoro volcano was one of the world's tallest mountains. After a major eruption, it's volcanic cone collapsed inward leaving the present vast, unbroken caldera as its chief remnant and a flat plain area.

Ngorongoro Crater Map (Source)

The Ngorongoro Crater floor is predominantly open grassland and is haven to a diverse array of animals including elephants, black rhinoceroses, leopards, buffalo, zebras, warthogs, wildebeests, Grant’s and Thomson’s gazelles, and the densest population of lions in the world.

Female lion on a hunt for zebra

Lake Magadi, a shallow soda lake ringed by extinct volcanoes, is renowned as a habitat for great flocks of pink flamingos.

Panoramic view of the Ngorongoro Crater (Source)

The local Masai people also graze their livestock in the crater. Some villagers don't like to be taken pictures, others ask money from tourist in exchange of pictures.

Masai family in Ngorongoro (Source)

When a lodge was built on its rim in the 1930s, large numbers of tourists began visiting the caldera. Since the region’s incorporation into the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in 1959, additional lodges have been built.

Tourists taking pictures from Ngorongoro Wildlife Lodge(Source)

Niagara Falls, The Most Powerful Waterfall in North America

Located in the borders of Canada and US, in the province of Ontario and the U.S. state of New York, the Niagara falls is a group of waterfalls in the Niagara River. This massive waterfalls lies between the twin cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and Niagara Falls, New York.

Google Map view of Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls comprises of three separate waterfalls: the Horseshoe Falls in the Canadian side and the American Falls, and the smaller Bridal Veil Falls, both in the US side.

Aerial view of Niagara Falls (Source)

The two major sections, the Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls, are separated by Goat Island while the Bridal Veil Falls is separated from the American Falls by the Luna Island. The Horseshoe Falls drop about 173 feet and 2,600 feet wide.

The Horseshoe Falls (Source)

On the other hand, the American Falls varies between 70-100 feet in height because of the presence of giant boulders at its base and 1,060 feet wide.

The American Falls and the smaller Bridal Veil Falls (Source)

Though not exceptionally high, the Niagara Falls is very wide. So wide the more than six million cubic feet of water falls over the crest line every minute in high flow, and almost 4 million cubic feet on average. This amount of water flow makes the Niagara Falls the most powerful waterfall in North America.

Niagara Falls at night (Source)

Mount Fuji, Japan's Highest Mountain

At 3,776 meters (12,388 ft), Mount Fuji is Japan's Highest Mountain. It stands on the border between Yamanashi and Shizuoka Prefectures and can be seen from Tokyo and Yokohama on clear days. It is located near the Pacific coast of central Honshū. There are three small cities surrounding it: Gotemba (south), Fujiyoshida (north) and Fujinomiya (southwest).

Google Map View of Mount Fuji (Source)

Although it's last eruption was in 1708, Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano volcano. This nearly perfectly shaped volcano has been worshiped as a sacred mountain and experienced big popularity among artists, common people and tourists.

Mount Fuji capped wit snow (Source)

Mount Fuji is surrounded by five lakes: Lake Kawaguchi, Lake Yamanaka, Lake Sai, Lake Motosu and Lake Shoji. The climate is very cold due to the altitude and the cone is covered by snow for several months of the year. The lowest recorded temperature is −38.0 °C while on June 2008 the highest temperature was recorded at 17.8 °C.

Mount Fuji from Osezaki beach (Source)

Mount Fuji view from an airplane (Source)

Mount Fuji view from an airplane (Source)