For most of the year, the Rio Cano Cristales in Colombia looks like any normal river. But for a brief period of time during the year, between the rainy season and the dry season, a beautiful species of plant called Macarenia clavigera turns bright red and populates much of the water. The river is nicknamed “the river of five colors” because of the red plants, the yellow and green sand, the blue water and all the shades in between. (MORE:...

Most tourists heading out to the American West to explore frontier towns and vast wildernesses stop by parks like the Grand Canyon and Yosemite and Bryce Canyon. But all those caravans are missing one of Utah's best-kept secrets: Capitol Reef National Park. The spectacular geologic formations that characterize the park are part of the Waterpocket Fold, a wrinkle in the earth created by underlying faults that extends for almost 100 miles, says the National Park Service. The uplifted ridges have...

An arist's rendering of future versions of the Airlander. (Photo: Hybrid Air Vehicles) (Airlander) Imagine if your next vacation involved boarding a monster airship for a three-week sail around the world with stops on top of a glacier and in the middle of the desert. No, it’s not a plot of a steampunk fantasy flick, but a real-life marvel of modern aviation technology that could become the future of air travel in just a few years. Meet the Airlander, a...

Old Mill in Eastern Bavaria, Germany. (Photo by Kilian Schönberger) For generations, people believed the European countryside was populated by elves and fairies, goblins, witches and wizards. While those characters might be no more than myth and legend today, the eerie forests and foggy fields they populated continue to enchant modern dreamers. Kilian Schönberger is a German photographer and geographer who said he someday hopes to shoot a cover story for National Geographic. For now, he brings his viewers into...

Brownfield's souvenir and outdoor store in Elkhorn Avenue in Estes Park, Colo. suffered damage from the devastating floods on September 2013. The Colorado mountain town was cut off for days by the massive flooding. (Estes Park News) In September 2013, the Rocky Mountain resort town of Estes Park, Colo. was ravaged by the state's worst flooding in almost 50 years. Roads were washed away, businesses were flooded, and homeowners displaced. For a town that relies heavily on tourism — Estes...

The world's biggest tea drinkers are found in Turkey and Ireland, but one of the world's biggest tea producers is hidden off the southern coast of India. For a foreign and fragrant vacation, consider visiting the tea plantations of Sri Lanka. With a warm climate, a number of tropical forests, and fields upon fields of tea, coffee, coconuts and cinnamon, it's no surprise Sri Lanka is sometimes called "the nation of smiling people." Sri Lanka is the third largest exporter...

Galapagos Islands For the traveler who's seen it all and done it all, who feels a bit blasé about discovering the world, Natural World Safaris recently proposed a new kind of venture. The 111-day tour will cover 12 countries, multiple continents, and bring the participants close to some of the world's most magnificent endangered species. The only catch? It's $1 million for two people. The trip includes plenty of luxuries, including first class flying to and from the destinations and...

'Trains at Night' is a photo series that consists of large scale strobe lighting of trains in America's northeastern landscape. (William Gill) Photographer William Gill brings locomotives to light in his stunning photo series on trains cruising through the night sky. “Railroads are not particularly remote nor are they rare – they pass through most sizable towns in America. However, they have been pushed from the center of life to outside the periphery,” Gill says on his website. Gill, who...

Anyone who has experienced the headaches of air travel would probably agree it's cruel and unusual punishment to be trapped on an aircraft for 34 consecutive hours. It happened to 256 passengers aboard a Cathay Pacific flight from New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport to Hong Kong, according to NBC News. The flight took off March 29 from the United States, and encountered severe weather, among other factors, that forced the lengthy layover in Zhuhai, China. The unscheduled...

'Poolside Tanning,' East Boston, Mass. 2012. (Alex S. MacLean) Everything may seem chaotic while on the ground, but from high above the United States, landscapes — from fields to flyovers — appear perfectly organized into grids. This unique perspective is what Alex MacLean’s photo series of aerial landscapes aims to convey. “I try to understand what underlies the patterns within a photograph, which often tells a story about an environmental process or cultural values,” MacLean told weather.com. An architect-turned-photographer, MacLean...

Conquer Your Fear of Heights It takes a heavy dose of fearlessness and nerve to stand atop these monuments and look down. Some of the world's most incredible viewpoints are thousands of feet above the ground in locations most of us will never get to visit. These images can give perspective to a few of the most breathtaking landscapes on the planet. Hopefully, they won't make you dizzy at your desk, but we can't make any promises. Let's get started...

With the approach of summer, plenty of Americans will be hitting the road or taking to the skies for a vacation. In 2013, around 77 percent planned for vacation during the summer, reported the Wall Street Journal. The travel industry provides 14.9 million jobs, impacting one out of nine workers in America, says the U.S. Travel Association. By the sounds of it, Americans should be rather worldly with all the traveling we do. But according to the Huffington Post, most...