' Tis strange - but true; for truth is always strange;Stranger than fiction; if it could be told,How much would novels gain by the exchange!How differently the world would men behold!How oft would vice and virtue places change!The new world would be nothing to the old,If some Columbus of the moral seasWould show mankind their souls' antipodes.
Image: Monte Roraima, Venezuela
Today, something a little different. We came across a dynamic list of the 30+ unbelievable places that look like they’re from another planet and decided to share some our favourites. Some of these photos look down-right alien, but make no mistake: they are for the most part untouched photos of actual places right here on our planet.
Image: Glowworms Cave, New Zealand
Image: Tianzi Mountains, China
So what’s the point of sharing these photos? Well for starters, it is important for us to realize that even these seemingly bizarre and other-worldly locales are both host to an ecosystem and themselves part of a larger ecosystem—in fact, the biosphere of the entire planet. It just goes to show how diverse ecosystems be and how extreme lengths nature has to go to in order to exist.
Image: Naica Mine, Mexico
Image: Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland
There is no question these photos also ignite the imagination. If any of these locales seem familiar to you, it’s likely because they have inspired settings in popular fantasy and science fiction films and television programs.
Image: Fly Geyser, Nevada, USA
Image: Zhangye Danxia Landform in Gansu, China
There is also an unquestionable beauty to these locales. Inhospitable as some may be to us, they are nonetheless compelling in their strangeness, wholly encaptivating…and not just visually. It is with absolute certainty that we can state as amazing as these photos may be, they do not, cannot hold a candle to actually being there and experiencing such expressions of nature in person.
Image: Emerald Ice on Baikal Lake, Russia
Credit: Alexey Trofimov
Image: Son Doong Cave, Vietnam
Credit: National Geographic
No doubt the growing popularity of eco-tourism is one of the reasons these photographs even exist. Human beings are explorers by nature. It’s not only that we crave novelty; we long for knowledge…and not just the knowledge we get from reading books or watching documentaries. We long for experiential knowledge. There is nothing like having being there, done that no matter where “there” may be, and no matter what “that” was.
Image: Glowing Beach in Maldeves
Image: Salar De Uyuni, Bolivia
The question is, can we experience a taste of that exploration and discovery in our everyday lives without having to spend all the time, money and effort to take a trip to a far off land? Is there a way to experience the excitement, wonder and beauty of new discovery in our home, workplace, school, wherever we live, work or play?
Image: Dallol Volcano, Ethiopia
Image: Ice Cave near Mutnovsky Volcano, Russia
The answer is YES.
Consider this: no matter how spectacular a location may be, you get to experience it for a few days—possibly weeks. Unless you are very lucky and supremely committed, you will very rarely ever get to experience the changing face of such locations over time. After all, nature is not static. Nature grows, changes, adapts. A snapshot in time will only ever be just that…a memory.
Image: Spotted Lake, Canada
Put another way, eco-tourism and travelling to the ends of the earth to witness the oddities and extraordinary wonders of the natural world will not result in a deep relationship between you and those places. They may result in vivid memories in your mind, and perhaps a pining in your heart to return someday, but you will not have a deep comprehension of the rhythms of those places, the ongoing harmonic effects of being there throughout the seasons, nor the wonder of watching these incredible expressions of nature adapt, evolve, grow and/or even die.
But with an ecosystem from PeapodLife, you CAN. And although we can’t promise you a landscape like that in these photos, we can promise there is ALWAYS something new and exciting in our ecosystems. Whether it’s an orchid blooming, moss growing, plants advancing, others receding, fish bearing young, snails multiplying, you get to watch your own “interior landscape” grow and evolve and both respond to your moods and improving your moods. We hesitate to say life with an ecosystem is more similar to having a pet than a garden, but many who live with an ecosystem describe it that way.
The truth really is stranger than fiction. When you really think about it, that means the promise of nature is not to bring biology into your life but magic. It’s just another aspect of Advanced Human Habitat for you to EXPLORE.
Image: PeapodLife: Explore Our Advanced Human Habitats
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