By Jim Studer
When I could do all the walking, I was fortunate enough to travel. I visited noted cities: London, Oslo, Paris, Hong Kong, New Delhi, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, Rio, Buenos Aires…. People have asked, “Which places were the most fascinating?”
For the answers I must resort to Aristotle. His concepts of art and nature led him to believe that art was an imitation of nature. Perhaps that is why when answering the above question, the beauty of nature trumps the creations of the human race.
Witnessing the wonders of the world gave me the greatest pleasure. Here are the top five in reverse order. The Himalayan Mountains of Nepal are powerful. Flying into Kathmandu the plane window provided a view of terraced mountainsides below the mighty peaks. That made me think that God, in younger days, must have been a landscaper. Yes, I know that one of God’s creations had a hand in making the giant steps in the side of the mountains but those mountains, including a look at Everest, I’ll never forget.
The Amazon River and jungle in and around Manaus ranks next. Flying in during the rainy season presented thousands of square miles of sparkling reflected light through the canopy of jungle. The Amazon River near Manaus is actually the confluence of two rivers. The Rio Negro flowing black and the Amazon reddish and less dense run parallel in the mile wide river. As they begin to dissolve into each other they form a patchwork quilt of black and red. Think of oil dumped on water.
Nearby the giant water lilies are found; the pads are over eight feet in diameter. Nearby I glimpsed pinkish, freshwater porpoises breaking the plane of the flow. Lunch on the tour boat was said to be piranha; maybe just a line fed to tourists. It seemed like a waterscape painted by nature.
In third place is Iguazu Falls. Higher than Niagara Falls, Iguazu is spectacular. Find it at the intersection of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Seen from the Brazilian side look up while getting a first-hand view while wearing heavy rain gear and being washed by the mists of the Paraná River. The waters are unforgivable. The falls are 269 feet high and a mile and a half wide. The natural beauty can be seen from above on the Argentine side. Zig Zag concrete walkway allows a view of the falls looking down. I don’t know if the bridge still exists; in the 1980s some of the construction had been wiped out by the flooding of the Paraná. From the mists below to the sky view from above the roaring water is a symphony of nature.