A spanish colonial fort an the entrance to Lake Izabal, Guatemala.

Castillo de San Felipe de Lara

The Castillo de San Felipe de Lara(often referred to simply as the Castillo de San Felipe) is a Spanish colonial fort at the entrance to Lake Izabal in eastern Guatemala. Lake Izabal is connected with the Caribbean Sea via the Dulce River  and El Golfete lake.

Castle of San Felipe

The Castillo de San Felipe was used by the Spanish for several centuries, during which time it was destroyed and looted several times by pirates. 

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Established in 1916, is a United States National Park located in the U.S. States of Hawaii on the island of Hawaii. The park encompasses 333,000 acres from the summit of Maunaloa(Is one of five volcanoes that form the island of Hawaii in the U.S. State of Hawaii in the pacific Ocean) to the sea. It encompasses two active volcanoes: Kilauea(One of the world´s most active volcanoes) and Mauna Loa(The world´s most massive subaerial volcano).

Here you´ll find 150 miles of hiking trails through volcanic craters, scalded deserts and rainforests as well as a museum, petroglyphs, a walk-in lava tube and two active vocanoes. 

The park gives scientists insight into the birth of the Hawaiian Islands and ongoing studies into the processes of vulcanism. For visitors, the park offers dramatic volcanic landscapes as well as glimpses of rare flora and fauna.

A monkey´s paradise in Japan´s Jigokudani Monkey Park

Japan´s Jigokudani Monkey Park

Is in Yamanouchi, Shimotakai District, Nagano Prefecture. It is part of the Joshin-etsu Kogen National Park, and is located in the valley of the Yokoyu-River, in the Northern part of the prefecture. The name Jigokudani, meaning "Hell´s valley" is due to the steam and boiling water that bubbles out of small crevices in the frozen ground, surrounded by steep cliffs and formidably cold and hostile forests.

Jigokudani(hell valley) hot spring

In this place snow covers the ground for 4 months a year, the heavy snowfalls, an elevation of 850 metres and being only accesible via a narrow 2 km(1.24 mi) footpath through the forest, keep it uncrowded despite being relatively well-known.