Taxonomy term

A desert called Death Valley sounds like a place to avoid. Don’t let the ominous name scare you away. Most of the year, this vast and rugged expanse of eastern California is brutally hot, but visit in winter or early spring and you’ll find a surprisingly beautiful and vibrant place.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is not widely known for its geological wonders or natural beauty. Civil war has dominated headlines about the sprawling central African country for decades. Now, after several years of relative peace, visitors are finally trickling in to explore Congo’s untarnished wilderness. Chief among the attractions is Virunga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. In Virunga, active volcanoes and mountainous ice fields loom over savannas, swamps and forests.

It’s no secret that the American Southwest harbors some of the most dramatic geology in the world. Although many visitors stick to the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks, geology-savvy travelers will also want to head to an often-overlooked region with relatively easy access to unique rock formations, fossils and cultural artifacts: the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

Most people go to the Caribbean to escape — to relax on pristine beaches, enjoy fruity island drinks or perhaps swim with the dolphins. In Barbados, you can certainly do that. But in between your beach days, you may want to spend some time exploring the island’s unique geological features. The island provides the rare opportunities to stand on an active accretionary wedge and to visit uplifted coral reefs that have played a pivotal role in reconstructing climate and sea-level records of the recent geological past.