If you’re European and go grocery shopping, you’ll notice that around half of the fruits and vegetables available at any supermarket are from Spain. No shocker here, as the country’s Mediterranean climate favors year-round farming activities.
Yet, what most people don’t know is that most of the harvesting comes from an area of just under 1,000 km² called Poniente Almeriense, also known as the Garden of Europe, that covers a flat coastal territory just south of the popular resort town of Almería.
Why am I mentioning some Spanish farming area in an answer about the “strangest place on Earth”, you may ask? The truth is, this area is completely covered in greenhouses, to the point that Spanish people refer to it as mar de plástico (sea of plastic).
It all started in 1963, when the area, known as Campo de Dalías, started hosting the first intensive farming facilities. By 2000, the area had been entirely covered in plastic greenhouses. The two main controversies this practice is facing concern the near-slave conditions of workers, mostly African, and the pollution it produces, as discarded plastic waste ends up in the Mediterranean, heavily impacting the marine environment.
(NASA satellite pictures.)
Spain is the third-most visited country in the world. It gathered 75.6 million tourists last year alone. Yet, I bet nobody would expect such place to exist just a few minutes away from some of the most popular vacation resorts!
240km off the east coast of the Horn of Africa, lies Socotra, an Island unlike anything on this planet. In modern times it’s been called “the most alien place on earth.” In Ancient times it held many items of importance including the red resin of the dragon blood tree and Aloes from plants that can’t be found anywhere else.
The otherworldly dragon trees are what we call a relict population, a mere fragment of a once thriving lineage that went extinct everywhere else over the last 5 million years. A more recent example of this would be like how the island of Tasmania acted as a refuge for Tasmanian tigers for a couple thousand years after the rest of the population went extinct on the mainland of Australia.
That’s why Socotra is so alien. Tasmania didn’t become isolated from the rest of the mainland Australia until around 12,000 years ago, and 12,000 years is hardly enough time to see significant evolution. But Socotra has been isolated from the rest of Africa for around 20 million years and that is enough time to see noticeable changes.
Tasmanian Tiger, from Tasmania
Endemic means the organism can only be found in that one location and nowhere else. 37% of Socotra’s plants are endemic and as you go to different animal groups that are more landlocked, that number increases. 100% of the native mammals are endemic, but to be fair they only have one mammal species and that’s a bat.
95% of the land snails are endemic, and 90% of the islands reptiles can’t be found anywhere else. Those numbers stay high for arachnids and isopods, like this blue legged baboon tarantula. They’re pretty unique among other tarantulas that are found in other places around the world because these ones don’t mind living in groups, and the mothers will actually take care of their offspring.
Islands like Socotra offer us compelling testimony to the forces of evolution at work.
1. Eternal Flame Falls in New York, US
The flame is fueled by natural gas and burns behind the waterfall, thus it will not extinguish.
2. Caño Cristales in Colombia
During summer, this Colombian river turns red. The red comes from the colour of a unique species of plant that sprouts during summer.
3. Blood Falls, Antarctica
The red colour comes from the high concentration of iron in the water. Definitely creepy and certainly strange.
4. Confluence of Rhone and Arve rivers, Switzerland
“This looks like something out of photoshop” my reaction when I first saw it. This natural phenomenon happens due to the difference in density of the two rivers, thus they will never mix.
5. Sea of Stars on Vaadhoo Island
The colourful light blue liquid-like thing is actually made of millions of microscopic planktons who shines bright blue during the night. Very cool.
6. Giant Crystal Cave at Naica Mine, Mexico
These giant shiny crystal pillars were formed over the course of millions of years.
7. Mount Roraima, Venezuela
An enormous flat top mountain located in Venezuela. It is filled with undiscovered mysteries and contains many plant and animal species not yet discovered by scientists. I had plans to visit Venezuela, but not anymore due to the country’s instability.
8. Danakil Depression, Ethiopia
What you are witnessing are actually pockets of acid pools. Even the brown land is actually made from crusts of sulphur and salt.
9. Red Beach in Tianjin, China
During Autumn, this beach in Tianjin, China becomes filled with a red coloured plant called Suaeda salsa which thrives in salt water, leaving only thin strips of the visible sea.
10. Zhangjiajie in Hunan, China
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is comprised of thousands of quartzite sandstone columns. On average, each column rises over 200 metres in length.
Zhangjiajie also features forests, rivers, waterfalls, and 2 large natural land bridges, plus it is home to some of the world’s most rare species of plants and animals. In the movie Avatar, some of the scenes were shot in Zhangjiajie.
Definitely a place you should visit!
