Ancient Egypt

Egyptians honored their kings or Pharaohs and their queens by building them gigantic tombs called pyramids. Today we know of eighty of these that still stand today after hundreds of years. King Djoser built the first pyramid. The three; largest and best preserved were built at the beginning of the Old Kingdom in Giza; the most well known of these pyramids is the tomb for pharaoh Khufu. Estimates suggest that between 20,000 and 30,000 laborers were needed to build the Great Pyramid at Giza in less than 23 years. By comparison, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris took almost 200 years to complete. The cores of the pyramids were often composed of local limestone. Finer limestone was used for the outer layer of the pyramids, giving them a white shine that could be seen from miles away. The capstone was usually made of granite, basalt, or other hard stones that could be plated with gold or silver. Teams of oxen or manpower were used to drag the stones. Once the stones were at the construction site, ramps were built to get them into place on the pyramid.

These are incredible they even had temples and their form of writing, hieroglyphics, on the walls. Some even were made with traps and misleading passageways to protect the pharaoh.  How they did this is still a mystery. One thing for sure is you have to see these unbelievable structures to believe them!  

There is almost a mystical presence to the island of Bora Bora. It is overflowing with legends, mysteries, and romance. This wonderful Tahiti Polynesian island paradise has the most breath taking blue waters that sparkle in the sun. There is two peaks in the center of this gorgeous island and its amazing waters. Also the islands lagoon is where you would want to spend your time windsurfing, jet skiing, scuba diving, snorkeling, or hey just plain taking in the beauty and warmth around you.

Like any place foreign, one of the major attractions to Bora Bora is the pure wonder and the mysteries and the culture. You cannot truly understand the people there and their culture until you’ve heard there myths and legends. If you ever plan on going there here are some of the many stories the people cherish. One is the story of how the island was created and is one of the most widely know legends. But like many legends there are two viewpoints.

The first states story states that the first chief of the island, Firiamata O Vavau, was born when a possessed volcanic boulder, having godly powers, mated with Mount Pahia and the island was born. He gave the island his name, Vavau.  This is was  the native people called it until European explorers came and changed it to PoraPora, which later became Bora Bora. Another legend claims that it was created as a result of volcanoes rising from the ocean shore, lifted up from the kingdom of Poseidon by Poseidon himself.

Another one of the islands beauties that is explained through legends is the black lipped pearl, known as the "pearl of queens". The legends of the island state that the pearl was first brought by Oro, the Tahitian god of peace and fertility. Oro rode a rainbow down from his home to offer the people of earth Te Ufi, a special kind of oyster. He then took the black pearl created by this oyster and gave it as a gift to the princess of Bora Bora to show his love. This pearl is still held in high esteem by the people of Bora Bora.

These are just a couple legends from the people, to find out the rest you’ll have to visit the tropical island paradise. It is truly a place like no other and you will not want to miss it.

Madagascar is a place like no other in the world. It’s near Southern Africa, east of Mozambique. This island is slightly less than twice the size of Arizona and its coastline runs about 4,828 km. It’s mostly tropical all year long along the coast and temperate inland. It’s an absolutely beautiful island with a narrow coastal plain, high plateaus and maintains located in the center. Now I guess your wondering why Madagascar is so unique. Well for starters is one of the world’s top conservation priorities.  Why? Madagascar is home to plants and animals unique to this island. In other words they cant be found anywhere else in the world.

“More than 50 species of lemurs swing through the forest, and fluorescent-colored chameleons and lizards cling to trees and ferns. Brilliant red tomato frogs peek out from the jungle floor, while the majestic and huge baobab tree, called the ‘mother-of-the-forest’ by the local Malagasy people, keeps a careful watch over evolution gone wild. No one actually knows how many species exist in Madagascar today – perhaps 200,000 or more. What IS known, however, is that the majority of the endemic plant and animal species are not found anywhere else on earth, and that over 80% of the wildlife is unique to the island. Of the country’s 987 vertebrate species, 771 are endemic to the island. 12,000 species of plants and 45 percent of its 270 bird species are also endemic. These numbers are extraordinary, considering that Madagascar is roughly the size of Texas.”