My Life's Seven Wonders

In response to the writing prompt: "List your life’s Seven Wonders. Describe the most amazing 7 things you’ve seen with your own two eyes."  on Mama’s Losin it blog.

1. I visited Yosemite National Park during the summer of 1966.
It was the first time I remember being stunned my the beauty of a place.
Although I wasn't quite 21, before leaving on my trip,
my parents had given me an impressive 35 mm camera
as an early birthday gift.

2. The first time I visited Rio de Janeiro, was in July of 1967.
I lived & worked in Brazil's northeast until 1969.
I visited Rio again in 1968, 1969, and returned in 2011.
From Corcovado, one can see the entire city, including
Pão de Açucar ---Sugar Loaf mountain (upper right in the photo.)
Brazilians refer to Rio as the cidade maravilhosa
---the marvelous city. Check out this link for a 360 degree
view of Rio from above Corcovado: 
http://multimedia.odiaonline.net/cristo/cristo-360/

3. Machu Picchu, which rests high in the Andes in Peru, has been my favorite place on earth since I visited it in July of 1969 on my way home from living in Brazil. I roamed in and out of the roofless stone temples and shrines, across plazas and open courtyards, climbed terraces, admired steps carved into the natural rocks. A silence prevailed, with tourists talking in hushed tones, or not speaking at all, as if in a cathedral. The effect was breathtaking, peaceful, arcane ---almost magical.  I asked for a wake up call to view the sun rise over the Andes the following morning ---and snapped this photo.

4. In October 2005, I visited a friend who had recently purchased
a home in Sedona, AZ. The red-rock formations are
beautiful, casting lovely and varied shadows at different
times of the day.

5. During my trip to Sedona, I was able to cross one item
from my Bucket List when I visited the Grand Canyon.

6. Amazonas, Brazil: In August 2011 I was finally able to return to Brazil
---crossing one more thing from my list. I had always
regretted not visiting the Amazon region while
living in Brazil, so I vowed to visit on this trip,
crossing another item from my list. This photo
depicts an incredible natural phenomena, the
"Meeting of the Waters" where the waters
from 2 rivers, one brown and one nearly black,
meet and stay separated for several
kilometers before they join to form the Amazon.

7. Another of my regrets was not visiting Iguaçu when living
in Brazil, so on my return trip in 2011, I visited the
spectacular falls on both the Brazilian and Argentinean sides
(one more item erased from my Bucket List)
and enjoyed the Bird Park on the Brazilian side, where visitors
can enter cages to get close to and photograph exotic birds.
I look slightly bedraggled at the bird park. 
I had just come from the falls where everyone gets soaked 
by the overspray. A rain jacket helped, but only a little.
 

Other great places on my Bucket List I would love to visit (in no particular order): Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park, New Zealand, Alaska, Zion National Park, Smokey Mountains, Florence & Tuscany (Italy), Sweden, Vancouver B.C., Portugal.... an ever-growing list.