Amazon voted top in New7Wonders of Nature List
The popularity of adventure holidays in South America could be set to witness a sharp rise after the Amazon rainforest was chosen as one of the provisional New7Wonders of Nature.
The Amazon, which spans nine countries in Latin America and encompasses more than five million square kilometres, was picked by voters around the world as the number one wonder of nature in the provisional list designed to find new natural marvels.
Featuring rich and diverse flora and fauna, the Amazon rainforest has attracted awe and admiration from adventurers and tourists for centuries and is the home of scores of indigenous Amerindian ethnic groups.
The rainforest is thought to contain the widest variety of animal and plant species in the world and represents more than half of the world's remaining rainforest.
Some of the beautiful and exotic animals that can be found in the Amazon rainforest include brilliantly coloured parrots, various insects and unique fish.
The provisional list of New7Wonders of Nature was announced on Monday November 14th and has to be independently verified, checked and validated before it is officially confirmed.
Coming in at second place is Halong Bay, in Vietnam's Quang Ninh province, which features a vast array of limestone karsts and islands of various sizes and shapes. The bay has some 120 kilometres of coastline and 1,969 islets, which are home to 200 different species of fish and 450 different types of molluscs.
In third place is Iguazu Falls in Brazil, which is located on the border between the Brazilian state of Parana and the province of Misiones in Argentina. The waterfall extends over 2,700 metres and is one of the largest waterfalls in the world.
Jejudo Island in South Korea comes in at fourth place, followed by Komodo National Park in Indonesia in fifth place, Puerto Princesa Underground River in the Philippines in sixth and Table Mountain in South Africa in seventh.
