Sydney Harbour: aerial view

Photo: Sydney Harbour, view from the air, showing the Opera House, Sydney Central Business District (CBD), Darling Harbour, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Parramatta River, North Sydney and Kirribilli in the foreground, photo taken by Rodney Haywood during a helicopter joy flight.

License for reuse: THIS IS NOT A PUBLIC DOMAIN PHOTO, but the copyright holder, Rodney Haywood, allows anyone to use it for any purpose, provided that the copyright holder is properly attributed. Redistribution, derivative work, commercial use, and all other uses are permitted.

Attribution: Sydney Harbour Aerial View, photo by Rodney Haywood

Murchison Falls (River Nile), Uganda

Murchison Falls on River Nile, Uganda

Murchison Falls seen from above

Murchison Falls (also known as Kabalega Falls or Kabarega Falls), is a waterfall on the River Nile. The waterfall breaks the Victoria Nile, which flows from Lake Victoria across northern Uganda to Lake Kyoga and then to the north end of Lake Albert in western arm of the East African Rift Valley. On top of Murchison Falls, the Nile forces its way through a narrow gap in the rocks, only 7 meters (23 feet) wide and falls down 43 meters (141 feet), and then flows westward into Lake Albert. Lake Victoria sends out around 300 cubic meters per second (11,000 cubic feet/second) of water over the Murchison Falls squeezed through a gorge less than ten meters (30 feet) wide.

Sir Samuel Baker named the falls after the name of Sir Roderick Murchison, who was the president of the Royal Geographical Society. Murchison Falls also lend its name to the Murchison Falls National Park, lying inland from the shore of Lake Albert around the Victoria Nile.

The 1970s the name Murchison Falls was changed to the Kabarega Falls during the reign of Idi Amin, after King Kabarega of Bunyoro (a region of Uganda), although it was never legally promulgated. However, after the downfall of Idi Amin the name was reverted back to Murchison Falls, though it is still sometimes referred to as Kabarega Falls.

Sunset over River Ganges in Mayapur, West Bengal

Mayapur, located on the banks of the River Ganges, at the point of its confluence with the Jalangi, near Navadvip, West Bengal, India, has the Head Quarters of ISKCON. Though Mayapur is considered a holy place by a number of other Hindu traditions, it is of special significance to the followers of Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition as the birthplace of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, regarded as a special incarnation of Krishna. Mayapur is visited by over a million pilgrims annually.

The River Nile, view from Cairo Tower

Lake Garda, the largest lake in Italy

Lake Garda, the largest lake in Italy, is located in Northern Italy half-way between Venice and Milan. The lake and its shoreline are located among the provinces of Verona, Brescia, and Trento. Being easily accessible from the north via the Brenner Pass, the lake is a major tourist destination and it has a number of exclusive hotels and resorts along its shore.

Catamaran: Oar training on the Odra River

Sweep row training on Catamaran: Oar training on the Odra River (Oder River) in Wroclaw. The Odra is in Central Europe, originating in the Czech Republic and flowing through western Poland, later forming the border between Poland and Germany, and it finally flows into the Szczecin Lagoon north of Stettin (Szczecin) and then into the Baltic Sea.