Ask what the water is doing during your proposed visit.
An illustrated collection
Worlds made by water
Rivers, falls, wetlands and changing shores.
Photo credit
Zysko serhii · CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for display.
A different way into the world
Follow the idea.
Find your places.
Water creates very different kinds of spectacle: a waterfall at full force, a reflective lake, a flooded forest or a narrow channel through a living wetland. The same place can change substantially between seasons. A photograph records one combination of water level, weather and light.
Choose the experience before choosing a month. Powerful flow may compete with clear visibility, while a boat route depends on conditions very differently from a viewpoint walk. In wildlife areas, both high and low water can open possibilities and close others. Read each guide’s seasonal explanation rather than looking for one universally correct date.
Separate the best viewpoint season from the best activity season.
Notice the relationship between water, vegetation and settlement.
Victoria Falls
The Zambezi disappears into a gorge beneath a rising cloud of spray.
74 · Croatia
Plitvice and Krka National Parks
Waterfall landscapes where limestone and flowing water build the scenery together.
171 · Malawi, Mozambique & Tanzania
Lake Malawi
An inland sea with an extraordinary diversity beneath its surface.
196 · Canada & United States
Niagara Falls
A great waterfall system experienced from several changing perspectives.
202 · Iceland
Vatnajökull National Park
An immense Icelandic landscape of ice, volcanoes and changing water.
Lake Turkana
A remote lake landscape central to both ecology and human origins.
294 · India
Kerala Backwaters
A network of waterways whose appeal lies in everyday life as much as scenery.
