5 Most BEAUTIFUL Places UNTOUCHED By Humankind

The world is a magnificent place and it never fails to amaze us. From the tallest mountain to the deepest trenches, we have often stared in awe and wonderment at how Mother Nature can create such beautiful landscapes that seem to come right off the pages of a high fantasy novel. However, despite all the awe and wonderment, mankind - as our species progressed throughout the millennia - has indiscriminately trampled on plenty of nature's works of art. We have re-sculpted mountains and uprooted trees to pave freeways and erect apartment complexes and gigantic malls all in the name of industry. It's quite tragic that Mother Nature has to take big hits and blows from what we have done but she does have a way of keeping the best things away from man's indiscriminate and destructive behavior. There simply are places that - thanks to their geography and climate conditions - have kept mankind at bay and are well preserved in their marvelous states.

5.

ATACAMA DESERT Known as, perhaps, the world's driest location, the Atacama Desert does not get any rain at all rendering its soil unable to support plant life; not to mention the fact that much of its expanse is made out of sand, lava, and salt basins. to say that the land is parched is an extreme understatement. However, despite its arid landscape and the land's lack of ability to create or support life, the Atacama Desert has become one of NASA's best locations to conduct research such as ground tests for Mars missions. Also, the desert is one of the best places to conduct astronomical study due to its extremely high altitude, dry air, lack of light pollution and radio interference, and virtually cloudless skies. Though there may be two major observatories in the desert which makes calling the place completely untouched by human hands a little ironic, the fact that cities surrounding it are spaced wide apart and that there are no other industrial or residential structures within its bounds earns it a place on this list. Also, its 40,000 square miles of dry land is already saying something.

4.

NAMIBIA Getting its name from the Namib Desert, Namibia is one of the few sparsely populated areas in the southern part of Africa. Because human presence is at an extreme minimum, Namibia is home to the largest population of wild cheetahs which make up about a quarter of the entire world's cheetah population - about 2,500 of these speedsters. Even more impressive about Namibia - aside from its magnificent dunes, waterfalls, and petroglyphs - is the fact that because it is an untouched African landscape, it is one of the few countries in the world to have perfectly preserved its ecosystem in its entire constitution.

3.

THE SEYCHELLES Pristine beaches and a healthy population of wildlife that includes the Seychelles Black Parrot, The Seychelles has at least 50% of its island nation under conservation which makes it one of the most beautiful places on earth. Perhaps it is the only country in the world with half of its land mass under conservation! We believe that this is for good reason because the island nation boasts one of the most magnificent shorelines and beaches that we have ever seen. Its clear waters and powder-soft sands make it the envy of any island country across the globe. And with very few tourists and visitors exploring its shores, The Seychelles remain clean and pristine all year round.

2.

THE FOREST LAKE Russia's Lake Baikal is the world's oldest and deepest lake. it is also recorded as the largest freshwater lake in terms of volume. To give you an idea, Baikal Lake makes up 20% of the entire world's freshwater surface which is larger than the combined waters of the Great Lakes of North America. Also, the lake is home to 2000 different species of plant and animal life, two-thirds of which are only endemic to the lake's region. How is it untouched and unexplored? Lake Baikal's location makes it one of the most difficult - if not impossible - places to visit. Found in south-central Siberia, the lake is surrounded by mountains, an extremely dense forest, and several wild rivers. Perhaps the only way to see the lake itself is to travel by air and because of the thick forests below, landing a helicopter or a small plane is out of the question. I guess its inaccessibility is Mother Nature's way of telling us that it's okay to "look but not touch".

1.

TEPUI, VENEZUELA These large, towering sandstone plateaus are called the Gran Sabana in Venezuela. Rather than connected ranges like mountains, Tepuis are commonly isolated land masses that tower high above ground. Tepuis are, in actuality, the remains of large plateaus of sandstone from the Precambrian period. Over thousands of years, the land structures eroded leaving only the Tepuis that we now know of today. Despite its altitude, wildlife and plant life prosper high atop the Tepuis - the tallest of them has been recorded as 3000 meters tall. Dense forest lands blanket the flat top surface that has a slightly cooler temperature than the ground below and receives regular rainfall. It is because of its location, many plants have adapted to its unique climate and have become rare species that can only be found in the Tepuis.