A postcard from each corner of the World
List of countries I received postcards from.
Kenya is the most popular of Africa’s safari destinations. It is is located in East Africa with coastline on the Indian Ocean. It encompasses savannah, lakelands, the dramatic Great Rift Valley and mountain highlands. It’s also home to wildlife like lions, elephants and rhinos. Kenyan safaris visit the Masai Mara National Park known for its abundant wildlife and annual Great Migration, and Amboseli National Park, offering views of Tanzania’s Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Sharyn Canyon (also known as Charyn Canyon) is a canyon on the Sharyn River in Southeast region of Kazakhstan. The canyon is roughly 154 kilometers (96 mi) in length. Though it is much smaller than the Grand Canyon, it has been described as being equally impressive. There are a few legends about the canyon. People believed that it was a place haunted by spirits who didn’t like to be disturbed by the living. To keep people away, these evil spirits drove animals to the cliffs and forced them to jump down on anyone walking through the canyon.
Qusayr ‘Amra was built between 730 – 740 AD. This desert establishment was both a fortress with a garrison and a residence/pleasure palace that comprises a reception hall and hammam, all richly decorated with figurative murals, which depict hunting and dancing scenes as well as craftsmen at work, and represent the transition between Byzantine culture and the new Islamic era. It is located in present-day eastern Jordan.
Qusayr ‘Amra was placed on the World Heritage List in 1985.
Petra is a historic and archaeological city in Jordan, and is famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system. It was inhabited by the Nabataeans, nomadic Arabs, and became their capital by second century BC. UNESCO has described Petra as “one of the most precious cultural properties of man’s cultural heritage”. The Monastery, or Ad Deir, pictured on this postcard, is a monumental building carved out of rock.
Jersey is the largest of the Channel Islands – an archipelago in the English Channel between England and France. It is a self-governing dependency of the United Kingdom, with a mix of British and French cultures. Jersey is most notable for being one of the world’s largest offshore finance centers.
La Corbière is the extreme south-western point of Jersey. The name means “a place where crows gather“. However, seagulls have long since displaced the crows from their coastal nesting sites.
Mount Fuji has become famous throughout the world and is considered to be the symbol of Japan. It is 3,776 meters tall active volcano located 100 km southwest of Tokyo and is visible from there on clear days. Mount Fuji’s exceptionally symmetrical cone is frequently depicted in art and photography. It is a UNESCO World Heritage List site since 2013.
Jamaica is a Caribbean island nation. The name comes from the indigenous people’s, the Taíno, language, and means the “Land of Wood and Water”. The Taíno people were virtually exterminated by Spanish colonists, and today the population of Jamaica consists predominantly of the descendants of African slaves brought by English settlers to work the sugar estates. This makes this postcard interesting: the the Devon House Mansion is the former residence of George Stiebel, Jamaica’s first black millionaire. It has been restored, and today it is operated as a house museum and National Heritage Site.
Ivory Coast or Côte d’Ivoire is African country with beach resorts and rainforests, and it is world’s largest exporter of cocoa beans. Prior to its colonization by Europeans, Ivory Coast was home to several states. It was colonized by France in 1893, and achieved independence in 1960.
Fun fact: Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s largest city, is the city with the third largest French speaking population anywhere in the world.
Turin is the in northern Italy, known for its refined architecture and cuisine. It was first capital city of Italy (1861 to 1865). Turin is the home of the Juventus F.C. football team, the headquarters of automobile manufacturers FIAT, Lancia and Alfa Romeo, and it was the host of the 2006 Winter Olympics.
Israel, a Middle Eastern country on the Mediterranean Sea, is regarded by Jews, Christians and Muslims as the biblical Holy Land. Its most sacred sites are in Jerusalem. Within its Old City, the Temple Mount complex includes the Dome of the Rock shrine, the historic Western Wall, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
