The earth is full of pretty things and mystery and with modern day technology advancement in the means of transport it has become very easy to visit to any place in the world you want to experience the local culture and beautiful natural sights there.
However, we still have many places on earth which are not recommended for visitors as they are not welcome there.
1) Snake Island- Brazil
If you hate snakes or you have a fear for them, then Snake Island will be the last place on earth you will want to go because the island of Ada Amanda Grande is a place where you will find most dangerous species from the world of snakes. It’s located around 22 miles South to the coast of South Paulo. The Brazilian Government has banned anyone from visiting this dangerous place.
But rules can’t stop brave few from landing on it’s coast. Apparently, it may seem like any other island in that reigon but believe me it’s not. The Island is spread across around 4.6 million sq feet and it is is the only known habitat for the most dangerous species of snakes named as “Bothrops insularis” also known as the golden lancehead viper. They are widely available here. It’s estimated that there are more than four thousand snakes living and hunting on the Island.
The species of golden lancehead viper can grow up to 46 inches long. They are named like that due to unique shape of their heads which are strongly pointed. They are the overriding killers on the island. It’s said that even the Brazilian Navy avoided them.
A lighthouse was built on the Island in 1909.
It’s not known for sure how so many snakes came here but the widespread theory is that they were trapped on the Island when the sea levels rose around ten thousand years ago.
Due to their separation on the island, the snakes have evolved with the most dangerous, fastest acting and the most fatal venom of any snake species in the world. The reasons why the vipers have become so dangerous is simply due to their natural instinct to feed themselves. The only existing source of food for them on the remote island is birds. But by the time most snake toxins would paralyze them they would have been able to fly far leaving the snake without its meal. In case of the golden lanceheads, they have developed a way to kill their prey almost instantly by using a venom which is said to be at least five times stronger than other snakes.
Hundreds of stories are told of unfortunate people who landed up on the island. The lighthouse keepers were attacked many times by the snakes that came through the windows and their bodies were spotted across the island.
The name of the Island translates literally as the island of slash and burn fire. This gives us enough idea of how dangerous this Island had been for humans.
2) The Sentinel Island:
The North Sentinel Island lies in the Bay of Bengal that is one of the last places on earth where humans live fully separated from the outside world. The tribe known as Sentinelese have lived here for almost for more than fifty thousand years and it’s proved that they are not social as they don’t like visitors. The Island itself is pure and untouched by modern technologies. It’s covered in thick forests and the shore is enriched by vibrant unexplored reefs. The native people had been recorded as tossing arrows at low flying aircrafts and helicopters and any attempts to communicate had been rejected with vigor.
Even after the destruction due to tsunami in 2004, they were seen pointing arrows at an emergency rescue team helicopter. This was an evidence that the tribe should be left alone. Because of their isolation very less is known about the Sentelese tribe. They are hunters who move and live in different parts of the island. There were hundreds of attempts during 70s to 90s to contact them but those were responded to with arrows. It’s said that two fishermen who spent the night in there near the island were killed in their sleep. This aggression and clear apathy in being in contact with the rest of the world has led to Survival International, the organization that monitors and protects tribal people recommending that they should be left alone. Their lack of contact with others will also mean that they will be susceptible to common diseases that they have no resistance to. So any contamination of their society would certainly end badly and speed up their destruction.
Out of admiration for this tribe, the Indian Government has ruled it as illegal to get within 5 kilometers of the North Sentinel Island. The most we will ever learn about this unique civilization will be from aerial photography and anthropological study from afar.
May be one day they will fancy to venture beyond their shores but with rumors of cannibalism and extreme tribal rituals. It’s unlikely there will be too many volunteers to get to know them.
3) Chernobyl:
If you are a dearer adventurer and looking for a place really strange, then the town of Chernobyl in Northern Ukraine should be on top of your list. It used to be a busy town with more than 16000 population. But the accident that took place there in year 1986 caused the entire region to be quickly evacuated. On 26th of April 1986 the nuclear power plant there was conducting a systems test on its 4th reactor but something went horribly wrong. There was a sudden spike of power and when the emergency shutdown was initiated a further search occurred that triggers a series of explosions. The core of the reactor became exposed and resulted into a huge fire that sent a cloud of highly radioactive smoke into the atmosphere. This cloud moved across large parts of the Soviet Union and across Europe and turned Chernobyl into a wasteland. The Soviets tried to hide the incident but when the radiation alarms were set off at the Force Mark Power plant in Sweden, more than a thousand kilometers away, the Soviet officials had no choice but to own up to what had happened. The event is part of only 2 such events to be classified as Level 7 events on the International Nuclear event scale. With the other one being the Fukushima disaster in 2011. Today there is a 90 mile prohibited zone around the reactor to prevent people from getting in contact with the most radioactive area that will take at least 100s if not 1000s of years to recover.
It is know as one of the most radioactive areas in the world and attracts scientists and tourists from across the world. Although the time you can spend there is limited. The town was abandoned such rapidly that you can still see personal belongings of the natives left in the panic and the Chernobyl fairground which was due to open a few days after the accident lays in ruins as never having been used.
There is 1 positive to the evacuation though and that’s the effect it had on the local wildlife. Species stay free and even rare species of birds have increased their numbers in the area. Medical tests are still regularly carried out to see if the local animals are being affected by the radiation and while levels are present, its not affecting the animal population. In fact they are growing which just goes to prove a pretty harsh reality, “The presence of humans has a far more damaging effect on animal homes than even a nuclear disaster does.”
4) Heard Island
Heard Island is part of a remote sub Antarctic chain of volcanic islands in the Southern Indian Ocean. It’s approximately at the midpoint between Australia and South Africa. It’s located at around 1500 miles from the continent of Antarctica. Its complete isolation means that this is one of the last places on earth which are unblemished by human activity or introduction of Alien species. It’s covered with snow and glaciers with more than 2700 meter tall volcano called Big bang rising at it’s centre as it’s remained undisturbed for centuries.
The island is a great place to see natural elements at work with constant glacier flows and active volcano and a wealth of animal species who seek refuge from the dead cold ocean that enclose the island. It lies under the jurisdiction rule of Australia and it has been declared as a marine reserve with a number of marine species that are unique to the island. This means people aren’t allowed to get close without express permission. Its a 2 week journey from Australia that passes through some of the most hostile ocean environment.
The cost of reaching Heard Island means the boats only occasionally reach it on average once every 3 years and they are all chartered for scientific research.
Sadly, the island is more vulnerable to global climate changes than many other places and the impact in recent years has been clear. The glaciers have noticeably retreated in the past 50 yrs but this has opened up fertile soil and created numerous ponds and pools that are now flourishing with life. If you are looking for solitutude or simply an adventure and have deep enough pockets then heard island is one of the last last real wilderness is on the planet and we dare you to visit. Yes, you will experience endless rain, snow and chilly temperatures but you get a feeling of achievement of visiting a place where very few people have visited before you.
5) Monkey Island:
Cayo Santiago is an Island off the coast of Puerto Rico famously referred as Monkey Island. Don’t be under impression that it’s full of cute little monkeys ready to play with you because the reality of this place is much infamous. The story about this Island began in 1938 when an American Primatologist named Clearance Ray Carpenter released at least 400 Rhesus Macaques for conducting tests on how they behave in adverse situations. It was his thought that it’s easy to breed a population close to home rather than a need for going to Africa to collect the specimen. There were numerous tests conducted since then now for almost near to 80 years on this Island.
It has become a test site for conducting simple and complex tests on Rhesus Macaques which is a well know specie of old world monkeys. The tests ranged from simple observation to more complex disease research on monkeys. It’s estimated that currently there are almost 1000 monkeys living on this Island and most of the time it seemed like they were observing humans rather than the other way round. It’s recommended that we should not get too close to them as they are natural carriers of virulence strain of herpes as the virus can prove to be fatal for humans. The first warning given to visitors to this Island is not to let the monkeys pee on you. Having said all this, the Island is still beautiful and full of nature’s most inquisitive animals.
As of now it’s a free to public site, but discussions are underway to allow only scientists working in the research facility to visit this Island. In 2017 Hurricane Maria affected this Island badly and it’s feared that lot of the monkeys lost their lives in the devastating storm.