São João del Rei - Brazil

Denis (Selos & Postais) read that i like roman bridges, so he sent me this card from São João del Rei, with this roman like bridge. 

São João del Rei is an historical city in the state of Minas Gerais. The city was founded in the 18th century and has a great number of buildings from that era, including more than 70 churches.

Foto: Sérgio Ricardo de Freitas

There are two stone bridges in the historical center of São João del Rei, one of them is the Jail Bridge. It was built in 1797 to replace a wooden bridge that existed in the same location and that collapsed when it was crossed by a procession.

Ichkeul Lake - Tunisia

A new UNESCO site from Tunisia and with this card, i've all the sites from this country :) 

Ichkeul Lake is a lake in northern Tunisia near the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. The lake and wetlands of Ichkeul National Park are an important stopping-over point for hundreds of thousands of migrating birds each year. Among the lake's visitors are ducks, geese, storks, and pink flamingoes. The park has been on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites since 1980. - in: wikipedia

Lake Ichkeul is the last great freshwater lake of a chain that once stretched the length of North Africa.  Characterised by a very specific hydrological functioning based on a double seasonal alternance of water levels and salinity, the lake and the surrounding marshes constitute an indispensible stop-over for the hundreds of thousands of migratory birds that winter at Ichkeul.

 Ichkeul National Park contains important natural habitats as an essential wintering site for western Palaearctic birds. Each winter, the property provides shelter to an exceptional density of water fowl with, in certain years, numbers reaching more than 300,000 ducks, geese and coots at the same time. Among these birds, the presence of three species of worldwide interest for their protection: the white-headed duck (Oxyura leucocephala), the ferruginous duck (Aythya nyroca) and the marbled duck (Marmaronetta angustirostris). With such a diversity of habitats, the property possesses a very rich and diversified fauna and flora with more than 200 animal species and more than 500 plant species. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/8

RO-66141

This is an official from Romania but the card shows the Gotta Abu Ramada Reef in Egypt.

This is my 1st official card, as far as i can remember, sent from a Postcrossing Meeting, in this particular case, a meeting in Bucarest. 

© Marco Care / Greenpeace

RO-66141, sent by Ana Maria.

Abu Gota Ramada is also known as the Aquarium. It is a small reef, about 100 by 100 metres with a large submerged mount. 

The maximum depth in 20 metres before it drops down to 50 metres.  The reef lies in the middle of the strait and brings in significant amount of zoo plankton allowing the reef to flourish. The area is covered in picturesque soft coral and an abundance of fish.

The reef, due to its shallow depth, is well covered in sun light, allowing for some fantastic photography, especially in the smaller little crevasses found around the various pinnacles. The trick with this reef is to take your time, choose a spot and just wait, the amount of fishes you are able to spot is absolute fantastic. - in:  http://www.scuba-diving-adviser.co.uk/DiveSites/EgyptDiveSites/HurghadaandSafaga/GotaAbuRamada.aspx

All over the reef, but especially at the west end, there are yellowfish, bannerfish, bluecheck butterflies, masked butterflies, yellow snapper, goatfish and sweetlips. Big morays, jacks, turtles, crocodilefish and more infrequently, eagle rays and leopard sharks visit the reef. Titan triggerfish are guarding their nests in September. 

Mt. Warning - Australia

After a philippine mount, now i've an australian mount, but the philippines is still on the UNESCO Tentative List and this one is already on the World Heritage List as part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia, on the list since 1986. 

Mount Warning is a volcanic plug of the now-gone Tweed Volcano located in Australia, in New South Wales, near the border with Queensland.

The mountain is now protected by the surrounding Mount Warning National Park. - in: wikipedia

Mt. Pulag National Park - Philippines

I'm still not very focused on the UNESCO Tentative list but i've been receiving a few tentative sites in the last weeks. 

Jan, wanted one of my Lisbon's cards and in returned i picked this Mt. Pulag card. This national park is on the tentative list since 2006. 

© Philippine Copyright 2010

Published and Exclusively Distributed by National Book Store

The whole park is located within the Philippine Cordillera Mountain Range and is very rugged, characterized by steep to very steep slopes at the mountainsides and generally rolling areas at the mountain peak. Mt. Pulag National Park is the highest peak in Luzon and is the second highest mountain in the Philippines with an elevation of 2,922 m. above sea level.

The summit of Mt. Pulag is covered with grass and dwarf bamboo plants. At lower elevations, the mountainside has a mossy forest veiled with fog, and full of ferns, lichens and moss. Below this is the pine forest growing on barren, rocky slopes. Falls, rivers and small lakes mark the area.

The Park has a large diversity of flora and fauna, many of which are endemic to the mountain. Its wildlife includes threatened mammals such as the Philippine Brown Deer, Northern Luzon Giant Cloud Rat and the Luzon Pygmy Fruit Bat.  One can also find several orchid species some of which are possibly endemic to Mt. Pulag, and other rare flora such as the pitcher plant.

Mt. Pulag is an important watershed providing the water necessities of many stakeholders for domestic and industrial use, irrigation, hydroelectric power production and aquaculture. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5030/

TW-903682 & TW-799427

Two officials from Taiwan. The 2nd has travelled for more than 150 days :o 

 Design & photo of Jerry Weng

TW-903682, sent by Jerry.

Fuguejiao (Fu-kuei Cape) Light is Taiwan's northernmost lighthouse, located on a promontory in Shimen. It is an active lighthouse, originaly buil  in 1897. The original cast iron lighthouse was heavily damaged in World War II.  It was rebuilt in 1962 in concrete. 

TW-799427, sent by Wen.

Ci-en Pagoda is located on Sha Ba Lan Mountain near Sun Moon Lake. It was built by Chiang Kai-Shek in memory of his mother in 1971. The construction was very difficult because the materials had to be shipped over the lake and moved up the mountain. The Ci-en Pagoda is 46 meters in height and has become the famous landmark of Sun Moon Lake. Surrounding the tower are beautiful plants and trees and there are stone tables and chairs for visitors to take a rest. The Ci-en Pagoda overlooks Lalu Island and Sun Moon Lake.

Ci-en Pagoda is an octagonal building; the 3 stories at the base are painted in white, while the 9 stories of the main body are painted in golden red. Tourists can appreciate the magnificent scenery of Sun Moon Lake from the Ci-en Pagoda. - in: http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0002114&id=R144

CN-938824

Once upon a time there's was a chinese girl, Molly, who sent me an official card. The card travelled for many, many days and got expired. Molly thought the card got lost in the mail and sent me a 2nd card. Last monday the 2nd card card arrived in my mailbox and on wednesday, the 1st card also arrived, after travelling more than 80 days. And that's why i received the same official twice. 

Molly was really nice to resend the card and i trully like the 2nd card. 

CN-938824, sent by Molly.

This card was sent on May the 9th and only arrived on the last day of July. 

CN-938824, sent by Molly.

This wonderful card shows the The Black Dragon Pool. This is a famous pond in the scenic Jade Spring Park located a short walk north of the Old Town of Lijiang in Yunnan province

. It was built in 1737 during the Qing Dynasty and offers a spectacular view on the region's tallest mountain, Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, over its white marble bridge. - in: wikipedia