Waterfalls, wonderful waterfalls all over the world: America, Argentina, Australia, Canada, England, Malaysia

The Americas
This week Google has been sending me wonderful waterfall pictures of Iguazu Falls in South America. When I think of big waterfalls, I think of the big three, Niagara, which I have seen from both the Candaian and american sides, the Victoria Falls in Africa (now renamed something I cannot remember) and the South American waterfalls. Each continent has something special to see.

Niagara - Canada
Canada has the all jumping exciting side of the falls with all the museums. Marilyn Monroe made a film here. I have been several times. I never managed to time it right to see the Houdini museum.

Niagara - USA
If you cannot leave the USA, you can see the Falls from the American side.

The three things I remember are:
1 The noise
2 The wet spray - on some excursions you will be asked to wear waterrproof covering, or might be given it.
3 The prices.

The boat journeys come and go. They are allowed. They are banned. They are allowed again.
If you are the nervous type and prefer to stay at a distance, instead of spending your money on the attractions, you might prefer to indulge in a hotel room overlooking the falls.

What would you do if stuck indoors? Watch marilyn Monroe in the film Niagara.

As with all these attractions, in a tur group, I miss a lot of the commentary because of the noise or I am delaying to take a photo. Since you might miss half the commentary, it helps to resarch the place in advance, even print off your own guide from Wikipedia or Wikivoyage or the local tourist board.

If you have the chance, go from the USA to South America to see the Iguazu Falls.

Iguazu Falls - Brazil/Argentina

England
For me, South America is still just a dream. I remember reading about a boy who set out to visit all the major waterfalls. The minor waterfalls are numerous. We have been on hikes along paths to waterfalls in England's lovely Lake Distict, which is a pupular honeymoon destination.

I once rang up the local tourist board and asked, "Can you find me a hotel with a four-poster bed?"

She said, "You'll have to be more specific. Almost every hotel in the Lake District has a four-poster bed. Some of the hotels have three or four."

The Lake District is on the green and rainy west side of England like the Scottish lakes around Glasgow. You will find the same in many countries and islands. the wet part is green, with waterfalls, in rainy season.

Rain brings gushing rivers, waterfalls, great photos, also muddy paths. We turned back on our way to the waterfall.

Then we avoided the rain by going back in high summer. However, we found the drought had dried up the waterfall!

Australia
The seasons are opposite down in Australia. On the Great Ocean Road, we unexpectedly found a path leading to a waterfall. We took a detour, after some debate. Why? I said, "What's the problem? Because it's only half an hour."

My husband replied, "Yes. Half an hour there, would be an hour, return, plus time spent at the fall."

The signpost writer's idea of a half hour walk extended to an hour, as I hobbled along in unsutibale shoes, watched my step and took photos.

We were just about to turn back. I stopped. My husband carried on to the next corner. He came running back.

"We must be near - I can hear it!"

Yes, we heard it. And for the next half hour we continued to hear it. We finally made it.

We did not reach our hotel by lunch time but by dinner time!

We felt like explorer Livingstone - even on a marked path with wooden steps and railings.

What about rhe real Livingstone country?

Africa
The statue of Livinstone looking at the Victoria Falls.

David Lingstone Statue.

I hope the statue stays and does not disappear in a wave of political correctness.

Contrast the falls in raining season and the falls in dry season.



Asia - Malaysia
I live part of the year in Singapore. From Singapore many honeymoon couples go to the Kota Tinggi waterfall in Johor, Malaysia, just across the causeway, for romantic photos, often taken there by photographers.

Kota Tinggi Waterfalls, Johor, Malaysia (side trip from Singapore)

Asia - Singapore's Artificial Falls
Jewel Mall - free
Singapore itself has two magnificent artificial indoor waterfalls. The one in the centre of Jewel Shopping Mall (the old airport car park, domed and converted into a mall, with the central waterfall designed by renowned architect Moshe Safdie).





I went to the pre-opening, and several times after it opened.  It is great when you arrive at mid-level, great from higher floors, different again from the basement when it thunders behind a transparent barrier.

But Covid-19 measures are in place, so check opening times before setting off. It could be closed evenings, opening late, timed free entry, or not open at all.

The other huge waterfall and huge tourist attraction is in the Gardens by the Bay. One of the two main attractions. One is the Flower Garden (a series of gardens).

The second is Cloud Mountain.
This contains the large waterfall. Walkways zig zag up several floors. You can take the lift to the top and walk down.


Get tickets for both attractions at a reduced price if possible and allow several hours.

If you want something free, the free Botanic Gardens has a tiny waterfall which you can walk behind, refreshing on a hot day. You do get wet. You have to shield your camera or mobile phone with an umbrella. I started by taking photos from the outside. Then I ventured into the short tunnel walk behind the fall, which has an  window behind the noisy spray.

Water, water, everywhere. Wonderful waterfalls.

Useful Websites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niagara_(film)
Niagara Falls movie locations:
http://www.themoviedistrict.com/niagara-1953/2/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Falls

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguazu_Falls

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kota_Tinggi_Waterfalls

https://www.lakescottageholiday.co.uk/blog/lake-district-waterfalls/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_waterfalls_of_Australia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_waterfalls_of_New_Zealand

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_waterfalls_of_England

About the Author
Travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

July 4 in the USA: what did you and I miss? A quiz for you on the USA.

Map of the USA from Wikipedia.

Problem
I wasn't in the USA on July 4 this year, 2017. The British papers which I read on line, the BBC News and the Daily Mail, did not report much. I found a few people and places in London, such as pubs and American theme restaurants which were offering American food and drink.


In Hatch End we have Baskin Robbins. Their website says:
Headquartered in Massachusetts, USA, Baskin-Robbins is part of Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DNKN) along with sister brand Dunkin' Donuts. 

We are forever indebted to the Americans. I remember going to the USA in 1967 and being astonished to see shops selling several varieties of ice cream. Back in London, England, post-war, an ordinary shop or restaurant only had vanilla ice cream. The top places offered you three sorts, vanilla,  chocolate and, if you were lucky, strawberry.

B, back to July 4th, 2017. It was too late to go there because I was out all day in London at Imbibe at Olympia. I had hardly had time to notice it was the 4th of July, and looking at families with children whose faces are painted feels like I'm introducing on somebody else's family party.

One reason for the shortage of news from the USA on July 4th could be that London, England is five hours ahead of New York. So it's still 1pm, lunch time in New York when Londoners get home from work at 6 pm.  New York is still early evening, 7 pm, if we go to bed in London at midnight, if we stay up that late. The West coast, San Francisco is even further away, timewise.

July 4 Picnic
When I lived in the USA, in Rockville, Maryland, in the late 1980s, on July 4th we went for a picnic on a hillside in the south near the military cemetery overlooking Washington DC.  The fireworks were not until late in the evening, a long wait, and they were far away. Now I understand why we saw so little festivity.

We didn't realise that family picnics are just that, like Christmas Day, a day off work when families can get together. We expected parades or events all day everywhere. Nothing much happened in our park. Just a lot of families having picnics. We would have seen more at home all day enjoying our swimming pool in the morning then watching morning parades from the west coast on TV in the east coast in the afternoon.

Never mind. No point thinking about the past. Learn from that. Plan to be where you can see something happening next time.

Another member of my family had a picnic in Central Park on the 200th anniversary in 1976.

July 4 Plans
Nowadays everything is on line for you to enjoy, even if you are in another city or another continent. So what can you see of the 4th of July celebrations that you missed this year?  What could you look out for or join next year?

Answers
1 Don't rely on other people. For your selfie photos stock up on American flags and face paint and keep everything together in a bag with stars and stripes on it, as you would for Christmas. Note where in your attic or basement the American theme items are kept.
2 Check your dirty ahead and see which clubs are meeting that week so you can suggest an American theme. Bake red white and blue cakes or biscuits or put flags on the food. Ask all your friend to bring red white and blue. Find a flag for your emails, websites, newsletters and blogs.

Quiz on America
Plan a quiz for children or adults on:
1 American states.
2 American state capitals.
3 American Presidents.
4 Who was your favourite American President and why?
5 Which President did the most for America?
6 Which First Lady most inspired you?
7 Make a quiz on American quotations.

My Quiz
1 Which year was the Declaration of Independence? 1666, 1776, 1886, 1996?
2 America declared independence from: Canada, France, Great Britain, Mexico, Russia, South America, all of the above?
3 Who was the first American President? Jefferson, Lincoln, Kennedy, Washington?
4 Who are the four Presidents on Mount Rushmore? Lincoln, Washington, Jefferson, ....?
5 The National anthem is: America the beautiful. The Star Spangled Banner.
6 The motto is: All for one and one for all. In God We Trust.
7 Where is Mount Rushmore? Washington state? Colorado? North Dakota? South Dakota?
8 Which of these states are on the west coast? California. Washington. Oregon. California. New Mexico? Alaska?
9 Which of these states are on the East coast? New York. Virginia. West Virginia. Florida. Texas. South Carolina, North Carolina. Maryland. R h o d e Island. Massachusetts. New Hampshire. Vermont. ...?
10 Which of these states border Mexico? New Mexico. Texas. California? ...?
11 Which states border Canada? New York State. Michigan. Washington State. North Dakota?
12 Name an American film star who became a President.
13 How many American states are there? And how many stars on the American flag?
14 Name an American female film star with the initials M M.
15 Name an American singer with the initials E P.
16 Buffalo wings are made of what? Chicken. Buffalo.
17 Which American President said: the business of America is business.
18 Which President said: Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country.
19 Name three to ten ten tourist sights in the USA in NY, Washington DC, Dakota. Add one American connected site in London, England.
20 Name the previous and current presidents of the USA.

Answers
1 1776
2 Great Britain. Being independent, all of the above also applies, but specifically America wanted independence from Britain. (And from the taxes. Remember the Boston Tea Party?)
3 The first President was Washington. Maybe that's why the capital is called Washington DC. Maybe that's why there is a Washington state, but no state named after others.
4 George Washington. Abraham Lincoln. Thomas Jefferson. Theodore Roosevelt.
5 The Star Spangled Banner.
6 In God We Trust. All for one and one for all is from the novel The Three Musketeers.
7 South Dakota.
8 See map above. I can tell you. But you will remember better if you look at the map and memorise it.
9 See map above.
10 See map above.
11 New York state - of course, Niagara Falls is both sides.
12 President Reagan
13 How many states in the USA, 50, (although some say, 52, but only if you count 'territories' etc, Puerto Rico, and Washington DC. The stars on the American flag are therefore 50. (13 stripes - recalling the early days of the USA.)
14 Marilyn Monroe.
15 Elvis Presley.
16 Chicken. The dish of chicken wings was invented in Buffalo. I discovered this when I lived in the USA. At the Grand canyon we saw lots of Buffalo. Buffalo wings was on the menu. I was disappointed when I got chicken and not Buffalo. I complained that the server had brought the wrong dish. She thought I was crazy. I discovered my error a year later when I met a lady from Buffalo and asked her if her state had any national dish. Thinking about it, I still blush and wince and cover my mouth and shake my head and tut and run my hands through my hair.
17 President Calvin Coolidge.
18 President J F Kennedy.
19 Statue of Liberty. Mount Rushmore. Lincoln Memorial. Washington Memorial. Benjamin Franklin House museum in London, England.
20 Barack Obama. Donald Trump.

Use as many questions as you like, one, five, ten, or fifteen. Add your own questions. Award prizes or certificates or titles such as Top of the Class and Last But Not Least or Last But Not Lost. (I just made up 'last but not lost'. If you use it, please attribute it to me.)

You can use the quiz to entertain the family when travelling by car or train or plane, having a party or picnic or when hiking. You could make prizes for the winners, which a small certificate. Or list everybody's score and time answering.

On July 4, 2017, I did a competition at Imbibe exhibition at Olympia, London, on the WSET stand. (WSET stands for Wine and Spirits Education Trust.) I was immensely pleased to have my name up on the wall.  Even if everybody's name is on the wall, and you are last, your name is still on the wall.

Photo of Angela Lansbury Proudly Pointing to Her Name on the Top of the Class board at WSET stand at Imbibe, London, July 4, 2017, England. 

Tips For What To See In The USA or UK on July 4

Morning - see parades in person or on TV news. Parades:

Evening - see fireworks. Fireworks: San Francisco. New York.

All Day: Lights on Miami Tower in Florida.

MORE INFORMATION FROM

http://www.baskinrobbins.co.uk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rushmore

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_and_territories_of_the_United_States

US visitor and visa information:

https://uk.usembassy.gov/visiting-united-states/

https://www.visitbritain.com/gb/en

http://www.benjaminfranklinhouse.org

https://americanmuseum.org (near Bath, England, UK)

WSET

http://www.westlondonwineschool.com/catlist.

Imbibe.com

FLIGHTS

www.virginatlantic.com

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
Author of Quick Quotations (Lulu.com)
Author of Who Said What When (Lulu.com)
My two previous posts are on the IMBIBE exhibition and one post mentions Prince Charles and Camilla. If you work for a tourist board please keep me updated with new attractions, museums, hotels, restaurants, films and books. I have several other posts on Benjamin Franklin, quotations, the USA, and London, England and tourism worldwide, everything from monuments to tips on packing your suitcase. Please share links to your favourite posts.