Located in the deep south of Morocco, the Draa Valley stretches from the city of Ouarzazate into the Sahara Desert. The Draa River Valley is over 100 kilometres in length. The Draa Valley is a stunning oasis home to Berber villages, sumptuous Kasbahs, streaming sand dunes, lush green plains, snow-capped Atlas Mountains, endless stretches of palm trees and the Draa, Morocco’s largest river. It was once an important transit point on the trans-Saharan caravan route as well as an important center for Jewish civilization and Arab learning and religion. 225,000 people live in the valley of the Draa, which measures 23,000 km². The valley corresponds with the province of Zagora, created in 1997, in the Souss-Massa-Drâa region. In the province there are 23 villages and two towns: Zagora and Agdz.

credit: tomaszd

The Guinness Book of Records has named the vast pool beside the sea in Chile as the biggest in the world. The pool is 1 km (0.62 mi) long, covering 8 ha (20 acres), containing some 250,000,000 litres of seawater, with a maximum depth of 35 m (115 ft). It uses water pumped, filtered, and treated from the Pacific Ocean. The pool was developed by Chilean company Crystal Lagoons, and opened in December 2006. While early estimates put the total cost of construction at about US$3.5 million for the filtration system alone, more recent estimates are in the area of US$1.5 billion to US$2 billion total for construction and almost US$4 million in annual maintenance. Chile\’s monster pool uses a computer-controlled suction and filtration system to keep fresh seawater in permanent circulation, drawing it in from the ocean at one end and pumping it out at the other. The sun warms the water to 26c, nine degrees warmer than the adjoining sea.

credit: Kyle Pearce