The world is filled with a lot of strange and magnificent wonders and these days, all it takes to find out is a plane ticket, a bucket list, and imagination. At tentree, we’re always adding to our map of dream destinations and the latest obsession are the weirdest and coolest islands known to man. This list contains some of the most geographically remote places on Earth, uninhabited by humans and literally overpopulated by wild things. What can we say, when it comes to travel, we like to dream big:
1. Tashirojima, Japan
There’s probably no place more terrifying for a dog than Tashirojima, otherwise known as Cat Island. Off the coast of the Oshika Peninsula, it’s overflowing with stray cats because of the local belief that feeding them brings wealth and good fortune.
2. Gili Islands, Indonesia
The Gili Islands may have glamourous hotels and luxury resorts, but one antiquity of from simpler days continues to survive: there are no motor vehicles allowed on the island.
3. ?kunoshima Island, Japan
Rabbit Island’s fluffy, feral residents are known for being friendly to tourists (especially those with food). However, the reason for their existence on ?kunoshima is a rather dark mystery – during World War II, the island was a main production site for chemical weapons. It’s suspected the bunnies were brought over to test the effects of the poison.
4. Sable Island, Canada
The history of Sable Island, off the coast of Nova Scotia, is really strange. Apparently something like 475 shipwrecks happened here over the years and now 400 wild horses live on the island. It’s believed the horses survived and swam to shore, and the population to this day still live off only sea grass and rainwater.
5. Easter Island, Chile
This UNESCO World Heritage Site is famous for its 887 monumental statues, known locally as moai. Created centuries ago by the Polynesian people, they are a testament to the rise and fall of the once great civilization. Today, Easter Island is one of the world’s most geographically isolated islands and flights to and from it are extremely limited.
6. Christmas Island, Australia
Christmas Island is a wonder in the world of science –minimum human disturbance here has allowed a unique flora and fauna to develop. Perhaps the coolest thing about Christmas Island though is its massive red crab population. They live under moist forest canopy for the majority of the year but during rainy season, 120 million of the crustaceans can be seen make the 8-kilometre journey to mate in the ocean.
7. Vulcan Island, Philippines
Vulcan Island is literally the Inception of world geography. It’s an island within a lake within an island within a lake within an island… within the Pacific Ocean.
8. Ilha de Queimada Grande, Brazil
It’s estimated that Ilha de Queimada Grande is home to anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 Golden Lancehead Viper snakes. They are considered to be one of the world’s most deadly species, responsible for more human deaths in North and South America than any other venomous snake.
9. Howland Island, USA
Amelia Earheart was meant to land here, but she never made it. Howland Island’s history goes all the way back to the 19th century, when it was mined for guano (bat and seabird poop used as fertilizer) by British and American companies. In 1974, it was established by an America as a National Wildlife Refuge and is still uninhabited by humans today.
10. Floating Islands on Lake Titicaca, Peru
Otherwise known as the Uros Islands this group of 70 islands has been totally manmade by the Uros tribe. The surface is actaully totora reeds woven together into thick, gigantic mats. The pre-Incan tribe continues live here today, although no longer off fishing and hunting, but tourism.
