Historic sites

Ness of Brogdar temple complex, Orkney
Orkney bristles with Stone Age wonders, including 5,000-year-old Skara Brae village, and Maeshowe cairn. At the Ness of Brodgar, Contained within two walls, each 100 metres long and four metres high, archaeologists recently found the remains of more than a dozen neolithic buildings. Five thousand years ago, this was the hub of innovation for the British isles, they say.
• The site, the nation's most spectacular Stone Age remains, is open 17 July-22 August 2013 (orkneyarchaeologysociety.org.uk)

Demeter temple, Selinunte, Sicily
The magnificent Temple of Hera on this site looks out over the Mediterranean on the southern Sicilian coast. This year, archaeologists came across the remains of an older temple, from the seventh century BC, probably dedicated to Hera's sister Demeter, goddess of the harvest and fertility –appropriately enough for Sicily whose rich grain harvests later ensured its status as the bread basket of the Roman Empire. The temple is the most westerly Greek temple yet discovered.
• Think Sicily (thinksicily.com)

El Castillo, Cantabria, Spain
New dating techniques have pushed back by about 10,000 years the accepted dates for the European Ice Age to about 40,000 years ago – possibly even earlier. New dating techniques trace the Ice Age artwork (a stencilled "Panel of Hands") in El Castillo cave in Cantabria, pictured, to at least 40,000 years ago, when Neanderthals inhabited Europe. This makes it Europe's oldest cave art. Meanwhile, in nearby Altamira cave, naturalistic depictions of bison and deer are superimposed over earlier symbols, showing that these caves were revisited many times over thousands of years by subsequent generations who left their mark on the walls and ceilings.
• cuevas.culturadecantabria.com

El Zotz, Guatemala
At El Zotz in Guatemala , a day's trek from Tikal, is the 1,600-year-old Mayan pyramid Pa'Chan – Split Sky or Citadel Sky – which conceals the tomb of its Mayan king. The huge Temple of the Night Sun of the El Diablo pyramid were uncovered there just this year. In front of the Temple of the Night Sun they found the tomb of the Mayan king, with some macabre sacrifices.
• Rutas Mayas has a three-day trek to the site (rutasmayas.com)

Chantress tomb, Egypt
This year, a 3,000-year-old Egyptian chantress (musician) was the first undisturbed mummy found in the Valley of the Kings since the opening of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. Also, the 4,500-year-old tomb of a 5th Dynasty Egyptian princess was uncovered in a burial complex at Abusir, near the royal necropolis at Saqqara, a huge ancient Memphis cemetery in the Western Desert. The site opened to tourists in 2011.
• world-archaeology.com/features/waking-an-egyptian-chantress

Pyramid, Copán, Honduras
In Honduras, a magnificent pink Mayan temple, the Rosalila structure, was found discovered entirely entombed within another huge pyramid in the Mayan capital, Copán. Around the great plaza are ball courts and compounds that once belonged to the Mayan elite.
• thisishonduras.com/Copan_Ruinas.htm, imaginative-traveller.com

Roman mosaics, Gaziantep, Turkey
The fabulous Roman mosaics saved from floodwaters at Zeugma in eastern Turkey are now on display in a specially built museum at Gaziantep.
• muze.gov.tr/gaziantep-en

Ottoman houses, Kurdistan
Erbil Citadel, in Iraqi Kurdistan, has evidence of 7,000 years of unbroken occupation. It's now almost deserted, and work is beginning to conserve its unique Ottoman-period houses.
• erbilcitadel.org; Babel Tours (babel-tours.com) has trips to Iraqi Kurdistan

Natural world

Son Doong cave, Vietnam
The world's biggest single cave passage was found by a local man in Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park in central Quang Binh province in 2011. He led British explorers to its mouth to travel through its 80x80 metre, 2.8 mile limestone cavern, where there is an underground river and 70-metre high stalagmites.
• Vietnam Adventure Tours (activetravelvietnam.com) runs a three-day trip into the caves

Kipunji monkey, Tanzania
There are estimated to be 11m species of plants and animals on Earth, of which less than 20% have been officially catalogued. Known species include around 4,500 species of mammals, 5,500 amphibians, 8,000 reptiles, 10,000 birds and 30,000 marine species, the rest are made up by unknown numbers of invertebrates, bacteria and smaller beings. Thousands of new species are added to the list every year. One of the most unexpected recent finds of recent times includewas the Kipunji monkey – in Tanzania. Not just a new species, but a new genus, found in the Udzungwa mountains of Tanzania.
• Udzungwa Forest Camp (udzungwaforestcamp.com)

Laotian rock rat, Laos
A recently discovered rodent squirrel in Laos was actually known from 11 million-year-old fossils, but had been presumed extinct for millions of years. The Laotian rock rat was discovered by scientists walking through a food market where it was being offered for inclusion in the evening stew.
• Cruise the Mekong River in Laos (guardianholidayoffers.co.uk/holiday/4626/mekong-river-cruise

Blue whale hotspot, Sri Lanka
A blue whale hot spot has been identified off the southeast coast of Sri Lanka, near Mirissa, from December to April every year. Over the last few years, they have been gathering of large numbers, together with sperm whales. Up to 75 sperm whales have been counted.
• Cinnamon hotels has whale experts to lead trips (cinnamonhotels.com). Or try Naturetrek (naturetrek.co.uk)

Ghost slug, Cardiff
The ghost slug was discovered in a garden in Cardiff in 2007. Unlike most slugs, the ghost slug is carnivorous and kills earthworms at night with powerful, blade-like teeth, sucking them in like spaghetti.

Mount Mabu, Mozambique
Covering 17,000 acres, the diverse wildlife and plants of the pristine "lost rainforest" of Mount Mabu in north Mozambique were discovered by scientists in 2005, with the help of Google Earth, though local people knew of the forest's existence. This rainforest is totally isolated by savannah; several new species have been found there, including a tropical mistletoe and a pygmy chameleon.
• Mount Mabu is not far from the 229 road, inland from Quelimane

Whiskey Falls, California
A huge waterfall was rediscovered by a park ranger in the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area in northern California in 2003. A map from the 1960s had hinted at its existence, and local families with goldmining ancestors had heard rumours about it.
• nps.gov/whis/planyourvisit/waterfalls-of-whiskeytown.htm