Forests to discover magical trees and enchanted landscapes

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Trees that may house magical creatures, trees that play the songs of the artists who planted them, golden trees, trees that point to water in the desert, trees where shoes are thrown, sculptures in a rain forest, root mazes, hollow logs or curved… Nature has a thousand ways to show that it can become the realm of fantasy.

1. Nowe Czarnowo Haunted Forest, Poland

Hansel and Gretel would run away from this haunting forest, where the trees grow like snakes. In the magical territory of the Krzywy Las (Haunted Forest) more than 400 pine trees have a peculiar C-shaped curvature.

There are several theories about it: some suggest that a heavy snowfall could have crushed the trees when they were young; others affirm that, in times of war, the tanks would have rammed them, deforming their growth. However, it is most likely that its shape was due to an imaginative method of cultivation. The curved trunks were very practical for shipbuilding, so some farmers experimented with conditioning the natural growth of the trees, although no one has acknowledged this.

This glade is 2 km north of Nowe Czarnowo, 33 km south of Szczecin, a bustling port in Poland.

2. Meghalaya, Mawsynram and Cherrapunji Tree Bridges, India

Between Bangladesh and Myanmar are two regions that are vying for the title of the world's wettest place. Mawsynram and Cherrapunji, both in the state of Meghalaya, take advantage of this record rainfall to create walkways from the roots of rubber trees. But weaving almost 1 km of roots to make a natural bridge is not easy.

The hollow trunks of the trees are strategically placed to guide their growth, and the roots can take a decade to become solid. As a result, the root-knotted bridges blend into the landscape and can support the weight of up to 50 people. One of the longest, 50 m, is 20 km east of Cherrapunji, in Pynursla.

From the Cherrapunji Holiday Resort (www.cherrapunjee.com) there is access to the “two level root bridge”.

3. Aokigahara Forest, Fuji Region, Japan

There are those who enter the thick forest of Aokigahara with the intention of never coming out again. Aokigahara has become the second place with the most suicides in the world, surpassed only by the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Located on the northern slopes of Mount Fuji, this labyrinthine forest instantly conveys a sense of isolation. Its volcanic terrain is strewn with caves, covered with roots and full of trees that isolate any noise (and in many cases GPS signals). This impenetrability has earned it its name, "Sea of ??Trees," and allows suicide victims to be kept hidden for months or even years, until a trace turns up.

Until the beginning of the s. XXI were every year in the forest a hundred bodies. Since then the authorities have not published the figure. Currently there are signs in the vicinity that say: "Life is a precious gift that your parents gave you." From time to time anti-suicide patrols pass by, hoping to help distraught individuals who enter the forest. The stigma attached to suicide is not as strong in Japan as it is in the West due to the historical tradition of honor suicides among samurai and references to romantic suicides found in popular music and movies.

By road it is reached through Fujikawaguchiko; by train from Tokyo, change at ?tsuki.

4. Sacred Forest of Ochún, Oshogbo, Nigeria

Has anyone ever imagined finding countless sculptures by a famous artist in a West African rainforest? Of course not; most have other realities to think about. But the Sacred Forest of Ochún, home to the shrine of Oshun (the Yoruba fertility goddess), caught the imagination of Austrian painter and sculptor Susanne Wenger when she moved to Oshogbo during the 1950s.

He adopted and promoted the Yoruba religion and became locally known as Adunni Olosa. Along with his works are now those of other sculptors, following a revival of local artists in the s. XXI.

The forest is on the way out of Oshogbo. Minibuses go from the city to Lagos (3 hours).

5. The Guitar Forest, Cordoba, Argentina

The young couple who dreamed of this project – a mammoth “sculpture” of a guitar, 1 km long and made from thousands of cypresses and eucalyptus – has never seen it finished. Graciela Yraizoz, the woman who conceived the idea, died in 1977, at the age of 25. In homage to his wife, farmer Pedro Martín Ureta promised to finish it.

With the help of his children, he strategically planted 7,000 trees. Why the guitar? It was Graciela's favorite instrument. And why has its creator never seen it finished? Because Ureta is terrified of flying, but he has seen photos and he likes them.

The guitar forest, also called the Guitar of Trees, is in the province of Córdoba. It is sometimes seen from planes between Buenos Aires and Mendoza.

Source: https://www.lonelyplanet.es/blog/10-secretos-de-la-naturaleza-arboles-curiosos-y-bosques-encantados