Tied for fourth place with 126 fixations at an average time of 0.3 seconds are two unique corners of the globe, the Maloti-Drakensberg in South Africa and Lesotho and Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. 

The latter, covering almost 30,000ha, was founded in 1949 and has been on Unesco’s list since 1979. It is most famous for its lakes arranged in amazing cascades.

Unesco praises it for its “series of beautiful lakes, caves and waterfalls” and adds that “the forests in the park are home to bears, wolves and many rare bird species”.

It is home to 16 different lakes which change colour by the second — blue, green, aquamarine and turquoise — thanks to the way the sun hits the water and the number of organisms and minerals.

On the other side of the world, Maloti-Drakensberg Park spans Lesotho and South Africa, boasting dramatic landscapes and ancient rock-art sites. Unesco says: “The site has exceptional natural beauty in its soaring basaltic buttresses, incisive dramatic cutbacks, and golden sandstone ramparts as well as visually spectacular sculptured arches, caves, cliffs, pillars and rock pools.” 

It also points out its “many caves and rock-shelters with the largest and most concentrated group of paintings in Africa south of the Sahara. They represent the spiritual life of the San people, who lived in this area over a period of 4,000 years.”

5. ISLAND OF MOZAMBIQUE, MOZAMBIQUE