Svein Elias

Norway \ Member since August 2013

#21 745 245 65

I never travelled - until i was in my forties. Then I met Randi who had a wide experience with travelling. Since 2006 we have been travelling together, and since 2010 we have been "hunting" WHS'.

Through the last decade I've learnt to really appreciate the feeling of visiting new places, the curiosity and the excitement seeing different habits and cultures. Seeing nature's grand places with its unique animal life gives me great satisfaction. Historic places is another great experience, it makes you learn history along the way.

Seeing odd places which few people have visited before, preferably combined with the above, is the top of my list. Maybe it's kind of naive, but anyway...

My most impressive site: Machu Picchu, Galapagos, Komodo & Grand Canyon

Recent Visits
  • 0
    1
    Nov. 9, 2025
    2025 Germany Bavaria: Alpine and pre-alpine meadows
  • 2
    0
    Nov. 8, 2025
    2025 Germany Bavaria: Pilgrimage Church of Wies, The Palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria
  • 1
    0
    Oct. 6, 2025
    2025 Uganda & Rwanda: Memorial Sites of Genocide
Top 10 Missing
  1. Rapa Nui 4.62
  2. Yellowstone 4.49
  3. Bagan 4.45
  4. Uluru 4.39
  5. Persepolis 4.38
  6. Iguazu National Park 4.37
  7. Los Glaciares 4.36
  8. Old City of Jerusalem 4.36
  9. Samarkand 4.36
  10. Volcanoes of Kamchatka 4.31
Completed Countries

About Svein Elias

Member since
August 2013
Country of Origin
Norway
Visits
Rank
#21
WHS
745
Tentative Sites
245
Website Participation
Reviews
36
Ratings

Ratings

World Heritage Sites
Tentative Sites
739 161
Locations
2
Zones
0
Reserved for members.

Reviews by Svein Elias

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Bwindi Impenetrable Forest

Bwindi Impenetrable National … (Inscribed)

Crossing the impenetrable forest

Our Ugandan road trip to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park began in Kampala, taking us via Lake Mburo and Queen Elizabeth National Park, a detour to Rwenzori National Park before …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 24/10/25
Plaque Ihla de moçambique

Island of Mozambique (Inscribed)

Ihla de Moçambique practicalities

Moçambique seems calmer now from the civil war and everlasting conflict, so we made room in our itinerary to come here.We flew AirLink from Johannesburg to Nampula. At arrival there …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 30/07/25
View from African Wild Truck

Mount Mulanje Cultural Landsc… (Inscribed)

Mt Mulanje Practicalities

Randi has now covered our visit so I will cover some practicalities.

Lodging

We stayed at African Wild Truck, it is on booking.com. A great place to stay, nice location …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 13/07/25
Salines de Pedra de Lume by Svein Elias

Salines de Pedra de Lume (On tentative list)

Salines de Pedra de Lume

Sal Island, part of Cape Verde’s Barlavento group, was discovered by the Portuguese in 1460 but remained uninhabited until the late 18th century due to extreme drought. The island’s salt …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 23/01/25
Turaif Quarter by Svein Elias

Turaif Quarter (Inscribed)

Turaif Quarter

We, Philipp and his son plus Randi and me, visited this site october. We had a rental and intended to see all the Saudia Arabia WHS’ plus most of the …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 14/11/24
Northern Martinique by Svein Elias

Northern Martinique (Inscribed)

Northern Martinique

During our easter holiday this year we visited some islands in the Lesser Antilles. The French Island of Martinique was one of them and naturally we visited this new WHS. …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 06/11/24
Tomioka Silk Mill by Svein Elias

Tomioka Silk Mill (Inscribed)

Tomioka Silk Mill

It’s satisfying being positively surprised by a site, like we did on one of this lesser-known sub site of Tomioka Silk Mill!

According to our Japan quest of July …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 01/07/24
Shiretoko by Svein Elias

Shiretoko (Inscribed)

Shiretoko

Shiretoko National Park is the northeastern most WHS in Japan. It’s a bit off the beaten track, but a few visitors from this community have managed to tick it off. …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 26/03/24
Shirakami-Sanchi by Svein Elias

Shirakami-Sanchi (Inscribed)

Shirakami-Sanchi

Our first “mainland” Japanese whs in our Japanese quest July '23 was Shirakami-Sanchi. The shinkansen took us from Hokkaido to Aomori Honshu and a local train further on to Hirosaki …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 17/02/24
Mana Pools by Svein Elias

Mana Pools (Inscribed)

Mana Pools

Zimbabwe has been on our radar since we started visiting sub-Sahara Africa some years ago. Late September '23 we realized the trip.

Our trip was a road trip starting …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 15/02/24
Jomon Prehistoric Sites by Svein Elias

Jomon Prehistoric Sites (Inscribed)

Jomon Prehistoric Sites

In our July 2023 Japan quest we visited 6 of the Jomon Prehistoric Sites, 5 of them on Hokkaido. All sites visited by rental car.

As our first goal …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 27/11/23
Amami-Oshima Island by Svein Elias

Amami-Oshima Island (Inscribed)

Amami-Oshima Island

Yamburu National Park resides in the northern part of Okinawa Island and a part of this whs. Our visit was late June.

By rental car the toll road highway …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 22/11/23
Richtersveld by Svein Elias

Richtersveld (Inscribed)

Richtersveld

This site defines why I’m in this “game”! Totally remote and so different from my home environment! It’s the feeling of being on another planet! It’s just awesome!

Richtersveld …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 19/10/22
Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains by Svein Elias

Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains (Inscribed)

Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains

Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains world heritage site is in the northeast corner of South Africa bordering northwest Eswatini. There are several reserves in the area and the world heritage site is …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 13/10/22
Mapungubwe by Svein Elias

Mapungubwe (Inscribed)

Mapungubwe

Mapungubwe National Park is located 5-6 hours of driving north of Jo’burg airport or 2 ½ hours north of Polokwane. Inside the national parks resides the world heritage site of …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 10/10/22
Serengeti by Svein Elias

Serengeti (Inscribed)

Serengeti

The plain of Serengeti has been a myth to me since childhood. I loved watching these wild and dangerous animals on TV. Now it was my turn to explore it …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 19/09/22
Selous Game Reserve by Svein Elias

Selous Game Reserve (Inscribed)

Selous Game Reserve

Continuing our southern roundtrip in the south, our guide took us from Kilwa Masoko to Kibiti (about 180 km) on the B2 road before turning west. On the map it …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 13/09/22
Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara by Svein Elias

Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and S… (Inscribed)

Ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani and Songo Mnara

For our (European) summer holiday 2022 we aimed for three African countries and the first site we visited was the ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani. Our flight had its final stop …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 31/08/22
Les Mausolées Royaux de Numidie (Tunisia) by Svein Elias

Les Mausolées Royaux de Numid… (On tentative list)

Les Mausolées Royaux de Numidie (Tunisia)

On our April tour of Tunisia, we wanted to visit several TWHS’, but there wasn’t time in our schedule to visit them all. Thus, we had to choose between the …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 28/05/22
Sbeïtla by Svein Elias

Sbeïtla (On tentative list)

Sbeïtla

Sbeïtla is located slightly south of the center of northern Tunisia, as the countries map visually divides in two by the vast salt pan of Chott el Jerid. It’s on …

Keep reading Svein Eli… 27/05/22
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