World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection by an international convention administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain “cultural and natural heritage around the world considered to be of outstanding value to humanity”.
To be selected, a World Heritage Site is nominated by its host country and determined by the international committee to be a unique landmark which is geographically and historically identifiable and has a special cultural or physical significance. For example, World Heritage Sites might be ancient ruins, historical structures, buildings, cities, deserts, forests, islands, lakes, monuments, mountains or wilderness areas.
A World Heritage Site may signify a remarkable accomplishment of humanity, and serve as evidence of our intellectual history on the planet or it might be a place of great natural beauty. As of April 2024, 1,199 World Heritage Sites (933 cultural, 227 natural and 39 mixed cultural and natural properties) exist across 168 countries. With 59 selected areas, Italy has the most sites; this is followed by China with 57, and France and Germany with 52 each.
The sites are intended for practical conservation for posterity, which otherwise would be subject to risk from human or animal trespassing, unmonitored, uncontrolled or unrestricted access, or threat from local administrative negligence. Sites are demarcated by UNESCO as protected zones.
The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture and heritage of humanity. The programme began with was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972. Since then, 195 states have ratified the convention, making it one of the most widely recognized international agreements and the world’s most popular cultural programme. To be considered, the properties must be under state protection or conservation and be nominated by the host member country.
The UNESCO-administered project has attracted criticism. This was caused by the perceived under-representation of heritage sites outside Europe, disputed decisions on site selection and the adverse impact of mass tourism on sites unable to manage rapid growth in visitor numbers. A large lobbying industry has grown around the awards because World Heritage listing can significantly increase tourism returns. Site listing bids are often lengthy and costly, putting poorer countries at a disadvantage. Eritrea’s efforts to promote Asmara are one example.
WHSs are a major focus of my travel. In September 2024, I had visited 896 WHS. In 2024, there were 1,223 WHS. 30-40 are moved from the Tentative WHS list of 1723 sites yearly. This can be quite political but requires an extensive application procedure and requirements for inclusion.
There are two main sites for information on World Heritage Sites.
World Heritage List — https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/ gives the background and criteria for inclusion. The posts are wordy with redundant info. They are good for serial listings. They have no practical information on how to visit.
World Heritage Sites – https://www.worldheritagesite.org. This lists WHS by country. It gives a brief overview and a map that I find has little value. The best content is the reviews. Outlining the logistics and personal experiences makes it a great resource of practical info. Many of its member’s travel is limited to WHS.
Zoë Sheng. From Canada, she had visited a whopping 1,036 WHS by June 2024. I believe WHS are her only destination. She has visited 150 UN countries. She does extensive research and has plans to see as many of her remaining 163 sites as possible. Some are impossible (Gough and Inaccessible Islands) or can only be seen by chartered tours (Henderson Island) or boat (Bikini Atoll, Macquarie Island, Sub-Antarctic Islands, NZ, Henderson Island, Heard and McDonald Island, Aldabra Atoll, Tanzania, Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, Honduras). A 30-day cargo ship Is necessary for French Austral Lands and Seas, Some are remote (Mongolian sites, Tajik National Park). And some are presently inaccessible (Tauric Chersonese is in Crimea and presently off-limits).
Thomas Buechler. From Switzerland, Thomas is one of the most travelled people and sees a wide range of destinations. In September 2024, he had visited 977 WHS and was first in the Nomad Mania listing.
Els Slots. From the Netherlands, she is the founder of www.worldheritagesite.org and I believe her only destinations are WHS. In September 2024, she had visited 926 WHS and was second in Nomad Mania.
Ron Perrier. In September 2024, he had visited 896 WHS and was sixth in NM. With his 699 Tentative WHS, he was first in the world.
Some WHS are difficult to visit.
• Thimlich Ohinga Archaeological Site WHS. Situated 46 km northwest of the town of Migori, in the Lake Victoria region of Kenya, this dry-stone walled settlement was one of the first pastoral communities in the Lake Victoria Basin, which persisted from the 16th to the mid-20th century. The main outside wall is an impressive 3.5 m to 4.2 m high, with an average thickness of 1-3 m.
I put my name in the guest book – there had not been a visitor here since March 8 (ie over 2 months). The dates of previous visits were 6/03, 27/02, and 14/02, several visits in November – on the 3rd, 10th, 11th, 16th, and 19th, and then none previously until August on the 24th and 30th. Not many people are that interested in WHS and make the onerous drive to a very out-of-the-way place.
How to get here was not clear. I came from the West – and that was not the way to come. Google Maps gave several options from this direction and I took the longest one approaching from the south. The last 8 km was a disaster of eroded dirt, huge holes, and massive ruts. It required high clearance and AWD.
When I left, I took the road to the east. It was 14 km of rough rocky road with only a few washed-out areas, then 14 km on good pavement to the main highway in the town of Uriri This was obviously the only way to come.
About 5 km from Thimlich Ohinga, I got a flat. I could find the jack but not the spanner or key for the bolts. I was prepared to sleep the night and called the rental company. It was raining very hard and I was soaked. Various locals came by and one of them was very handy. He searched the side pocket where the jack was and found the spanner and tool pouch with the key (I had felt all over and amazingly missed it all – I felt like a fool). He sent someone back to the village to get a large crescent wrench to use the jack, changed the tire for me and I gave him 2000KS, a great deal for both of us. He was very happy but got pretty dirty in the process.