I have a fascination with Internet cameras -- cameras that are hooked up to show us something other than what we may not otherwise get to see. Web cameras have gained notoriety over the last couple of years for showing things such as the first "operation" on line, and real time pictures from NASA.

I love to "go" places. As a child we traveled back and forth across the country many times. I still love to travel, but with a large family, most of my traveling is now done on the Internet.

Gone are the days when "Web Cam" meant waiting 20 minutes for a black and white picture from a week ago to load. Now we can see things in real time, and most of us have modems that are fast enough to make the waiting bearable.

Some of the sites have JAVA based reloading; others have Streamlined Video options, but all of these are viewable with a regular browser and phone line connection.

Here are some places that are great to visit. Not only for fun, but educational also. One thing to remember when "traveling" by web cam is that these are live pictures and so it may be dark there when it is daytime where you are.

Also, being high tech does not mean being infallible, so you may find some that, for one reason or another, are temporarily down. I have seen some downed by storms, and one downed by an attack of a wild animal. There are web cams available for nearly every subject, storm chaser or animal watcher. Whether you're looking for a peaceful lake or busy street, it's probably there.

Cameras from Around the United States

Mount Rushmore South Dakota USA

This is one place that I have never been but would love to see in person. Imagine, when this was done, they never could have predicted that people from all over the world could see it with just a mouse click.

These 60-foot-high faces, 500-feet up, are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln.

New York City, New York USA

This page not only has three different views of Manhattan, but also has time-lapsed animated gifs and AVI movies to see of sunrises, sunsets, foggy weather and New Year's Eve. There are also Links to the World Trade Center camera, Bryant Park Camera and others.

The Statue of Liberty, Liberty Island, New York USA

The Liberty Cam, standing at the entrance to New York Harbor, is a 151-foot statue of a woman holding a book and a torch on-high. Visitors can be carried by elevator for the first 10 stories, but must climb the winding staircases the remainder of the way, about 12 stories.

San Francisco, California USA

On this page there are 12 different live cameras from different locations around the city. One is pointed at a beautiful picture of the Bay Bridge. Another is located overlooking Fisherman's Wharf. Even with 12 cameras, the page loads fairly fast, and you can click the pictures to get a larger view.

Cameras Around the World

Live Volcano- Currently spewing smoke, Popocatapetl. Mexico

Popocatepetl, the second highest volcano in Mexico, is a giant stratovolcano, 70 km southeast of downtown Mexico City, and 45 km southwest of the city of Puebla. It's a live Volcano currently spewing smoke, but if it does erupt, I want to see it.

Live Volcano - Mount Etna, Italy

Currently spewing smoke, steam, and a nice red glow at night. This page also has a Seismic Signal graph so you can watch the current volcanic activity. Recommended fast connection for Seismic signals. Manually reload the picture to update.

Djuma Game Reserve, South African National Parks, and Sabi Sabi Game Reserve

Take an African Safari without even leaving your home. Several cameras located in different places. One is a mobile camera that is moved from time to time. Here I have also seen the "realness" of these cameras since one was once off line after having been destroyed by an animal.

Paris, France

Here is a nice view of the Eiffel Tower. At 300 meters (320.75m including antenna), and 7000 tons, it was the world's tallest building until 1930. It can sway up to 12 cm in high winds, and its height varies up to 15 cm depending on the temperature. There are 1652 steps to the top.

Mawson Station, Antarctica

Antarctica is almost the exact opposite of me in time, so my best viewing is when it is dark where I am (Arizona, USA). There are also links to other Antarctica web cameras, and a map to show where this place is. Weather information is also available. Current temperature as I write this is -05.1 degrees C.

Niagara Falls

This is from the Canadian side of the Falls. A camera that shows how wide Niagara Falls is. It has the option of using JAVA to auto refresh the picture. The Niagara Falls are located at the US (New York State) and Canadian (Ontario) border. The American Falls are about 56m (184ft.) high and 328m (1076ft.) wide.

Kremlin, Moscow, Russia

KremlinKam - A beautiful view of the Kremlin in Moscow. It is a breathtaking building. Also shows the current time and weather conditions at the Kremlin.

Black Forest, Freiburg, Germany

This is the Black Forest 360°-moveable CAM, which can be remote controlled if you have JAVA and the latest version of Internet Explorer or Netscape browser.

Here is a Web Cam search Engine: Earth Cam - Webcam Network

A Search page with only listings of pages with Web Cams. Type in a keyword, such as "bridge" or "Germany" and it will list all of the Web Cam pages with the word either in the name or the text of that page. Can also be used by "browsing" subjects.

DCN.COM's World Wide Web Cams

This site has a page where you can select, by country, a list of web cameras around the world. It also has a realtime shadow cast of the world, so you can tell where it is daylight, or night at right now. You can then pick the cameras to go to that are still in daylight. You can also look by categories such as United States or Space Cams.