E-Amir, Afghanistan, June 18, SPA --The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan pedaled a green swan-shaped boat across the deep blue waters of the Band-e-Amir lakes Today during a dedication of the country's first national park, according to AP. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, a former three-star Army general, told several hundred Afghans gathered for a ceremony that Band-e-Amir reminded him of one of America's national parks _ the Grand Canyon. While walking around one of the lakes, he jumped in a swan-shaped pedal boat and beamed a bright smile as he cruised the waters with different Afghan officials, including one of the country's two vice presidents. «Seeing these crystal blue waters, set among the red cliffs and the travertine dams, shows the beauty in this land and the hope for the future,» Eikenberry said in his dedication speech. Band-e-Amir is a cascading collection of six high-mountain lakes in the country's peaceful central highlands. Band-e-Amir is located in Bamiyan province, which has been relatively unaffected by the violence that plagues eastern and southern Afghanistan. Mustafa Zahir, the director of the country's environmental program, who spoke at the park's dedication, called for Afghans from across the country _ from the southern city of Kandahar to the western city of Herat _ to visit the park. «It's my desire that Band-e-Amir becomes a symbol of national unity,» he said. The Band-e-Amir lakes sit at some 9,500 feet (2,900 meters), and the park covers about 230 square miles (600 square kilometers).
