Merit Prize Winner: “A Well Earned Rest in the Sahara”. This photo of Moussa Macher, our Tuareg guide, was taken at the summit of Tin-Merzouga, the largest dune (or erg) in the Tadrat region of the Sahara desert in southern Algeria. Moussa rested while waiting for us to finish our 45-minute struggle to the top. It only took ten minutes of rolling, running, and jumping to get back down. The Tadrat is part of the Tassili N'Ajjer National Park World Heritage area, famous for its red sand and engravings and rock paintings of cattle, elephants, giraffes, and rhinos that lived there when the climate was milder. Photo location: Summit of Tin-Merzouga, Tadrat, Tassili N'Ajjer National Park, Algeria. (Photo and caption by Evan Cole/National Geographic Photo Contest)

During a break from the rain of Storm Aileen, the leaves of the Virginia creeper begin to take on their Autumn colour at the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont tea room on the banks of the River Conwy at Llanrwst in north Wales on September 13, 2017 in Llandudno, Wales. The cottage named Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) was built in 1480 and has become a magnet for phtographers and tourists from across the world during Autumn. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Cloud inversion taken at Sunrise in Mam Tor, Derbyshire, UK on August 30, 2016. (Photo by David Zdanowicz/REX Shutterstock)

A girl with white powder on her face celebrates the Songkran holiday which marks the Thai New Year in Bangkok, Thailand, on April 14, 2024. (Photo by Chalinee Thirasupa/Reuters)

This picture taken on March 16, 2017 shows a crew member introducing the dining car of the Train Suite Shiki- Shima, operated by East Japan Railway, in Tokyo during a press preview. The luxury sleeper Shiki- Shima, which can accommodate up to 34 passengers, has 10 cars, including a lounge car, a dining car and two observatory cars. The train has only 17 cabins, all suites, and the most expensive room, known as Shiki- Shima Suite, is priced at 950,000 yen (8480 USD) per person when shared by two people. (Photo by AFP Photo/JIJI Press)

This photo shows sunset in Eagle, Colo., Sunday, November 3, 2019. Daylight saving time ended, making sunset around 5 p.m. this time of year in Colorado. (Photo by Chris Dillmann/Vail Daily via AP Photo)

A group of frogs hitched a lift on a passing crocodile. Clearly comfortable in the croc’s company the amphibians wait patiently for their chauffeur to move. But the bemused crocodile doesn’t appear to be going anywhere in a hurry. The hilarious images were captured by Tanto Yensen, 36, from Jakarta, Indonesia. (Photo by Tanto Yensen/Media Drum World Photo Agency)

Lindsay Knutson plays in the heavy snow with her family dog, Aspen, and daughter Flora Bejblik, 4, cq, as her husband Bob Bejblik, rear left, shovels, Tuesday, March 5, 2013 in southwest Minneapolis. The National Weather Service predicted a two-day snow total of 8 to 12 inches for much of southeastern and east-central Minnesota, including the Twin Cities. (Photo by Elizabeth Flores/AP Photo/The Star Tribune)