“Light From Heaven”. Taken around Mount Bromo, East Java, Indonesia in the morning. Photo location: East Java, Indonesia. (Photo and caption by Pimpin Nagawan/National Geographic Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

“Attacking Howler Monkey”. Due to a major tropical rainstorm my wife and I were forced to stay overnight in a Howler Monkey Rescue center in Panama. I used the time to explore the area and to take photos of the monkeys. Just after the rain finally stopped, I ran into this monkey that tried to mock attack me. I quickly took a couple of photos before retreating to a (more) safe distance. (Photo and caption by Christian Mueller-Planitz/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

ATTENTION! All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture.

Emma White, of Team Cyclocrossworld, hits the dirt hard during the USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championship Elite Women's race at the Valmont Bike Park in Boulder, Colorado, on January 12, 2014. (Photo by Jeremy Papasso/The Daily Camera)

If you love dirt bikes and live in England, then there is no doubt that you’ve heard about RHL Weston Beach Race that takes place in Weston-super-Mare in Somerset. In the beginning, this race was organized by a few avid bikers sponsored by local businessmen. However, after a while, this event has gained traction, and now as many as one hundred thousand people come to take part in this race. In order to accommodate all the contestants, a whole beach in converted into one gigantic race track. The noise created by such a mass of dirt bikes can be heard for miles; however, this is a small price to pay for all the fun the people are having.

Indigenous Q'eqchi girls practice taekwondo with their teacher, Danny Coy, on a dirt court in the middle of the village in Tipulcan village, San Pedro Carcha, Guatemala, on 25 November 2019 (issued 27 November 2019). Tipulcan village girls learn taekwondo to combat sexist violence and harassment they have suffered in their community in northern Guatemala. (Photo by Esteban Biba/EPA/EFE)

Every year, in the Rostov region of Russia, a group of 40 young and not so young rural workers compete in the Bison Track Show, or more affectionately known as: Russian Flying Tractor Racing. In front of crowds numbering up to 30,000 people, a series of smoke spilling, monstrous farming machines tear round an 8km mud track, plowing through lakes and dirt mounds, their turbos screaming and tyres scrabbling to find grip.

These stunning sand sculptures are being used to encourage youngsters to explore their surroundings and play in the dirt. (Photo by OMO Lowe)