Merit: A Night at Deadvlei. The night before returning to Windhoek, we spent several hours at Deadveli. The moon was bright enough to illuminate the sand dunes in the distance, but the skies were still dark enough to clearly see the milky way and magellanic clouds. Deadveli means “dead marsh. The camelthorn trees are believed to be about 900 years old, but have not decomposed because the environment is so dry. (Photo and caption by Beth McCarley/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest)

Spanish Patrulla Aguila (C-101), aerobatic demonstration team of the Spanish Air Force performs during the Radom Air Show at an airport in Radom, Poland August 23, 2015. (Photo by Kacper Pempel/Reuters)

A mother and her daughter shop for bananas at a market in Bangkok, Thailand, March 31, 2016. (Photo by Athit Perawongmetha/Reuters)

A Nepalese Hindu devotee takes a holy bath as they mark the Mother's Day Festival at Matathirtha on the outskirts of Kathmandu on May 6, 2016. Nepalese Hindu devotees come from across the country to bathe, offer prayers and leave offerings at the Matathirtha Temple during the event, which honours mothers who have passed away. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)

A house that was slammed off its foundation by Hurricane Isabel sits precariously on the beach one month after it hit Rodanthe, North Carolina October 18, 2003. (Photo by Rick Wilking/Reuters)

A mahout walks with an elephant after bathing him in a river, before taking part in an elephant festival, which organisers say aims to raise awareness about elephants, in Sayaboury province, Laos February 17, 2017. (Photo by Phoonsab Thevongsa/Reuters)

An Indian labourer sifts coloured powder, known as “gulal”, to be used during the forthcoming spring festival of Holi, inside a factory at Fulbari village on the outskirts of Siliguri on March 6, 2017. Holi, the popular Hindu spring festival of colours is observed in India at the end of the winter season on the last full moon of the lunar month, and will be celebrated on March 13 this year. (Photo by Diptendu Dutta/AFP Photo)

A Hindu devotee displays his inked hand after taking part in the religious festival of Holi in Vrindavan, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, March 8, 2017. (Photo by Cathal McNaughton/Reuters)