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)

A woman wears glasses in support of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during a caravan to carry Chavez's cadet saber and his dagger to the mausoleum where the politician's remains are laid to rest, in Caracas on March 15, 2023. The caravan traveled some 9 kilometers through the streets of Caracas to the Cuartel de la Montaña, also known as the Cuartel 4 de Febrero, as a reminder of the date of the failed coup led by Chavez on February 4, 1992. (Photo by Miguel Zambrano/AFP Photo)

Soldiers, including two recruits who have brought some chickens, at Victoria prepare to board the train for the battle front. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Indonesian tourists take photos at the Marina Bay in Singapore May 14, 2015. When Singapore celebrated its 50th birthday as an independent country in August,the city state bore little resemblance to the tiny island nation that was expelled from Malaysia in 1965. Its physical stature has swollen by 20 percent thanks to one of the world's most aggressive land reclamation drives. (Photo by Edgar Su/Reuters)

A woman walks past a damaged pagoda after an earthquake in Bagan, Myanmar August 25, 2016. Rescue workers surveyed the damage Thursday after a powerful earthquake shook Myanmar, killing at least four people and damaging 185 ancient Buddhist pagodas in the former capital of Bagan, a major tourist site. (Photo by Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)

A policewoman tries to stop an anti-Occupy protester from breaking a police cordon to charge at pro-democracy protesters during a confrontation in Hong Kong October 13, 2014. Hundreds of unidentified people, some wearing masks, tried to break down protest barriers in the heart of Hong Kong's business district on Monday, scuffling with protesters who have occupied the streets for the past two weeks. (Photo by Bobby Yip/Reuters)

A Pakistani vendor tries to salvage materials after flood water destroyed his shop following heavy rain on the outskirts of Peshawar on April 4, 2016. (Photo by A. Majeed/AFP Photo)