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)

National Police members disinfect Venezuelan citizens returning to the country from Colombia, as a preventive measure against the spread of the coronavirus –COVID19- at the Simon Boliviar International Bridge, in Cucuta, Colombia-Venezuela border, on April 4, 2020. Since the first case of COVID-19 was detected last March 6, Colombia has reported 1,406 people infected and 32 dead. (Photo by Schneyder Mendoza/AFP Photo)

Actors and figurants participate in the staging of the Live Stations of the Cross and Procession of the Dead Lord during the celebration of the easter in the Medieval Village of Ourem, Portugal, 15 April 2022. The Live Stations of the Cross is dramatized by about 100 actors and extras from the local community, besides the requalification of the Castle and Palace of the Counts of Ourem that will provide a new setting, a new protagonist will embody Jesus Christ along the 14 stations of the Stations of the Cross. (Photo by Paulo Cunha/EPA/EFE)

A woman watches a Mariachi band play aboard a float during the Day of the Dead River parade on October 29, 2021 in San Antonio, Texas. People gathered in San Antonio to celebrate, commemorate, and remember departed loved ones for this year's Día de los Muertos. This year's celebration is newly returned after in-person gatherings and festivities were canceled last year due to COVID-19. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

Demonstrators clash with riot police during a protest against President Sebastian Piñera on October 21, 2019 in Santiago, Chile. President Sebastian Piñera suspended the 3.5% subway fare hike and declared the state of emergency for the first time since the return of democracy in 1990. Protests had begun on Friday and developed into looting and arson, generating chaos in Santiago, Valparaiso and a dozen other cities resulting in at least 8 dead. (Photo by Marcelo Hernandez/Getty Images)

Relatives of the Palestinians, who lost their lives as a result of the Israeli attacks on the public market in the Sheikh Ridan neighborhood where people were waiting for aid, mourn as the dead bodies are brought the Al-Shifa Hospital for burial process on August 13, 2025 in Deir Al Balah, Gaza. (Photo by Mahmoud Issa/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Participants celebrate the awakening of the Hoppeditz, a fictional character whose return to life marks the start of the carnival season in Düsseldorf, western Germany on November 11, 2021. The 11.11. is celebrated this year again under Corona conditions in presence. However, in the carnival strongholds of Cologne and Düsseldorf, this only applies to the vaccinated and the recovered. (Photo by Federico Gambarini/dpa/Alamy Live News)

A group of friends dance the night away at Latitude Festival in Suffolk, United Kingdom on July 22, 2021. Suffolk, returns as a covid test event after a year off due to the pandemic. (Photo by Guy Bell/Alamy Live News)