“A snapshot from mountaineer's life”. Have you ever wondered how does a mountaineer's day start? I will give you a hint: you wake up at 3 am, set the stove, wake up your partner, pretend it is warm, quickly consume a high-calorie breakfast, watch your friends slowly ascending the icy slopes of your dream summit with their tiny head torches glimmering against perfectly blue ice, and hope for the good weather. One would ask: why all this trouble? The answer is easy: for the love of the adventure and the unknown. Location: Chamonix, Haute Savoye, France. (Photo and caption by Kamil Tamiola/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.

“Ary Borges and his family live in southern Brazil like most families the Borges' love animals and have an array of cats living in their home. The only difference between the cats owned by the Borges family and the cat that is cuddled up on your lap as you read this is the Borges' cats weigh over 700 pounds and could kill you just as soon as look at you. The Borges family shares their home with nine tigers, two lionesses, a chimp and a Chihuahua”. – Amanda Schiavo via Latin Times. Photo: The Borges' family pet dog, Little, is placed on the back of Tom, their tiger, for a photo to be taken, in Maringa, Brazil, Friday, September 27, 2013. (Photo by Renata Brito/AP Photo)

A racegoers cheers on her horse in Race 4 ahead of the race of the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, November 7, 2017. (Photo by Andy Brownbill/AP Photo)

Participants jump into the water during the 114th edition of the Copa Nadal (Christmas Cup) swimming race in Barcelona's Port Vell on December 25, 2023. The traditional 200-meter Christmas swimming race gathered around 300 participants on Barcelona's Port Vell (old harbour). (Photo by Josep Lago/AFP Photo)

“Wombats are Australian marsupials; they are short-legged, muscular quadrupeds, approximately 1 metre (39 in) in length with a short, stubby tail. They are adaptable in their habitat tolerances, and are found in forested, mountainous, and heathland areas of south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania, as well as an isolated patch of about 300 ha in Epping Forest National Park in central Queensland”. – Wikipedia

Photo: “Abdul”, a baby Common Wombat, is one of the marsupials on show during the spring baby boom at Taronga Zoo September 1, 2005 in Sydney, Australia. “Abdul” was orphaned when his mother was killed by a car. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

Over 1000 New Year revellers, many in fancy dress, braved freezing conditions in the River Forth in front of the Forth Rail Bridge during the annual Loony Dook Swim on January 1, 2012 in South Queensferry, Scotland. Thousands of people gathered last night to see in the New Year at Hogmanay celebrations in towns and cities across Scotland. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

Members of a music band rest before the procession of “Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem”, in Constancia April 6, 2015. This benediction has been held annually for about 200 years. In the past, goods were transported by the Tagus river in small boats to Lisbon, 100 km south. The sailors, as the navigation was dangerous, blessed their boats every year during the festivity of “Nossa Senhora da Boa Viagem”. (Photo by Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

The Costa Verde hotel. It is a fully outfitted two bedroom, Boeing 727 suite in Costa Rica. Located within tropical rainforest, Hotel Costa Verde’s rather unusual fuselage suite consists of a refurbished vintage 1965 Boeing 727 airframe. The aircraft was part of South-Africa Air in her previous life. Sitting atop a 50-foot pedestal just beyond a majestic national park, the remodelled jumbo jet’s interior is entirely Costa Rican teak panelling with Indonesian teak furniture and also features a private entrance up a river rock.