“Hippo Chase”. As we approached the camp the Selinda Reserve of northern Botswana our boat passed by a hippo resting in the water. I turned around to look back at the boat's wake and saw the hippo charging after us! The hippo must've been tired from an all-nighter because he was angry. He rose way up out of the water three times trying to chase our boat! He was coming at us with such force that he created a wake of his own. Photo location: Selinda Reserve of northern Botswana. (Photo and caption by Curtis Simmons/National Geographic Photo Contest)

People attend the 50th annual NYC Halloween Parade in New York City on October 31, 2023. (Photo by Caitlin Ochs/Reuters)

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)

Girls of the Long Horn Miao ethnic minority group wear headdresses as they prepare gather for Tiaohua or Flower Festival as part of the Lunar New Year on February 6, 2017 in Longga village, Guizhou province, southern China. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

A majestic elephant visits the watering hole at the Zimanga Private Game Reserve in South Africa under the Milky Way in August 2022. (Photo by Sean Weekly/Animal News Agency)

Commuters attempt to shelter as they cross London Bridge during wet and windy weather in Central London on November 1, 2023. Yellow weather warnings for wind and rain are in place for parts of England as Storm Ciarán begins to influence weather in the United Kingdom. (Photo by George Cracknell Wright)

Villagers look on as Mount Sinabung volcano spews thick volcanic ash, as seen from Beganding village in Karo, North Sumatra province, on May 19, 2017. Sinabung roared back to life in 2010 for the first time in 400 years. After another period of inactivity, it erupted once more in 2013 and has remained highly active since. (Photo by Ivan Damanik/AFP Photo)