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)

These Filipino icons of ingenuity were originally re-crafted from abandoned US army jeeps after the second world war, and helped to establish a new system of urban transportation. Jeepneys are being phased to help ease city congestion, but the move will also cause unemployment for experienced drivers – and higher fares for commuters. (Photo by Claudio Sieber/Barcroft Media)

British actor Hugh Grant and his girlfriend Elizabeth Hurley attend the post-premiere party of Grant's latest film, “Four Weddings and a Funeral” in London, 11th May 1994. (Photo by Dave Hogan/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

In this Monday, October 5, 2015 photo, a thick blanket of early morning fog partially shrouds the skyscrapers of the Marina and Jumeirah Lake Towers districts of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai's rapid transformation from a desert outpost into one of the world's most architecturally stunning cities is mapped out in the Marina. Where just 15 years ago there was empty, flat land, today a bustling neighborhood thrives centered around a canal and an impressive skyline that pierces through the clouds. (Photo by Kamran Jebreili/AP Photo)

A visitor walks on a giant chalk artwork called “Wasting Time” at the Chalk Urban Arts Festival in Sydney on October 25, 2014. The picture is the biggest 3-D artwork created in Australia by two artists, Leon Keer from Holland and Jenny McCracken from Australia. (Photo by Peter Parks/AFP Photo)

“Fly cap for a vine snake”. A fly lands on the head of a vine snake in the Choco of Colombia. (Photo and caption by Robin Moore/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.

Visitors watch a California sea lion at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park on Thursday May 26, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

South Korean emergency services personnel wearing protective clothing participate in an anti-terror and anti-chemical terror drill on the sidelines of the joint South Korea-US Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS) military exercise, at a shopping mall in Seoul on August 23, 2022. (Photo by Anthony Wallace/AFP Photo)