“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.

“Attacking Howler Monkey”. Due to a major tropical rainstorm my wife and I were forced to stay overnight in a Howler Monkey Rescue center in Panama. I used the time to explore the area and to take photos of the monkeys. Just after the rain finally stopped, I ran into this monkey that tried to mock attack me. I quickly took a couple of photos before retreating to a (more) safe distance. (Photo and caption by Christian Mueller-Planitz/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.

A brown bears cools off in a pool at the bear sanctuary near the village of Mramor, on August 18, 2020. The bear sanctuary was closed for visitors on August 18, as part of safety measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) disease. (Photo by Armend Nimani/AFP Photo)

A Georgia Bulldogs cheerleader celebrates a 33-18 victory over Alabama in the 2022 NCAA National Championship football game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Tuesday, January 11, 2022. Georgia defeated Alabama 33-18. (Photo by Aaron Josefczyk/UPI/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

“Locusts & Men”. Oppression, interaction, collaboration. In the life cycle of nature nothing is lost, but the coexistence of different species is sometimes difficult. In Madagascar periodically returns the archaic antagonism between man and the migratory locust, in a circle of life where the two species are looking for space and food for their survival. At the end of the day a man walks home carrying on his shoulders the heavy bag which contains the locusts captured during the day. The insects provide nutritious meals for the man and his family. Photo location: Madagascar, 2013. (Photo and caption by Michele Martinelli/National Geographic 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.

Members of the Barrio 18 gang run upon their arrival to the San Francisco Gotera penitentiary April 21, 2015. The Salvadoran goverment transfered 1,177 inmates, members of the Barrio 18 gang from Izalco jail to San Francisco Gotera in a effort to curb gang violence activity, according to local media. (Photo by Jose Cabezas/Reuters)

A sun bear is offered chocolate by a visitor in its enclosure at a zoo in Bandung on January 18, 2017. Animal rights activists on January 18 demanded the closure of an Indonesian zoo after skeletal sun bears were pictured begging for food from visitors and eating their own dung. (Photo by Timur Matahari/AFP Photo)

Luciana Benetti, 16, feeds her pet pig Chanchi, given to her for a birthday present the previous year in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Saturday, September 4, 2021. As the new coronavirus began to circulate last year, Benetti found her plans for a big traditional 15th birthday party scrapped. In its place, her parents gave her a pig. (Photo by Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo)