This watering hole is the social hub of the veldt; the scrubby grasslands that stretch across Namibia. The scorched earth supports sometimes fragile populations of magnificent wildlife – from endangered predators to plentiful herds of game. But these gentle giraffes and elephants need to be careful: lions don’t sleep at night, they hunt! The spectacular starscape above southern Africa is unchanged since explorers first mapped the continent. The photographer, Pietro Olivetta from Italy, said he had to be patient to capture these shots – but it was worth the wait. (Photo by Pietro Olivetta/Caters News)

Omar Gamal, a 28-year-old pigeon keeper, stands next to his pigeon coop on his rooftop in the Egyptian capital's twin city of Giza on February 21, 2021, with the Pyramids of (R to L) Khufu (Cheops), Khafre (Chephren), and Menkaure (Menkheres) in the background. An ancient tradition handed down through the generations, the practice of domesticating pigeons stretches across borders from the banks of the Nile to north Africa and beyond, with people not only training birds for competitions, but also serving them up as a dining delicacy. (Photo by Khaled Desouki/AFP Photo)

A Research In Motion BlackBerry device is shown on October 12, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. A three-day disruption of service that has previously affected users in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India has now spread to customers in North America. Customers are experiencing patchy email service and receiving no access to browsing or messaging. (Photo Illustration by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The Kung Fu King was spotted in Botswana, Africa, as the two giraffes fought for dominance. Thomas Retterath, 53, says hes often seen the mammals fight, but they usually do it by banging their heads against each others bodies.Here: A giraffe lands a karate kick on a rival on the plains of Botswana. (Photo by Thomas Retterath/Caters News)

A baboon clings to the leg of an internally displaced boy at a camp on the outskirts of the town of Qol Ujeed, on the border with Ethiopia, Somaliland April 17, 2016. Across the Horn of Africa, millions have been hit by the severe El Nino-related drought. In Somaliland and its neighbouring, also semi-autonomous, Puntland region, 1.7 million people are in need of aid, according to the United Nations. In Somaliland itself, the most affected areas include the northwest Awdal region bordering Ethiopia. (Photo by Siegfried Modola/Reuters)

Devotees attend the annual voodoo festival in Ouidah January 10, 2016. The national voodoo holiday in the West African country of Benin had a distinctively political accent this year as practitioners from Africa and the Americas gathered on Sunday to offer prayers and sacrifices for peace. Hundreds of followers of the traditional religion gathered in the Atlantic coast town of Ouidah, once an important port in the slave trade, to pray for calm during the tiny country's presidential election scheduled for February. (Photo by Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)

The largest island, also called Socotra, is about 95% of the landmass of the archipelago. It lies some 240 kilometres (150 mi) east of the Horn of Africa and 380 kilometres (240 mi) south of the Arabian Peninsula. The island is very isolated and through the process of speciation, a third of its plant life is found nowhere else on the planet. It has been described as the most alien-looking place on Earth. The island measures 132 kilometres (82 mi) in length and 49.7 kilometres (30.9 mi) in width.