A Cucumber and a Chuta Cholero hug during the traditional festival “Desentierro del Pepino” (unearthing the Cucumber) to mark the beginning of carnival on January 21, 2024 in La Paz, Bolivia. People dug up the cucumber from the cemetery and walk through the streets with two characters, the Ch'uta and the Chola. (Photo by Gaston Brito/Getty Images)

Men carry a dog on an inflated tube as they wade through floodwaters at Kongba in Imphal East on June 3, 2025. Flash floods and landslides after torrential monsoon rain over the last two days killed at least 30 people in India's northeast, officials said on June 1. (Photo by AFP Photo/Stringer)

People walk through Ginza’s shopping district in Tokyo, Japan, 15 December 2025. Japan’s economic focus is on the upcoming Bank of Japan (BOJ) meeting where the central bank is expected to raise its policy rate to combat inflation. The BOJ signaled a rate hike bar is cleared with the wage momentum still intact. (Photo by Franck Robichon/EPA)

In this handout image provided by Taronga Zoo, an unnamed baby Goodfellows Tree Kangaroo joey is seen in it's mothers pouch on March 10, 2014 in Sydney, Australia. Taronga Zoo is celebrating the successful birth of its first Goodfellows Tree Kangaroo joey in more than 20 years. Zookeepers have only just begun seeing her peeking out from first-time mother, Qwikilas, pouch after she was born in September last year. (Photo by Taronga Zoo via Getty Images)

Elephants enjoy various kinds of fruits and vegetables during an all-you-can-eat elephant buffet held to mark the National Elephant Day at the ancient historical city of Ayutthaya, Thailand, 13 March 2014. The annual National Thai Elephant Day is held on 13 March to celebrate and drawing public attention for more concerted effort to save the species and protect its habitat. Thailand sees a severe decline with less than 3,000 wild elephants left in the kingdom. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EPA)

“The young adult humpback could have a plot waiting for it at a whale graveyard hidden in bushland at Garrigal Garigal National Park”. – Janet Fife-Yeomans via AdelaideNow

Photo: People gather on the beach to see the carcass of a male sub-adult humpback whale that washed up at New Port Beach overnight at Newport Beach overnight on August 1, 2012 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brendon Thorne)

A team of Irish dancers celebrate after winning the under 12's group kaylee World Irish Dance Championship on April 2, 2016 in Brighton, England. The 8th World and 11th European Irish Dance Championships sees over 1500 dancers from 26 countries, speaking over 20 languages, competing in a variety of contests at the Brighton Centre on the city's beachfront. The event is organised by the World Irish Dance Association and is billed as the “Irish Dance Spectacular”. (Photo by Chris Ratcliffe/Getty Images)

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)