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)

Soma-Nomaoi is a festival that recreates a battle scene from more than 1,000 years ago. It is annually held for 4 days from July 22 to 25 in Haramachi City, Fukushima Prefecture, in the eastern part of Japan. In this historical event, 600 mounted samurai in traditional Japanese armor, with long swords at their side and ancestral flagstaffs streaming from their backs, ride across open fields. Soma-Nomaoi has been designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

Photo: A young woman (C) clad in samurai costume leads other local poeple as she rides her horse during a parade at the annual Soma Nomaoi festival in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, on July 28, 2012. The traditional full-scale festival kicked off for the first time after the accident of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant following the massive earthquake and the tsunami on March 11, 2011. (Photo by Toru Yamanaka/AFP Photo)

This September 22, 2014 photo, shows a building with street art murals in the Santurce neighborhood in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Photo by Ricardo Arduengo/AP Photo)

Roger Moore fights with Richard Kiel, as Jaws, who bites through a board in a scene from the film “The Spy Who Loved Me”, 1977. (Photo by United Artist/Getty Images)

US actress Tiffany Haddish attends a photocall for the film “The Card Counter” presented in competition during the 78th Venice Film Festival, on September 2, 2021 at Venice Lido. (Photo by Yara Nardi/Reuters)

American actress and professional kiteboarder Maika Monroe is seen leaving the Saint Laurent show on February 25, 2020 in Paris, France. (Photo by Beretta/Sims/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Emily Ratajkowski is seen walking her pet Colombo on June 03, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Say Cheese!/GC Images)

Australian performers illuminated with real clocks titled “The Time Minder” attend a media preview of the Night Festival in Singapore on August 23, 2017. Singapore's arts and heritage district will be transformed into Singapore largest outdoor performing arts festival to celebrate its 10th year edition Night Festival from August 24 to 26. (Photo by Roslan Rahman/AFP Photo)