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)

“I was on Durga Puja Festival vacation, travelling on a local train. A boy was singing devotional song and begging for alms. He was guised as a Hindu god, Lord Shiva. This is a common view in Indian trains but this boy was charming, bright and did have a melodious voice. My camera was ready hanging on my neck so I took a picture”. (Photo and caption by Arup Ghosh/2014 Sony World Photography Awards)

“El rio mas bonito del Mundo”, the most beautiful river of the world, the “River of five colors”, the “Rainbow River”, or even the “Escaped from Paradise”, are the shimmering appellations that Colombians give to Cano Cristales, a small stream located in the heart of the Macarena National Park, 150 km (93 miles) south of Bogota. Photo: A waterfall is seen at the end of the rainy season, in August, when the water level finally decreases, in the Cano Cristales RIver in the Sierra de la Macarena in Colombia. It has become covered with a bright pink endemic aquatic plant, Macarenia Clavigera. (Photo by Olivier Grunewald)

Fire retardant is dropped on the Fairview Fire burning near Hemet, California, U.S., September 6, 2022. (Photo by David Swanson/Reuters)

Kayla Amara sprays down their home as the Hughes Fire burns in Castaic, California, U.S. January 22, 2025. (Photo by Joel Angel Juarez/Reuters)

A protester gestures as he holds a dog before a burning barricade during protests in Harare, Zimbabwe on January 15, 2019. (Photo by Philimon Bulawayo/Reuters)

Commuters walk up the redesigned subway stairs at the Tanjong Pagar subway station on August 23, 2011 in Singapore. The subway stairs have been repainted in bright colours and slogans encouraging people to take the stairs, by way of promoting fitness in the city. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

A Muslim woman prays at the Al Meroz hotel in Bangkok, Thailand, August 29, 2016. Predominately Buddhist Thailand has opened its first halal hotel as hopes to attract more Muslim visitors and boost one of the few bright spots in its economy. (Photo by Chaiwat Subprasom/Reuters)