"Homo sapiens flood the beach on New Year's Day at Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park, where, thanks to the Natal Parks Board's good neighbor policy, admission is free for local residents. South Africa's torrid zone, northern KwaZulu-Natal teems with tropical life. Along its normally empty beaches sea turtles are making a comeback."
(Text and photograph from "A Place for Parks in the New South Africa," July 1996, National Geographic magazine)
North Rustico, Prince Edward Island, Canada, 1986
Photograph by George F. Mobley
A partial solar eclipse is visible through the clouds that cover North Rustico beach on Prince Edward Island, Canada's smallest province. Sheltered from the sometimes harsh North Atlantic storms, Prince Edward Island stretches 140 miles (225 kilometers) into the Gulf of St. Lawrence and enjoys a warm climate and sandy soil—good for both farming and tourism.
(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in the National Geographic book Traveling the Trans-Canada From Newfoundland to British Columbia, 1987)
Minab, Iran, 1998
Photograph by Alexandra Avakian
A Baluchi woman wears a traditional red mask to conceal her features from public view. Iranian women are, in fact, among the most educated and accomplished in the Muslim world. Before the 1979 revolution 35 percent of women were literate; now the rate stands at 74 percent. In 1999, one in three Iranian physicians was a woman.
(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Iran: Testing the Waters of Reform," July 1999, National Geographic magazine)
North Florida Springs, 1998
Photograph by Wes Skiles
A flexible and graceful swimmer, the West Indian manatee migrates annually to Florida's coastal waters. This balmy winter retreat unfortunately holds a palpable danger for these gentle creatures. In 2005, collisions with watercraft and other human-related accidents accounted for nearly 25 percent of all manatee deaths in Florida according to the state's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Boating speed limits and the creation of sanctuaries are just some of the protections put into place by state and federal lawmakers to help save the endangered manatee.
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Unlocking the Labyrinth of North Florida Springs," March 1999, National Geographic magazine)
Greenwich, England, 1985
Photograph by Bruce Dale
"One hop bridges east and west at Greenwich, England, where a brass strip marks zero longitude. First used by sailors to fix their position, Greenwich mean time was adopted by railroads and, after 1884, worldwide as the standard for time of day. Time is now set not by earth's rotation, but by satellite and atomic clock."
(Text and photograph from "The Enigma of Time," March 1990, National Geographic magazine)
Pamukkale, Turkey, Date Unknown
Photograph by Gordon Gahan
Bathers enjoy terraced pools filled with the hot, mineral-rich waters of Pamukkale, Turkey's "Cotton Castle." The trickling water from the mountain's hot springs is heavy with calcium-carbonate. Over the centuries these waters have carved out large flat basins whose surface is coated with pure white calcium deposits.
(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Turkey: Cross Fire at an Ancient Crossroads," July 1977, National Geographic magazine)
Spišské Podhradie, Slovakia, 1992
Photograph by James L. Stanfield
The ruins of Spiš Castle loom high above the Slovak village of Spišské Podhradie. Stronghold for generations of Hungarian princes, the largest fortress in central Europe was destroyed by fire in 1780.
(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Czechoslovakia: The Velvet Divorce," September 1993, National Geographic magazine)
Mars, 2000
Photograph by NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
"An artful view from space reveals a bracelet-like chain of shallow pits lining a trough created by faulting. The collapse zone appears on a flank of the Pavonis Mons volcano. Some 530 yards (475 meters) wide, the depression could have resulted from the underground movement of molten rock."
(Text and photograph from "A Mars Never Dreamed Of," February 2001, National Geographic magazine)
Petra, Jordan, 1998
Photograph by Annie Griffiths Belt
Wildflowers bloom in front of the rose-colored sandstone that makes up Petra. An ancient city that welcomed caravans from Arabia, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt, Petra was the capital of the Nabataeans, who ruled this part of the Middle East for more than four centuries.
(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Petra: An Ancient City of Stone," December 1998, National Geographic magazine)
Loango National Park, Gabon, 2004
Photograph by Michael Nichols
A mother and her calf hippopotamus cool off in the "Land of the Surfing Hippos." Loango National Park got that nickname from the resident hippopotamuses' habit of swimming in the ocean and body-surfing to and from feeding grounds.
(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Gabon's Loango National Park: In the Land of the Surfing Hippos," August 2004, National Geographic magazine)
Suhar, Oman, 1992
Photograph by James L. Stanfield
Thundering across a berm racetrack, camels hurtle their 8 year-old jockeys toward the finish line while Omanis in pick-up trucks follow alongside. Though gambling is forbidden in this Muslim country, prize money goes to the owner of the winning camel whose value could be as much as 50,000 rials, or US$130,000.
(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Oman," May 1995, National Geographic magazine)
Seoul, South Korea, 1979
Photograph by H. Edward Kim
Snow dusts the buildings of Toksu Palace in the shadow of Seoul’s towering hotels and office complexes. Originally occupied by the 16th century Yi Dynasty leader King Sonjo, the palace was rebuilt in the early 1900s and now houses a branch gallery of South Korea’s National Museum of Contemporary Art.
(Text adapted from and photograph from, "Seoul: Korean Showcase," December 1979, National Geographic magazine)
Lake Hoare, Antarctica, 1998
Photograph by Maria Stenzel
Antarctica’s perennially ice-covered Lake Hoare bears the scars of sand and dirt that have worked their way from the surface down into the ice. Soil blows onto the lake from the nearby dry valley, warms in the sun, and melts downward, leaving a bubble column in its trail.
(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Timeless Valleys of the Antarctic Desert," October 1998, National Geographic magazine)
Helsinki, Finland, 1981
Photograph by Jodi Cobb
The imposing Lutheran Cathedral rises over the somber city of Helsinki as a man bundled against the cold makes his way across one of the city’s many frozen harbors. Built in 1852, the stark-white cathedral, called the Tuomiokorkko in Finnish, sits in Senate Square in the city center.
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Helsinki," August 1981, National Geographic magazine)
Loganville, Pennsylvania, 1993
Photograph by Robert W. Madden
An Amish farmer in Loganville, Pennsylvania uses a horse-drawn wagon to spread manure over a shimmering, snow-covered field.
(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Chesapeake Bay—Hanging in the Balance,” June 1993, National Geographic magazine)
Jaipur, India, 1985
Photograph by Bruce Dale
An arched doorway leads to a staircase in the astronomical observatory called Jantar Mantar. The complex, located in the city of Jaipur in Rajasthan, India, was built by astronomer Jai Singh around 1730 and is still in use today. It includes large, abstract-looking structures designed to track the motion of the sun and tell time, among other uses.
Jantar Mantar is a Sanskrit phrase meaning “magical device.”
(Text and photograph from, "In the Land of the Maharajas: Rajasthan by Rail," Spring 1986, National Geographic Traveler magazine)
Nanning, China, 1981
Photograph by James P. Blair
A footbridge spans the Yu River in Nanning in southeastern China. Nanning is the political, economic, and financial center of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
(Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, the National Geographic book China, 1981)
Colebrook, New Hampshire, 1972
Photograph by David L. Arnold
Snow blankets a farm in Colebrook, New Hampshire, along the slopes of the Connecticut River Valley. The Connecticut River forms the border between New Hampshire and Vermont and flows some 410 miles (610 kilometers), from just shy of the Canadian border to the Long Island Sound.
(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Yesterday Lingers Along the Connecticut,” September 1972, National Geographic magazine)
Ely, Minnesota, 1997
Photograph by Joel Sartore
Two gray wolves relax in the snow at Minnesota’s International Wolf Center. Opened in June 1993, the center is at the forefront of efforts to educate people about the value of wolves in the ecosystem and to encourage the reintroduction and wide distribution of wolves in the wild.
(Text adapted from and photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Return of the Gray Wolf,” May 1998, National Geographic magazine)