Best of November 2019

Marta and Apolinar sit together in their home in the Philippines. Marta is a survivor of a mass rape during World War II. She and other survivors, known as the Malaya Lolas, have banded together to make sure their stories aren't forgotten.

A pair of spotted dolphins play over a sandy ocean floor in the tropical waters of The Bahamas. With the largest brains relative to body size after humans, dolphins are highly intelligent. Game play during socialisation is one of the ways researchers measure their cognitive abilities.

‘While driving like mad to get to my destination, an aurora lit up the sky!,’ says National Geographic photographer Michael Melford. ‘I had flown into Fairbanks, Alaska, on assignment to photograph the wild and scenic river Birch Creek, some two hours away. I was very lucky, as the northern lights went on all night long, allowing me to get a good shot.‘

“Iceland has larger, more powerful waterfalls, but I've always thought Skogafoss was the prettiest,” says National Geographic photographer Stephen Alvarez. “It is also one of the most visited. Late one night last spring I managed to find a rare moment alone after the crowds had departed.”

The Kizhi Pogost is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Russia's Karelia region. These visionary buildings—two 18th-century wooden churches and an octagonal clock tower, also in wood, built in 1862—perpetuate an ancient model of parish space that is in harmony with the surrounding landscape.

Snow covers the taiga in eastern Russia. National Geographic photographer William Daniels captured this view from the Matvei Mudrov hospital train. The mobile hospital offers basic care and specialized services such as x-rays, ultrasound, and ophthalmology in extremely isolated parts of Russia.

Clay, Daniel, and Enzo gather at a pool at the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado. They're three of 39 tigers rescued from an animal park in Oklahoma. Here, they will live out their lives with proper nutrition and vet care.

A young Thomson's gazelle leaps across the plains of Kenya's Maasai Mara at sunset. Thomson's gazelles are one of the world's fastest land animals, able to hit speeds of 55 miles per hour. They need to be fast: they're a favorite prey of cheetahs.

Goatherders tend to their flock in Asturias, Spain. The region calls itself the “pais de quesos” (land of cheese) due to the dozens of artisanal varieties it produces, including a famous goat cheese called cabrales. This photo appears in the December/ January issue of Traveler Magazine (US).

A Buddhist monk practices a puja, or Buddhist devotion, in the city of Mustang, Nepal. 700 years ago, Mustang was a bustling kingdom and a center of Buddhist scholarship and art.

Two donkeys are captured resting in the shade off the road in Oatman, Arizona—a historic town that is located along the iconic Route 66, which is also known as the ‘Main Street of America.‘

In Argentina's remote Tierra del Fuego, the giant kelp forests of Thetis Bay harbor one of the most magnificent marine ecosystems on the planet. The future is bright for the abundance of life that calls the habitat home, thanks to the recent creation of the Yaganes Marine Protected Area by the Argentine government.

Crowds gather to enjoy an evening full of food, games and rides at the Race Street Pier in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The colourful pier is located near the bustling Central Delaware Waterfront, near the heart of downtown.

The Casa Professa — or Church of the Gesù — is one of the most important masterpieces of Baroque art in Sicily, Italy. It is enhanced by incredible decorations in marble and stucco, which according to American art historian Donald Garstang, “belong to the world of unleashed fancy.” The tireless work, spanning over 200 years by some of the most accomplished artists in the world, is on display everywhere you look in sculptures, polychrome inlays, stucco art, frescoes, and ornate marble construction.

In Colombia's capital city of Bogotá, a little over 75 miles of roadway are turned over each Sunday to the Ciclovía—a weekly affair where cars are banned from the streets—and as many as one-and-a-half million Bogotanos come out to bike or ride.

Thousands of sheep parade through downtown Ketchum, Idaho, during the Trailing of the Sheep Festival, which takes place annually in October. The state is home to a thriving Basque community in America.

On a cold January morning in Rishīkesh, India, commuters make their way across Lakshman Jhula bridge. The suspension bridge is for pedestrians only, stretching across the Ganges River.