The Best of Nat Geo

Silhouetted by the sun, the 'Hand of Fatima' rock formations
near Hombori village stretch towards the sky in Mali.
The tallest tower rises 2,000 feet (610 meters) from the

desert floor. Lore has it that the formation's name stems

from the five towers resemblance to a hand from the sky.

Chinstrap penguins (Pygoscelis antarctica) ride out
high surf on blue icebergs near Candlemas Island
in the South Sandwich Islands.

For trees that grow on mountain tops near Cape Town,
South Africa, wind can be a magnificent sculptor.
Trees that can handle the wind's effect best will

alter their shape to deal with the load of the wind.

Erosion's force becomes clear in these limestone cliffs in

Port Campbell National Park, Australia. About 5 million

years ago the area was a limestone plateau, but as sea levels

rose the effects of surf and rain began to carve out these

magnificent cliffs, along with stacks and arches.

Travertine chimneys near Lake Abbe, Djibouti, were created by

hot springs depositing calcium carbonate, the same process that creates

stalactites and stalagmites. Some of the formations reach 165 feet

(50 meters) near the lake located on the Ethiopia-Djibouti border.

A thick blanket of snow covers West Thumb Geyser Basin
in Yellowstone National Park. There are more geysers
in this park than anywhere else in the world.


Towers of salt and a riverbed colored by crystallized salt
create an other worldly landscape in Ethiopias Danakil Desert.
Sitting more than 300 feet (90 meters) below sea level,
with temperatures reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit
(49 degrees Celsius), local inhabitants prize the
Danakil for one thing: its salt deposits.

Towering in close symmetry, these basalt columns near

Fingals Cave form the base of the Scottish island of Staffa.

The columns formed when cooling lava flows met bedrock and the

regions cold weather. The island contains three main caves.