Pockets of eroded earth create leaf shapes in the landscape in Madagascar. Erosion is one of the long-term consequences of forests plundered for the illicit rosewood trade.
“Gained merit in battle” reads the epitaph of two of the 231 eminent Shaolin monks honored with shrines in the Pagoda Forest. The number of layers in a shrine reflects a monk’s virtue; his bones, and often those of disciples, are buried below.
Going underground, expedition members enter Hang En, a cave tunneled out by the Rao Thuong River. Dwindling to a series of ponds during the dry months, the river can rise almost 300 feet (91 meters) during the flood season, covering the rocks where cavers stand.
Photograph by Carsten Peter
Beech forest in wintertime. Fichtelgebirge, Bavaria, Germany. Photograph by Martin Hertel
Posting the National Geographic Photo of the Day here. I do not claim any ownership of these photos.
