Tag Archives: National Geographic

Amazing National Geographic Photos: Crystal Palace

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The November 2008 issue of National Geographic has a story, “Crystal Palace,” illustrating a cave full of Fortress-of-Solitude-sized crystals that was found in Mexico. The pictures, taken by Carsten Peter, are amazing. This title image was my favorite. It evokes a fantasy landscape, one where men are reduced to toys next to the scale of the awe-inspiring and unfamiliar.

 

Conservation Challenges Seen in Gorilla Killings

Well Worth Reading, , , ,

Mark Jenkins’ July 2008 National Geographic article, “Who Murdered the Mountain Gorillas?,” offers a heartbreaking look at the challenges of conserving endangered species. Corruption, greed and extreme poverty intersect in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Virunga National Park, with dire consequences for the area’s mountain gorillas.

An African Ordeal

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Paul Salopek has an amazing story, “Lost in the Sahel,” in the April issue of National Geographic. While traveling to the Darfur region of Sudan to write about the human rights crisis taking place there, he and his companions are captured by militia members.

Accused of being a spy, Salopek is beaten and detained by his government captors; it is only through persistent diplomacy that he and his companions are eventually released. The shock of his ordeal haunts the rest of the piece, which explores culture and deprivation throughout the Sahel, the strip of land bordering the souther edge of the Sahara.