WHERE：Republic of the Congo
WHEN：2000
PHOTOGRAPHER：Michael K. Nichols

“Though not a true rain forest—Congo’s annual rainfall totals less than a hundred inches [2.5 meters]—the forest is often flooded, allowing [a Pygmy] family to set out on a fishing trip. In her hands the mother cradles a coal—the makings of a fire.”

—From “Megatransect,” October 2000, National Geographic magazine

WHERE：Guangdong Province, China
WHEN：1997
PHOTOGRAPHER：Michael S. Yamashita

“Places to go, things to buy: Nowadays the Chinese have money to flaunt. They pay to visit Window of the World, a theme park in Shenzhen that features miniaturized tourist sights, like Moscow’s St. Basil’s Cathedral.”

—From “China’s Gold Coast,” March 1997, National Geographic magazine

WHERE：Red Sea
WHEN：1997
PHOTOGRAPHER：David Doubilet

“Illuminated by ultraviolet light, a knob coral pulsates with color as if lit from within. The coral absorbs the invisible ultraviolet light, then emits wild orange visible light. This is called fluorescence, a phenomenon of physics and biology that borders on pure magic.”

—From “A New Light in the Sea,” August 1997, National Geographic magazine

WHERE：Republic of the Congo
WHEN：2000
PHOTOGRAPHER：Michael K. Nichols

“Wise in the ways of the forest, a Bambendjellé [Pygmy] family takes refuge from the rain under a shelter of sticks and leaves.”

—From “Megatransect,” October 2000, National Geographic magazine

WHERE：Hollywood, California
WHEN：1999
PHOTOGRAPHER：Joe McNally

“Sublimely at ease in midair, Malaysian-born ‘action goddess’ Michelle Yeoh is just as comfortable with an acting career that routinely hops continents.”

—From “A World Together,” August 1999, National Geographic magazine

WHERE：Republic of the Congo
WHEN：2000
PHOTOGRAPHER：Michael K. Nichols

“Perhaps the last on Earth to have never seen a human, the chimpanzees of Goualougo Triangle showed no fear of Fay’s team. ‘If we let this area be logged, we’ll destroy our chance to know this animal in its natural state,’ says Fay.”

—From “Megatransect,” October 2000, National Geographic magazine

WHERE：Okavango Delta, Botswana
WHEN：1999
PHOTOGRAPHER：Chris Johns

“Bloodstained from its last meal, a cub shows features of a hunter built for speed. During sprints, a membrane shields eyes while large nostrils allow for rapid oxygen intake. Dark ‘tearstains’ may block glare.”

—From “Cheetahs: Ghosts of the Grasslands,” December 1999, National Geographic magazine

WHERE：Alexandria, Egypt
WHEN：1999
PHOTOGRAPHER：Stuart Franklin

 “Kneeling in reverent prayer at Alexandria’s train station, Muslims display a fervor reminiscent of the ancient city—but a uniformity that would have been rare. Though ruled by Rome, first-century Alexandrians worshipped a blend of Egyptian, Greek, and Roman deities, the composite god Serapis chief among them.”

—From “Tale of Three Cities,” August 1999, National Geographic magazine