Volubilis is an extensive archaeological site in northern Morocco, located near the pilgrimage town of Moulay Idriss Zerhoun and surrounded by fertile farmland at the foot of Jbel Zerhoun. The ruins represent one of the country’s most important ancient urban sites, with temples, public buildings, residences, defensive walls, and elaborate mosaic floors spread across a broad hillside. Its location overlooking the surrounding agricultural plain helps explain the settlement’s importance.
The Outer Banks are a long chain of narrow barrier islands along the coast of North Carolina, separated from the mainland by broad sounds and connected by bridges and ferries. Communities including Corolla, Duck, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, Manteo, Hatteras, and Ocracoke each have distinct settings and local traditions. The landscape is shaped by ocean waves, shifting sand, wind, and storms, creating wide beaches, dunes, marshes, maritime forests, and tidal inlets.
Sevan is a town in Armenia's Gegharkunik Province, located beside Lake Sevan, one of the largest high-altitude freshwater lakes in the Caucasus. The town sits at more than 1,900 meters above sea level, with the lake extending across a broad basin surrounded by mountains. Sevan's landscape combines open water, grassy hills, rocky shores, and cultivated areas, while the cool climate distinguishes it from Armenia's lower valleys.
Salima is a lakeside town in central Malawi, located between Lake Malawi and the capital city, Lilongwe. Its position near the lake has made it an important centre for fishing, agriculture, trade, and transport. Salima also has a practical connection to Lake Malawi through nearby Senga Bay, one of the better-known recreational areas on the central lakeshore. Its combination of inland commerce and easy access to the lake gives the town a distinctive role in central Malawi.
Who would have thought, back in the tumultuous coup and counter coup days of the 1970s, that Burkina Faso would become the cultural darling of West Africa? Unlikely as it seems, Burkina Faso has become the Utah of West Africa, hosting a biennial film festival that rivals the Sundance Film Festival for cultural clout. When it's not hosting film festivals, it's busy organizing its other biennial cultural festival.