Bold black and white motifs of life and death add a dramatic flair to this 17th-century crypt.

Single runway interrupted by a busy road that cuts across its middle.

There was a top secret plan during World War II to seal a group of soldiers inside the rock.

On any given day this sprawling market houses literally tons of government-regulated gold, gems, and precious metals.

A preposterously luxurious hotel with gold-plated iPads, Rolls Royce chauffeurs, and a staff that trains by watching "Downton Abbey."

This enormous sports car themed amusement park is home to the world’s fastest roller coaster.

Whitewashed mosque contains the world's largest carpet.

An imposing Omani fortress surrounded by date palm trees.

A sinkhole and now a swimming hole, too, full of dazzling turquoise water.

This bazaar is one of the oldest in the Arabian world.

Numerous impressive carvings are embedded in the trees lining this street in Marrakech.

Morocco's largest Jewish cemetery.

Exploring the wilder, more passionate sibling of Erg Chebbi feels like discovering a secret sun-kissed planet from another galaxy.

A mud brick kasbah with a history of lavishness and traitorship.

World's largest film studio, where visitors tour the decaying sets that litter the harsh desert environment.

A fortified city, home to a remaining population of five families

The Kenyan town where the best distance runners in the world are trained.

Just outside of Nairobi lies a large estate surrounded by endangered Rothschild giraffes, who have been fed from the window by Mick Jagger and Walter Cronkite.

Life and death are on parade at the most reliably perilous site of “the Great Migration.”

An exquisite and eclectic selection of African masks stands out within a massive woodcarving marketplace.

This sacred, circular cave is lined with pools so clear and still that it's hard to tell where the water begins.

After sunset the heart of Zanzibar's historic Stone Town neighborhood transforms into a culinary playground.

One of the tallest buildings in Africa provides a great view of Johannesburg's unique geography.

A giant concrete Brutalist water tower in suburban Johannesburg.