A desert that rolls right up to the ocean, where it's so dry animals live off the fog.

A rare cluster of alien-like plants grows along a dusty highway.

This honeycomb-textured tafone looks like a petrified troll head.

A long-disputed lighthouse built on the wrong side of a Finnish/Swedish island.

The frozen treats at this Cape Town parlor are inspired by Africa's food cultures.

This abandoned villa of makeshift buildings was once the home of dancer Elis Sinistö.

Fortifications built for a Soviet invasion that never came now sit abandoned in a losing battle against nature.

Hidden deep in a forest is this geological wonder carved by glaciers.

Finnish lake, and scene of an infamous murder mystery.

A lovingly curated curio shop in which the taxidermy wear newspaper party hats, and peanut shells are spread across every surface.

The ruins of this mining boom town stand like skeletal reminders of the settlement's dark history.

Ten shipwreck-shaped chalets lie along the sand dunes on Namibia’s Skeleton Coast.

Bizarre living fossil only grows in a small chunk of the Namib Desert.

This "dead marsh" sits among the largest sand dunes in the world, a forest frozen in time.

Far from the shore, this sandy victim of the Skeleton Coast looks like it was plopped in the middle of the desert.

Unexplained bald patches in the landscape grow and recede over time, as though they are somehow alive.

Hidden in the hills is a mysterious stone structure, known only to a few.

Formerly known as the Malay Quarter, Bo Kaap is a colorfully-painted suburb located in the “Mother City” of South Africa.

South Africa's postal service began with a letter left in a boot beneath this tree.

It's estimated that half of the world's gold was mined from South Africa's "golden arc."

This cave overlooking the Indian Ocean has been turned into a shelter and makeshift museum.

An abandoned water park overtaken by the dunes.

The last permanent exhibit dedicated to the Soviet leader.

One of the last examples of Soviet architectural propaganda has a few technological tricks up its sleeve.