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

A public display of prehistoric space rocks is named for the Namibian village where they were found.

Welded sphere dropped from space.

Tracks of ceratosaurus and Coelophysis rhodesiensis tracks can be found fossilized in the sandstone near Mt. Etjo.

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

The largest known meteorite on Earth was too big to move.

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

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

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

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

The remains of diamond fever taken over by the desert.

This rusted shipwreck directly in front of a century-old abandoned lighthouse looks almost surreal.

Once living up to its name as the grandest hotel in all of Africa, the Grande Hotel is now home to a community of squatters.

The “Thumb” of Mauritius provides a 360 degree view of the entire country.

This small group of sand dunes manages to pack in a strange rainbow of colors.

This remarkably well-preserved mosque stands amid an 11th-century caravansary.

The world's largest ship graveyard is the product of decades of corruption.

Five ancient libraries, little changed for centuries, preserve a medieval archive of Quranic lore and civic documents

A geological bull's-eye visible from outer space.

Climb atop one of the world's longest and heaviest trains for an unbelievable journey across the Sahara Desert.

The most important and best preserved remnant of West Africa's powerful Songhai Empire.

Ancient Manuscripts showcase the civilization of West Africans during the Middle Ages.

These homes carved into the mountains seem to defy the laws of nature.

The central mosque of this Mali town is entirely built from mud.