Madagascar, the world’s fourth-largest island, lies off the southeastern coast of Africa and is renowned for its extraordinary biodiversity and unique landscapes. Its rainforests, spiny deserts, and highland plateaus provide habitats for species found nowhere else on Earth.

Nampula is the largest city in northern Mozambique and the capital of Nampula Province. Set inland on a plateau, it is surrounded by rounded granite hills and distinctive rocky outcrops that rise above the surrounding farmland.

M’Hamid El Ghizlane sits deep in southeastern Morocco’s Sahara, where the paved road ends and endless sands begin. Travelers often arrive from Zagora, taking in the wide palm groves fed by ancient irrigation channels that show how people have sustained life here for centuries. At sunrise and sunset, the dunes glow with waves of gold and copper, offering unforgettable views few places on earth can match.

A quaint Italian town off the beaten path.

Lake Nakuru National Park is located in the heart of the Great Rift Valley. The Park encompasses the alkaline Lake Nakuru and has earned fame as the greatest bird spectacle in the world. The gathering of hundreds of thousands of greater and lesser pink flamingos.