May 1, 2004
     Oklahoma
     Early 1900s
     Edward S. Curtis

      This Oto Indian was a member of the combined Oto-Missouri tribe. The 1991 U.S. census listed some 1,350 Oto-Missouri still living near Parunee, Oklahoma.

     May 2, 2004
     Mount Everest
     1963
     Barry C. Bishop

      During the 1963 American expedition to the top of Everest, a block of ice in the Khumbu Icefall (pictured) collapsed, killing climber John Breitenbach.
      —Text adapted from "Everest's Greatest Hits," May 2003, National Geographic magazine)

     May 3, 2004
     Villivakkam village, India
     2002
     Jodi Cobb

      "These women in the southern Indian town of Villivakkam, nicknamed 'kidney village,' each traded a kidney for cash. In their 20s at the time, married, and eager to pay off crushing family debts, they were easy marks for transplant agents who promised 50,000 rupees—about a thousand [U.S.] dollars—for an organ. The women got half the money in advance, but after their kidneys were removed, the rest of the fees were never paid. India has outlawed commerce in human organs, though that has not stopped the trade."
      —From "Inhuman Profit," September 2003, National Geographic magazine

      May 4, 2004
      Stromness Bay, South Georgia island, Falkland Islands
      1998
      Maria Stenzel

      Elephant seals, so named for their massive bulk and distinctive noses, huddle on the beach of Stromness Bay. Male elephant seals' inflatable noses resemble elephant trunks and amplify their vocalizations.

      (Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Shackleton: Epic of Survival," November 1998, National Geographic magazine)

      May 05, 2004
      Afghanistan
      1933
       Maynard Owen Williams

      揟ea makes most Moslems kin: The Afghan variety, sometimes flavored with cardamom, is unusually refreshing. The abstemious Mohammedan depends on it or coffee for 揳dding life to the party?or 損utting through a deal. In every wayside inn and urban bazaar, shops offering the beverage are centers of sociability and trade. Trays are delivered to homes, guest houses, or business places.?

      —From 揂fghanistan Makes Haste Slowly,?December 1933, National Geographic magazine

      May 6, 2004
      Ivindo National Park, Gabon, Africa
      2002
      Michael Nichols

      "Sniffing the air for danger, a female forest elephant follows her charges into Langou?Bai, a mineral-rich watering hole and wildlife magnet. Discovered by [biologist J. Michael] Fay, this site is now the centerpiece of Gabon's new Ivindo National Park."
      —From "Saving Africa's Eden," September 2003, National Geographic magazine

      May 7, 2004
      Tokyo, Japan
      2003
      Justin Guariglia

      A high-speed bullet train pulls into the new Shinagawa station around midday. The trains, which run on Tokyo抯 Tokkaido line, travel as fast as 168 miles [270 kilometers] an hour.
      (Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in "Found in Translation," May/June 2004, National Geographic Traveler magazine)

      May 8, 2004
      Siberia, Russia
      2001
      Mark Thiessen

      "A stick in time: After quickly turning a sapling into a shovel handle, one firefighter attacks with sand while another beats the flame with birch branches. If smokejumpers kill a fire quickly, it adds a bonus to their monthly hundred-dollar pay."
      —From "Russian Smokejumpers," August 2002, National Geographic magazine

      May 9, 2004
      Simen Mountains National Park, Ethiopia, Africa
      2001
      Michael Nichols

      "Once they're three months old, geladas ride their mothers jockey-style. Females have just four or five babies in a lifetime but invest a lot of time and energy taking care of them—it's a 'quality, not quantity' strategy, says biologist Chadden Hunter, who has spent parts of the past six years with the animals in Ethiopia.
      —From "Final Edit," November 2002, National Geographic magazine

      May 10, 2004
      Paris, France
      2002
      William Albert Allard

      "A sun shower bathes the Rue de Rivoli in light the color of pale champagne. The Marais—a fable of a neighborhood's rise and fall and rise—was chic in the 17th century, declined into slum in the 19th, then turned newly chic in the late 20th."
      —From "Bohemian Rhapsody," August 2003, National Geographic magazine

      May 11, 2004
      Ayparahui, Bolivia, South America
      1998
      Maria Stenzel

      "[Chipaya farmers battle] unforgiving soil to plant quinoa, the staple grain."

      (Text from "Vanishing Cultures," August 1999, National Geographic magazine)

      (Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Vanishing Cultures," August 1999, National Geographic magazine)

      May 12, 2004
      Plateaux Batéké National Park, Gabon, Africa
      2002
      Michael Nichols

      "Once dressed in children's clothing by her owners, a seven-year-old gorilla is now flourishing in the forests of the new Plateaux Batéké National Park, thanks to a novel project to return such captive gorillas to the wild."
      —From "Saving Africa's Eden," September 2003, National Geographic magazine

      May 13, 2004
      Near Salida, Colorado
      1999
      Daniel R. Westergren

     "Five-year-old Helen Westergren searches for rainbows over the [Sangre de Cristo Mountains] near Salida. The young road tripper ultimately saw three within half an hour."
     —From "Rockies Cruising," May/June 2004, National Geographic Traveler magazine

      May 14, 2004
      Iceland
      1999
      Sisse Brimberg

      "Hot springs and geysers must have puzzled Norse settlers when they came to Iceland about 870. They called the strange land's future capital Reykjavik, or 'steamy bay.'"
      —From "In Search of Vikings," May 2000, National Geographic magazine

      May 15, 2004
      Herat, Afghanistan
      1933
      Maynard Owen Williams

      "Business hugs the Kandahar Gate at Herat: Vegetable stands, bake ovens, and money-changers' booths have grouped themselves outside the portal from which starts the south road. They add an air of animation to this, the busiest of the five entrances. The earthwork on which the city wall stands is 50 feet high and five times as wide at the bottom. Aside from the main bastions, it has 150 or more jutting towers like that at the right."

      from "Afghanistan Makes Haste Slowly," December 1933, National Geographic magazine

      May 16, 2004
      Bitterroot Range, Montana, United States
      2001
      Chris Johns

      "[Native American] Sacagawea [not shown] crossed the stark Bitterroots when she was only about 17 years old, enduring lethal cold and negotiating treacherous trails while carrying her seven-month-old son. Her feat, however, is not mentioned in [Lewis and Clark] expedition journals."
      —From "Searching for Sacagawea," February 2003, National Geographic magazine

      May 17, 2004
      Paris, France
      2002
      William Albert Allard

       "Graceful geometry of the Place des Vosges is the legacy of Henry IV, who envisioned a public space lined by shops and homes. 'It's a little melancholy with the noise and crowds,' says resident Claude de Muzac, whose apartment faces the 17th-century square. 'Even so, when it has rained and the grass glistens, it's magic.'"
      From "Bohemian Rhapsody," August 2003, National Geographic magazine

      May 18, 2004
      Goualougo Triangle, Republic of Congo, Africa
      2002
      Michael Nichols

      "King of cool, a high-status male named Cole lounges at ease in the open. The first time he saw people, he threw them a backward glance and continued eating instead of fleeing into the trees. That calm acceptance led other chimps to relax around researchers."
      From "Jane Goodall in the Wild," April 2003, National Geographic magazine

      May 19, 2004
      Delhi, India
      2002
      William Albert Allard

      "Her fate scripted by Hindu law, an Untouchable girl can imagine little else than working along the Yamuna River in Delhi as a Dhobi. Members of this clothes-washing caste handle items 'polluted' by blood or human waste."
      —From "Untouchable," June 2003, National Geographic magazine

      May 20, 2004
      Gangplank Marina, Washington D.C.
      2001
      Landon Nordeman

      This man and his poodles have forsaken dwelling on land for life on the water. The Gangplank Marina and Capital Yacht Club provide slips for around 400 boats, including a hundred-plus houseboats and cruisers that are lived on year-round.
       (Text adapted from "Zip USA: 20024—A Capital Waterfront," July 2002, National Geographic magazine)

      (Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Zip USA: 20024—A Capital Waterfront," July 2002, National Geographic magazine)

      May 21, 2004
      Tokyo, Japan
      2003
      Justin Guariglia

       On a sunny October afternoon, young children in traditional dress stroll the grounds of the Meiji Shrine. The circa-1920 shrine is dedicated to Japanese Emperor Meiji, who died in 1912.
      (Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Found in Translation," May/June 2004, National Geographic Traveler magazine)

       May 22, 2004
       Kenya, Africa
       1998
       Maria Stenzel

      "Around the world it's the same story but with different faces: age-old cultures besieged by modern pressures. ... In Kenya, Ariaal warriors cling to a nomadic existence."

      From "Vanishing Cultures," August 1999, National Geographic magazine

      May 23, 2004
      Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
      1997
      Raymond Gehman

      Two Utah prairie dogs touch teeth in what is believed by researchers to be a ritual of recognition.
      (Text adapted from "The Vanishing Prairie Dog," April 1998, National Geographic magazine)

      (Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "The Vanishing Prairie Dog," April 1998, National Geographic magazine)

      May 24, 2004
      Eagle Bend, Minnesota
      1992
      Maria Stenzel

       "[Beekeeper] Jeff Anderson smokes his bees to quiet them during the honey harvest in Minnesota."

      —From "American Beekeepers: Hives for Hire," May 1993, National Geographic magazine

      May 25, 2004
      Thingvellir, Iceland
      1999
      Sisse Brimberg

      "Iceland's democracy began in this rocky breach at Thingvellir when the Althing, ancestor of today's parliament, met in 930. Viking chieftain-priests gathered here to proclaim laws and settle disputes. 'Icelanders have no other king than the laws,' wrote an 11th-century German cleric."
      —From "In Search of Vikings," May 2000, National Geographic magazine

      May 26, 2004
      Ivindo National Park, Gabon, Africa
      2002
      Michael Nichols

      "Perched on the edge of the Congo Basin, Gabon's forests support some of the greatest numbers of species on the continent. Ungulates like the ... forest buffalo have declined in many areas but gather at Langou?Bai for its rich grasses and cooling mud."
      —From "Saving Africa's Eden," September 2003, National Geographic magazine

      May 27, 2004
      Lower Ausable Lake, Adirondack Mountains, New York
      1996
      Maria Stenzel

      Children dive off a swim float in privately owned Lower Ausable Lake. Author Samuel H. Hammond wrote nearly 150 years ago that he would go to the Adirondacks to recapture his youth.

      (Photograph shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Adirondack High," June 1998, National Geographic magazine)

      May 28, 2004
      Vettismorki, Norway
      1999
      Daniel R. Westergren

       "Peaks of the Jotunheimen Mountains, home to the giant troll, Jotun, and Norway’s tallest waterfall, fill the windows of a Norwegian Mountain Touring Association trail hut at Vettismorki, a stream-fed plateau. These loftiest mountains in Norway are laced with well-maintained hiking trails that even families with young children can negotiate."
      —From "Norway Hut to Hut," May/June 2004, National Geographic Traveler magazine

      May 29, 2004
      Afghanistan
      1933
      Maynard Owen Williams

      "Hand workers gather poppy sap in the plain of the Hari River: Although the narcotic has been produced in America and Europe, the cost of collecting the juice there is prohibitive. As medicine it spread across Asia with Islam, but by 1729 the Emperor Yung Cheng had prohibited the smoking of it. Seizure and burning of $10,000,000 worth of it by the Chinese at Canton brought on the Opium War. Few Afghanistan natives are addicts of the pipe, and Turkey is as prominent in the control of the drug as in the culture of the plant."

      from "Afghanistan Makes Haste Slowly," December 1933, National Geographic magazine

      May 30, 2004
      Simen Mountains National Park, Ethiopia, Africa
      2002
      Michael Nichols

      A female Theropithecus gelada monkey picks clean her mate's tail. Mutual grooming helps cement gelada family bonds.
      —Text adapted from "Kings of the Hill?," November 2002, National Geographic magazine