National Geographic Magazine - UK August 2025

Jaipur, India. Known as “The Pink City,” the vibrant, dustypink and terracotta-hued capital of Rajasthan is a sensory overload of color—red spices in copper pots and strings of rich yellow marigolds adorn green-tiled city gates. But this celebration of color is more than just aesthetic—it is woven into the very fabric of this energetic city. Its bustling bazaars and vibrant palace rooms have attracted visitors and residents since the town was founded in 1727. A century and a half later, in 1876, it was painted its iconic pink to welcome Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert—pink being the traditional color of welcome and hospitality. A year later, the Queen of Jaipur so loved the rose-hued city that a law was passed that any future buildings in the city be…

A NUMBER OF years ago, my husband and I visited Matera, in the Basilicata region of southern Italy. I wanted to see the Sassi, the town’s famous cave dwellings, which are said to have been inhabited as early as 7000 B.C. After the Second World War, the Sassi became known in Italy for the poverty and poor health of their residents, who were forcibly relocated by the government in the 1950s. Today the Sassi are a UNESCO World Heritage site and have been converted into shops and hotels. They’ve been used as a location in films like Pier Paolo Pasolini’s The Gospel According to St. Matthew. I found our visit fascinating and also learned that I’m not much for sleeping in caves, despite all the creature comforts with which ours…

OCEANS “I saw this pool and was surprised to see it so FULL OF COLORS. And such a number of seaweeds in the same pool. It was quite incredible.”FORTUNATO GATTO, photographer SPORT “Enos has a youthful spirit, despite his 81 years. But behind the horseplay is a man who taught me that the work of a FREEDOM FIGHTER is never over.”KARABO MOOKI, photographer RITUAL “All the young nuns do KUNG FU. It’s not aggressive. It’s graceful and fast, and every now and then, they stop and hold for a moment, almost perfectly in sync.”NADJA WOHLLEBEN, photographer LIVELIHOODS “People really RESPECT him. He knows a lot, not because he’s studied something, but because he knows nature.”LUISA DÖRR, photographer…

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NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORERS These contributors have received funding from the National Geographic Society, which is committed to illuminating and protecting the wonder of our world. Learn more about the Society’s support of Explorers at natgeo.com/impact. Tamara Merino, p.74 Based in Santiago, Chile, Merino photographed cave-dwelling communities in seven countries, including Lesotho and Tunisia, for this issue’s feature on what she calls “humanity’s first homes.” Her work has also appeared in Time, the New York Times, and Libération. Paul Sereno, p.14 An Explorer since 1983, paleontologist Sereno writes this month about the most ambitious expedition of his career, in Niger’s Sahara. He is a professor of organismal biology and anatomy at the University of Chicago and runs the university’s Fossil Lab, a research and education center. Paul Salopek, p.40 A Pulitzer-winning reporter…

AS THE SAHARAN SUN ROSE ON MY WAYLAID TEAM, one morning in September 2022, it seemed to burn with particular intensity. For nearly three weeks we’d been holed up in a mud-walled compound in the oasis town of Agadez, in central Niger, stalled because of officials’ insistence on assembling for us a large armed escort. Now, as dawn broke, we were finally ready to embark: Nearly a hundred people packed into 15 vehicles, a motley caravan of SUVs, pickups, and one large dump truck, all strapped with sand ladders and spare tires, heading out on an extraordinary desert dinosaur hunt—without question, the most ambitious of my career. Among our number were Tuareg guides and drivers, a film crew, 64 armed guards, and my paleo dream team of 20 students and freshly…