Serengeti National Park Burchell’s zebras and blue wildebeests roam Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, one of the last places in Africa where large animal migrations still occur. During the wet season herds with numbers in the thousands populate the southeastern plains of the park. In the dry season the animals migrate westward into the woodland savanna of the Serengeti and northward to the grassland areas of neighboring Kenya.
Great Smoky Mountains Seen rising through a cloudy haze, the Great Smoky Mountains of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee are among the oldest in the world. Also known as the Smokies, the mountains rise to 2025 m (6643 ft) amid dense forested terrain. The Smokies and other natural attractions bring many tourists to North Carolina, making tourism an important component of the state’s economy.
Ten Thousand Islands Dotting the coastal waters off southwestern Florida, many of the Ten Thousand Islands lie within Everglades National Park. The Everglades cover 13,000 sq km (5,000 sq mi) and comprise a vast freshwater marsh, swamp, savanna, and virgin forest. The extensive marsh lies in a large basin of limestone and was formed by centuries of surplus water from Lake Okeechobee.
Cliff Palace, Mesa Verde Cliff Palace is the largest of the dwellings at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, with 220 rooms. For centuries the Anasazi lived on top of cliffs, but about AD 1200 or 1300 they began building their settlements in eroded alcoves beneath the rims. The ruins of the rectangular rooms, ceremonial towers, and circular kivas (underground chambers) of Cliff Palace are visible here.
Game Preserve in Kenya A giraffe towers over zebras on the savanna of a Kenyan game preserve. Home to many endangered species of wildlife, the African republic of Kenya shelters its wild animals in game preserves and national parks. Kenya outlawed hunting in 1977, but poachers continue to hunt many of these commercially valuable animals.
Mauna Loa Lava Flows Hawaii Volcanoes National Park contains two active volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Kilauea. Mauna Loa erupts frequently, exuding lava about once every four years. This picture shows a field of lava from Mauna Loa that has hardened into smooth, folded sheets of rock known as pahoehoe.