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Aït Benhaddou is a historic ighrem or ksar (fortified village) along the former caravan route between the Sahara and Marrakech in present-day Morocco. It is considered a great example of Moroccan earthen clay architecture and has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987.

The site of the ksar has been fortified since the 11th century during the Almoravid period. None of the current buildings are believed to date from before the 17th century, but they were likely built with the same construction methods and designs as had been used for centuries before. The site’s strategic importance was due to its location in the Ounila Valley along one of the main trans-Saharan trade routes. The Tizi n’Tichka pass, which was reached via this route, was one of the few routes across the Atlas Mountains, crossing between Marrakech and the Dra’a Valley on the edge of the Sahara. Other kasbahs and ksour were located all along this route, such as the nearby Tamdaght to the north.

Today, the ksar itself is only sparsely inhabited by several families. The depopulation over time is a result of the valley’s loss of strategic importance in the 20th century. Most local inhabitants now live in modern dwellings in the village on the other side of the river, and make a living off agriculture and especially off the tourist trade. In 2011 a new pedestrian bridge was completed linking the old ksar with the modern village, with the aim of making the ksar more accessible and to potentially encourage inhabitants to move back into its historic houses.

The ksar is located on the slopes of a hill next to the Ounila River (Asif Ounila). The village’s buildings are grouped together within a defensive wall that includes corner towers and a gate. They include dwellings of various sizes ranging from modest houses to tall structures with towers. Some of the buildings are decorated in their upper parts with geometric motifs. The village also has a number of public or community buildings such as a mosque, a caravanserai, a kasbah (castle-like fortification), and the Marabout of Sidi Ali or Amer. At the top of the hill, overlooking the ksar, are the remains of a large fortified granary (agadir). There is also a public square, a Muslim cemetery, and a Jewish cemetery. Outside the ksar’s walls was an area where grain was grown and threshed. Wikipedia

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An image of Ait Benhaddou

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Royal Natal National Park is an 80.94-square-kilometer (31.25 sq mi) park in KwaZulu-Natal province, South Africa, and forms part of the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park World Heritage Site. Notwithstanding the name, it is actually not a South African National Park managed by the SANParks, but rather a Provincial Park managed by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife. This park is now included in the Maloti-Drakensberg Transfrontier Conservation Area Peace Park.

The Drakensberg Mountains were once the hunting ground of the San people (bushmen). Though the San no longer live in the area, they recorded their exploits in the form of remarkable rock paintings.

The main features of the park are the Drakensberg Amphitheatre, a rock wall 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) long by up to 1,200 meters (3,900 ft) high, Mont-Aux-Sources peak where the Orange and Tugela rivers have their source, and the 948-meter (3,110 ft) Tugela Falls, the world’s second-highest waterfall. A distinctive rock feature and popular hiking destination in the park is the so-called “Policeman’s Helmet”. Wikipedia

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An image from Royal Natal National Park

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The king penguin is the second largest species of penguin, smaller, but somewhat similar in appearance to the emperor penguin. There are two subspecies: A. p. patagonicus and A. p. halli; patagonicus is found in the South Atlantic and halli in the South Indian Ocean (at the Kerguelen Islands, Crozet Island, Prince Edward Islands, and Heard Island and McDonald Islands) and at Macquarie Island.

King penguins mainly eat lanternfish, squid, and krill. On foraging trips, king penguins repeatedly dive to over 100 meters (300 ft) and have been recorded at depths greater than 300 meters (1,000 ft). Predators of the king penguin include giant petrels, skuas, the snowy sheathbill, the leopard seal, and the orca.

King penguins breed on the Subantarctic islands at the northern reaches of Antarctica, South Georgia, and other temperate islands of the region.

The king penguin stands at 70 to 100 cm (28 to 39 in) tall and weighs from 9.3 to 18 kg (21 to 40 lb). Although female and male king penguins are monomorphic they can be separated by their calls. Males are also slightly larger than females. The mean body mass of adults from Marion Island was 12.4 kg (27 lb) for 70 males and 11.1 kg (24 lb) for 71 females. Another study from Marion Island found that the mean mass of 33 adults feeding chicks was 13.1 kg (29 lb). The king penguin is approximately 25% shorter and weighs around 1/3rd less than the emperor penguin.

At first glance, the king penguin appears very similar to the larger, closely related emperor penguin, with a broad cheek patch contrasting with surrounding dark feathers and yellow-orange plumage at the top of the chest. However, the cheek patch of the adult king penguin is a solid bright orange whereas that of the emperor penguin is yellow and white, and the upper chest tends to be more orange and less yellowish in the king species. Both have colorful markings along the side of their lower mandible, but these tend towards pink in emperor penguins and orange in king penguins. Emperor and king penguins typically do not inhabit the same areas in the wild, with the possible exception of vagrants at sea, but the two can readily be distinguished from one another by the king’s longer, straighter bill, larger flippers, and noticeably sleeker body. The juvenile king penguin with its long bill and heavy dark brown down are completely different in appearance from the mostly grey emperor chick with its distinctive black and white mask. Once molted of its brown juvenile plumage, the king chick resembles the adult but is somewhat less colorful.

king penguins often breed on the same large, circumpolar islands as at least half of all living penguins, but it is easily distinguished from other species by its much larger size and taller frame, distinctive colorful markings, and grizzled sooty-greyish rather than blackish back. Wikipedia

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An image of a King Penguin Colony South Georgia Island

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