George Steinmetz

My wingman, Alain Arnoux, in 2003 as we flew our paragliders over the salt domes of the Dasht-e Kavir, Iran, which awkwardly happened to be on a military rocket range. We were probably the first foreigners to fly a private aircraft in Iran since the 1979 revolution, and the only ones crazy enough to venture into this geological oddity of the Kavir. I was detained three times on that trip on suspicion of spying, but in reality, I was only trying to reveal the extraordinary geography of the world’s most extreme deserts.

Yesterday, I got a note from an Iranian friend in Tehran, who was put in prison for traveling in Iran’s remote deserts. I don’t know if I was smart or lucky, but I am deeply indebted to an amazing Iranian crew who helped me complete what now seems like a real Mission Impossible. The second photo is a selfie after a high-wind landing in the Kavir. As the saying goes, take-offs are optional, but landings are mandatory!

Tens of thousands leaped into the Sokoto River in Nigeria last Saturday to fish with hand-held nets on the final day of the Argungu Fishing and Cultural Festival. The quasi-annual tradition began over 80 years ago at this bend in the river, which is has the best fishing in the area, and this was the first day it had been open in six years. The winner caught a 130-lb catfish and won a new car plus a million Naira ($750).

The Monday morning water taxi from Ganvié, Benin, to the mainland makes stops for breakfast in the town’s floating market. Known as the “Venice of Africa”with a population of some 20,000, Ganvié was built on stilts at the edge of Lake Nokoué to escape the slave trade in the 17th Century by the Tofinu people to escape the slave trade. They have developed a unique form of aquaculture, and now sell their excess catch of fish across the lake in the capital, Cotonou.