To this day, Havana is one of the most architecturally diverse cities in the world, and safe to say, a city photographer’s paradise. Its buildings clearly mirror its social and political history ever since the Spanish colonial times, up to the more modern present day.

The town of Rio Sucio hosts the Carnaval del Diablo (Festival of the Devil) on odd numbered years biannually, in a party to ward off sadness. The event is a synthesis of indigenous pagan and Catholic beliefs and features feasts, costumes, dancing, music, and poetry under the spell of sugar cane liquor. Festivities end with the reading of the testament, a burning of the devil and the burying of the gourd.

The Carnaval de Negros y Blancos, or Festival of Blacks and Whites, is one of the major events in Southern Colombia, celebrated in Pasto over a week in early January. It has earned UNESCO designation for being a masterpiece in oral and intangible heritage of humanity. The first day of the celebration involves the Colonies Parade, a rock concert where farmers offer tributes of flowers and songs to the Virgin of Mercy in return for a good harvest. Day two is the Children’s Carnival followed by the Arrival of the Castaneda Family on the third, a colorful cartoon with all the stereotypes including a pregnant bride and a drunk priest. Day four and five are Blacks and Whites Day respectively followed by a Grand Parade on the fifth. The final day is devoted to Rural Culture and a Cuys Festival.

These mighty creatures are the largest species of crocodile and predator in the Americas. They are also critically endangered, having been mercilessly hunted for their skins in the 19th and 20th centuries. Seeing an Orinoco crocodile in the wild is extremely unlikely, and only really possible in the isolated Tuparro National park on the Venezuelan border. However, luckily for all budding herpetologists, there is a thriving Orinoco crocodile breeding and reintroduction programme at Wisirare Park in the eastern plains of Casanare department, where visitors can get up close and personal with some of the 17 feet (5.18 meter) giants.
Fun fact: Colombia is the second most biodiverse country on the planet and no. 1 in biodiversity per square mile. This South American nation has truly remarkable wildlife that dedicated naturalists can seek out and enjoy observing.

Other musicians from Equatorial Guinea include Malabo Strit Band, Luna Loca, Chiquitin, Dambo de la Costa, Ngal Madunga, Lily Afro and Spain-based exiles like Super Momo, Hijas del Sol and Baron Ya Buk-Lu.