Plus: the day dinosaurs died; don’t touch ‘dragon toes’
|  | Thursday, March 24, 2022 | | | | |
| In this newsletter, Iranian railway gets a UNESCO nod; why you shouldn’t forage for ‘dragon toes’; the day the dinosaurs died; a rare snake discovered in Alabama … and where cricket-catching is booming. | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPHS BY MATTHIEU PALEY | |
By Maura Friedman, photo editor
In Iran, train travel can feel akin to time travel.
“When you sit on the train from Tehran and go towards the south, you suddenly change seasons in a matter of hours,” says Yeganeh Morakabati, a scholar who researches tourism in the Middle East and Africa. “You’re talking about a complete change of scenery and even languages. It’s phenomenal.”
The Trans-Iranian Railway route stretches along the Caspian Sea, fertile agricultural fields, dozens of national parks, the highest peak in Iran, and some of the oldest structures in the region. Nat Geo Explorer and photographer Matthieu Paley took in the full, meandering route, making images that distill the golden light and rich tones of the country. (Above, travelers ride on an overnight train to Zahedan, Iran.)
As writer Gulnaz Khan reports, between World War II and the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Iran was considered the top destination in the Middle East. In 1977, the nation received more than 70,000 American visitors; by 2010 that number had dwindled to 400.
Now, with Middle East tourism on the rise, Iran has invested in infrastructure— including 4,300 miles of new railways—with the aim of attracting 20 million visitors by 2025.
“I have this sense that a lot of people think that Iranians aren’t open to foreigners because the country has been very isolated for so many years,” says Martin Lashkari, an Iranian travel blogger. “But it’s just the opposite.” (Below, the ride northeast from Andimeshk to Dorud crosses the Zagros Mountains.)
Read the full article and see more photos here.
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 | ILLUSTRATION BY DAVIDE BONADONNA
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| | Butting heads: At more than 440 pounds, male oryxes certainly can dig in their hooves in a clash with an opponent—and their formidable horns only add drama to these encounters. Challenges between antelope don’t usually end in serious injury, but a territorial skirmish for dominance isn’t an uncommon sight, photographer and Nat Geo Explorer at Large Beverly Joubert reports. It’s the predators that hunt these striking antelope that need to be especially careful—for the unwary, getting impaled is a real possibility. | | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY ISTOCKPHOTO, GETTY IMAGES | | | Look, but don’t touch: Gooseneck barnacles (pictured above), a seafood delicacy, fetch as much as $100 per pound at top restaurants in Europe. Along the Oregon coast of Tillamook Bay, they’re free to anyone who shells out $28 for a permit. But even careful plucking could lead to shrinking populations, robbing the shoreline of one of its natural treasures. | | | |
 | Species that have become extinct will never come back. And with them go millions of years of evolution that could have helped us understand more about the history of the Earth and where we came from and where we are going.
| | | Marina Rivero
| | Conservationist and Nat Geo Explorer | | |
 | PHOTOGRAPH BY JASPER DOEST
| | | Business is hopping: After each rainy season, throngs of Ugandans take off work to go out and catch jumping insects, a key source of protein. Salted and fried, the crickets are a delicacy in the country, sold for two dollars a bag at open-air markets, taxi parks, and roadsides. But overharvesting and climate change could threaten the future of the food, Halima Athumani reports, leading to pressure to make cricket collecting more sustainable. (Pictured above, a slow shutter speed captures flight patterns of cone-headed bush crickets, commonly called grasshoppers or “nsenene” in Uganda.) | | | |
| This newsletter was curated and edited by Monica Williams, Jen Tse, and David Beard. Do you have an idea or feedback for us? Let us know. If you want our daily newsletter, sign up here. | |
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