Life DIY

A castle fit for a count Peeking out above the trees in the Fgra Mountains of Romania is Poenari Castle, an ancient structure steeped in history and legend. In the 15th century this castle was occupied by the notoriously ruthless Vlad III, aka Vlad the Impaler, aka Vlad Dracula. Vlad wasn’t a vampire, but he was known for treating his enemies with particular cruelty. His bloody resistance to Ottoman encroachment would make him a national hero and the subject of much folklo...re, some of it gruesome. These tales are probably what inspired author Bram Stoker to name his fictional vampire Count Dracula. Poenari Castle continued to be used following Vlad's death in 1476 but was abandoned decades later. It fell into ruin over the centuries, as earthquakes and landslides sent parts of the building down the cliff and into the Arge River below. Visiting the ruins today requires determination and stamina. It's a climb up 1,480 steps to the citadel walls. Unless you can turn into a bat and fly straight to the top.

Anse Source d'Argent beach, La Digue island, Seychelles Our image looks across a stretch of sand on La Digue, one of the islands of the Republic of Seychelles. The fantastically scenic islands that make up the Seychelles sit in a far corner of the Indian Ocean. The closest mainland is the African coast, more than 900 miles to the west, and the island nation of Madagascar lies nearly as far to the south. A species of reptile, the Aldabra giant tortoise, sometimes appears on the beaches of La Digue. The Aldabra atoll is where the primary population of these tortoises live, but they’re also found on La Digue. They were hunted nearly to extinction by 1840, and although they’re still listed as ‘vulnerable’, the gentle giants have bounded back some since then.