GABON: Loango National Park
A tropical sunset bounces color off clouds and sea at a lagoon on the Gabon coast. As the tide shifts, it washes in sand that builds up into sandbars, blocking seawater from entering the lagoons. Fresh river water then fills the basins until a storm or the next tide breaks the barrier and starts the cycle anew.
Photograph by Michael Nichols
"Land of the Surfing Hippos," August 2004