Travel Photos to Have You Hopping a Plane and Jetsetting the World ...

There are loads of competitions for the best travel photos and the entries are always simply stunning. I would hate to be a judge who has to decide on a travel photographer of the year. I always love too many too much. BBC.co.uk recently published the winning entries from their 2016 Travel Photographer of the Year awards. Please enjoy these fabulous travel photos.

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. #1

atmospheric phenomenon, atmosphere, geological phenomenon, weather, lava, An aerial image by overall winner Joel Santos offers a rare glimpse of the inside of Ethiopia's Erta Ale, which means "Smoking Mountain" in the local Afar language. It's also locally known as the Gateway To Hell, being one of the world’s oldest continuously active lava lakes and the country's most active volcano. Temperatures can reach a staggering 1,100F (594C).

. #2

wall, wood, texture, floor, carving, Another aerial photo by Santos shows salt miners guiding a dromedary and donkey caravan through this desert's unique salt patterns. Temperatures in this area of Ethiopia, called Danakil Depression, rarely fall below 50C (122F). While working on the hottest place in earth, miners earn on average £5 a day.

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. #3

reflection, lake, atmospheric phenomenon, natural environment, body of water, In Tanzania, Mount Lengai towers next to Lake Natron, where flamingos flock to feed. This image was taken by 13-year-old Ankit Kumar who won the 14 and under category. An active volcano, Ol Doinyo Lengai, known simply as Lengai, is the only volcano in the world to erupt natrocarbonatite lava, which appears black rather than having a red glow.

. #4

sea, Darpan Basak was the winner of Young Travel Photographer of the Year with this image of fishermen casting their nets in the Bay of Bengal in Shankarpur, India.

. #5

black, black and white, statue, sculpture, monochrome, Chinese photographer Ruiyuan Chen won the Mankind category, with his images of the Yi people who live in the Daliang Mountains of Sichuan province, China.

. #6

snow, weather, winter, geological phenomenon, season, Runner up Panos Laskarakis took this image on Falakro Oros, a mountain in Greece. He describes it as "mysterious and ancient celebrations in the forests on the mountain".

. #7

geological phenomenon, wave, ice, arctic, This image by Sandra Bartocha was taken in Svalbard, Norway and was the joint winner of the best single image in the Land, Sea, Sky category.

. #8

habitat, natural environment, landform, geographical feature, ecosystem, Stephan Furnrohr's photograph of the White Desert, Egypt was taken at night, and was named runner-up. The sand dunes in the moonlight give a blue cast over the landscape.

. #9

black and white, photograph, horse, image, photography, Beniamino Pisati's image was taken in Bayankhongor province, Mongolia and won the Journeys and Adventures category. In the grasslands, owners leave the horses to live semi-wild in herds that can reach up to several hundred animals. The Mongolian people learn to ride as very young children and these horses are lassoed with great skill.

. #10

folk dance, dance, sports, event, festival, Runner-up Timothy Allen followed a pilgrimage to El Rocio, a town in Andalucia, Spain. This image captures people celebrating at the end of the four-day journey.

. #11

fire, flame, geological phenomenon, bonfire, darkness, On 16 January every year, the festival of Saint Anton takes place in San Bartolome de Pinares, Spain. The village priest blesses the horses and they march in procession, jumping the bonfires of the village as a purifying symbol. Lluis Salvado captures this fiery scene and won the Best Single Image in the Journeys and Adventures category.

. #12

flower, invertebrate, Rudi Sebastian's photograph was taken at a small pond at the rural border of Berlin. Male moor frogs in their bright blue mating colour tried to mate with a common toad, which almost drowned. He remembered: "It took about 30 minutes before she managed to free herself and reach dry ground."

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