South African government officials say plans to use tourism as an economic development tool to empower disenfranchised communities are starting to bear fruit.

Mustaches the size of boomerangs feature regularly in the wild, woolly, whiskered world of international beard and mustache competitions.

Author Anthony Brandt follows the trail of Lewis and Clark on the 200th anniversary of their expedition to open up the U.S. West.

St. Patrick was born in Britain, not Ireland, and stout may be good for your heart. Read more facts in our roundup of St. Patrick's Day trivia.

Colombia President Alvaro Uribe's request to Panama to build a road through the wilds of the Darién Gap has drawn fire from political and environmental leaders.

Four tiger cubs born in Chinese zoos are slowly being introduced to the South African wilderness. The hope is they will to survive on their own before being introduced into sanctuaries being prepared for them in China.

Americans needn't avoid Europe just because the dollar is in the dumps. Spring offers a less touristy experience, good weather, and more bang for the buck.

Since making Titanic, director James Cameron has hardly left the ocean floor. So what is the self-described science groupie looking for?

Freakish and fast-moving, the river phenomena known as tide waves have given rise to a new extreme sport: tidal-bore surfing.

If you're smart, you'll never come within spitting distance of a cobra. A new study confirms they deliberately, and accurately, aim for the eyes.

Climate change, sprawl, and alien-species invasion are threatening South Africa's fynbos, the main vegetation type of the smallest, yet richest, of the world's six floral kingdoms.

The rural Louisiana version of Mardi Gras is becoming known for its often comedic, chaotic, and beer-fueled chicken chases.

The reggae icon and Rastafarian would have been 60 this Sunday. Fans are thronging celebrations in Ethiopia, seen as a sort of Rastafarian holy land.

Today conservationists named nine new areas of mind-boggling species richness that are under assault from human activity.

Archaeologists hope to prove a skeleton is that of the first leader of the English colony at Jamestown, Virginia. The answer may lie in the DNA of two of Capt. Bartholomew Gosnold's relatives—and the search begins today.