Photo of the Day (7/16/07)

Not a beautiful scene, but a poignant one. The shore of Lake Tanganyika in Congo, shot by Martin Baran.

Not every beautiful beach is a peaceful one. It may be the world’s second largest (by volume) and second deepest freshwater lake, but it’s in a region where trouble is constant.

The first Western explorers to find it were Burton and Speke, while searching for the source of the Nile. The Congo side was used by Che Guevara to stage a coup against the Congolese government over a hundred years later.

Here’s hoping this region can find lasting peace, and future pictures taken here will show children making sandcastles.