UNESCO

A rather death-defying emergency exit staircase on the east façade of the UNESCO Headquarters building in Paris.

First day cover of 2011 issue international rate UNESCO stamp showing a Bactrian camel, an endangered species living in the cold deserts of Central Asia.

Qatar

An aerial view of Qatar, presumably of the capital Doha, but there is no information on the back of the card to elucidate the situation.

I had a layover at Doha Airport a few months ago and was utterly despondent to find no postcards for sale there whatsoever. A pretty lacklustre airport to be sure! :-)

Thanks to Maff for agreeing to swap.

A stamp from a series of past World Cup posters, here Mexico 1970, issued to commemorate the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea and Japan. Confusingly, looks rather more like a Mexico stamp than a Qatar one, if you ask me.

Saudi Arabia

Jizan Folklore Dance, Janadriyah Festival, Riyadh.

Janadriyah Festival is a national heritage and folk cultural festival. Traditional activities, including folk dances, camel races, arts and crafts exhibits as well as poetry readings are showcased during the two-week festival. Jizan is a coastal region in the south-west of Saudi Arabia near the border with Yemen. 

Sincere thanks to Oliver for the card.

A rather uninspiring postal rate sticker.

French Southern and Antarctic Lands – Kerguelen

Seaward bound king penguins on Kerguelen Island, a sub-Antarctic island equidistant from African and Australia.

Artedidraco orianae, or plunderfish, lives in Antarctic waters. Funnily enough, it is a common prey for emperor penguins!

Hong Kong

My first received card of 2012 showing the Hong Kong skyline and Victoria Harbour at night.

Stamp shows a red whiskered bulbul. It seems to me that Hong Kong has been using this same stamp for ages although I checked and it was only issued in 2006.