The Most Stunning Deserts of the World - The Traveller

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Monday, September 30, 2019

The Most Stunning Deserts of the World

The Most Stunning Deserts of the World
Desserts in the world are underrated. They receive a significantly small amount of rainfall. They can be either a hot desert or cold desert. Most deserts are quite barren as the dry living condition is too hot to host most plant and animal life. We shouldn’t disrespect the desert because it is so much more than that.
If we imagine, deserts often conjure up a vision of vast empty areas with no life insight. But this isn’t always the case, despite the harsh condition some are home to diverse animal and plant life. They often carry a rich history that can be traced back to millions of years. The continent of Africa is no exception. One-third of the vast African continent is covered by deserts.

Desserts are harsh places, and we love exploring, photographing and learning more about these mystical places. These regions form when regional climate changes resulting in long-lasting drought conditions. Africa’s deserts are home to some of the most extreme landscape and stark conditions on Earth. From volcanic mountains to sand dunes to chalk rock formations, the desert offers a combination of striking beauty and geological wonder.

Take a look at the favourite deserts across the world. 


Syrian Desert 


Syrian Desert is unique for being a combination of a real desert and a steppe meaning low grassland. It is located in the North of the Arabian Peninsula in Syria. The desert is flat but very rocky. The landscape was formed by lava flows emerging from volcanic activities in the region of Jebel Druze in Syria. This desert covers the parts of Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

White Desert Egypt:


While Egypt‘s most popular tourist attractions are the Great Pyramids of Giza and Luxor’s valley of the kings, the country has much to offer than just those spectacular sites. Its lunar looking White Desert is located to the West of the Nile River and is bordered by Sudan to the South, Libya to the west and the Mediterranean Sea to the north. The white desert is home to a chalky, surreal rock formation that looks like a natural sculpture from another planet. If you visit the White Desert, make sure to head to its northern portion to see the impressive crystal mountain; it is a sizeable sparkling rock entirely made of Quartz crystal. These unique formations were, in fact, formed by sandstorms and wind erosion. The White Desert was formerly an ancient sea bed when it dried up. It left behind sedimentary rock layers formed from dead marine plants and animals. The wind swept away the softer rocks leaving behind, the harder rock of the plateau.

Wander through the Namib Desert:


It is the oldest desert in the world. The Namib is a lovely coastal desert that stretches along the Atlantic coast from Angola to the Western Cape province of South Africa. This rugged barren landscape is home to the highest sand dunes in the world. For a truly remote experience, travellers should plan to stay in the Namib Rand Nature Reserve or in Solitaire, both of which are accessible by road. The best times to visit are at any point between June and September when temperatures are manageable and not too hot.

Sahara Dunes, Morocco:


Is a part of the Sahara Desert. It is most welcoming to visitors, accessible from the northern part of Morocco. Let Berbers guide you on a hike from the town of Zagours or camp in Tazzarine; a destination famous among runners for the yearly Marathon des Sables.

The Namib Desert Namibia:


The beautiful Namib is one of the world’s oldest and driest deserts. Its name means an area where there is nothing in Nama a language spoken by some locals in Namibia. The landscape of this stunning region features the biggest sand dunes on the planet and granite peaks. It is home to an impressive amount of wildlife adapted to the area’s dry climate. It’s possible to visit this incredible place by foot, on horseback or by a helicopter.

Great Karoo South Africa:


The Great Karoo is South Africa‘s vast dry heartland. This semi-arid desert is full of exciting features, attractions, craggy mountains, vibrant wildflower, quaint colonial towns and unique wildlife. Visitors come to see the national parks, attend many small-town festivals, go fossil-hunting and stargaze under the big sky.

Makgadikgadi pan:


It is a massive area of bone dry salt pans in Southern Botswana. It is so quiet that you can hear the blood rushing through your veins. The Kalahari Desert landscape is not very welcoming. It is formed by a giant lake that dried up a million years ago. However, if the winter gets substantial rain, the area sprouts bright green grass. It welcomes wildlife like zebra, wild beast and flamingos.

 

Sahara Desert


Sahara Desert: It is one of the largest hot deserts in the world and is the third-largest desert behind Antartica and the Arctic which are north cold deserts. The name of the desert comes from the Arabic word Sahara which means desert. Winds and the rainfall have shaped the Sahara into a landscape of dunes, valleys, flats and sand seas. Camels are some of the most iconic animals of the Sahara. They are known as “Ship of the desert”. They are well adapted for the hot and arid environment according to the San Diego Zoo. The humps on a camel’s back stores fats which can be used for energy and hydration in between meals.

Black Rock Desert


The Black Rock Desert is found in Nevada. It is a quite famous site of The Burning Man. There is an annual weeklong event showing how the construction of Black Rock city took place. During the festival, all traces of it are removed until the following year. Most of the desert is composed of lava beds and alkali flats.

Mojave Desert


Mojave contains Death Valley which sits at an elevation of 282 feet below sea level, making it the lowest point in North America. The trees delineate the boundaries of the region. Las Vegas, Nevada is the Mojave’s largest city.

Greenland


Greenland is the largest non-continental and coldest desert in the world. It is famous for having the largest national park in the world; the North East Greenland National park.

The Atacama Desert is situated in South America. It is considered the driest and non-polar desert in the world. It is noticed that the Atacama Desert has been described as very similar to the Mars surface.

Do visit the amazing African deserts with unique landscapes that merge natural beauty and impressive geological phenomena.

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