A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and therefore living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. Despite these complicated conditions, deserts are stunning landscapes full of mystery and beauty covering nearly one-third of Earth’s surface. A lot of travelers dream of visiting and exploring desserts, so if visiting a desert is also on your bucket list, check out these 8 most beautiful deserts in the world and perhaps it will be an inspiration for your next holidays.
1. Sahara Desert
Probably the most famous desert in the world, the Sahara Desert is located in North Africa and has an area of more than 9 200 000 square kms. It is the largest hot desert in the world and covers most of Mauritania, Western Sahara, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Niger, and Mali.
2. Namib Desert
Namib is a coastal desert in southern Africa. The name Namib is of Khoekhoegowab origin and means “vast place”. Despite the hard living conditions, a number of unusual species of plants and animals are found in this desert-like Gemsboks (Oryx gazella), the biggest antelopes found in the Namib.
3. Salar de Uyuni
Salar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat with an area of over 10000 square kms. Located in Bolivia, one of my dreams is to visit this amazing place. There are a lot of beautiful pictures token here with all of sorts of awesome poses. There is than 1 billion tons of salt in this desert and it reflects the sun to create an eerie mirror effect, looking totally magical.
4. Atacama Desert
The Atacama Desert is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1600km strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. You can find more than 500 species living in this desert and their extraordinary ability to adapt to this extreme environment is just incredible.
5. Painted Desert
Located in Arizona this beautiful desert has extraordinary colors from vibrant red to orange, blue to purple, painted across the landscape. It runs from near the east end of Grand Canyon National Park to the southeast into Petrified Forest National Park. It is easily accessed from the north portion of the Petrified Forest National Park.
6. Pinnacles Desert
Pinnacles Desert are limestone formations within Nambung National Park, near the town of Cervantes in Western Australia. Containing thousands of weathered limestone pillars, some of the tallest reach a height of up to 3.5m above the yellow sand base. Sometimes you can also find kangaroos here! The best time to visit is the months of August to October, as the days are mild and the wildflowers and Acacia trees begin to bloom in the spring which is August to November in Australia.
7. Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert is located in southeastern California and southern Nevada, with smaller portions in Utah and Arizona and is considered the smallest and the driest desert in the United States. The Mojave Desert is a rain-shadow desert, defined by a combination of latitude, elevation, geology, and indicator plants, and if you want to visit this desert the best time is probably during the fall when the temperatures are not too hot. Even so, don’t forget plenty of water to drink!
8. Thar Desert
The Thar Desert, also known as the Great Indian Desert, is the world’s 17th-largest desert and 9th-largest hot subtropical desert. Most of the desert area is covered by huge, shifting sand dunes that receive sediments from the alluvial plains and the coast. This desert is also home to many lizard and snake species.
