Just to clarify, we’re not talking about desserts, even though it’s also important to know where you’re eating your ice cream. We’re talking about deserts, the vast spaces of sand that are so simple yet so fascinating.
The majority of us choose an exotic location for our next holiday, and the greener the better – if it has blue ocean water all around us even better. But you live only once, and our planet is filled with so many beautiful places that it would definitely be a shame not to see everything it offers us.
One such place that we rarely wish to visit but we simply have to is a desert. And not just any desert; if you choose to embark on such an adventure you might as well make sure that you explore some of the world’s greatest deserts. Scroll down to see which are worth visiting, how to get around and what these sandy heavens have to offer.
Atacama Desert
The greatest desert of Chile is located between two mountains, the Andes and the Chilean Coast Range, and even now you can figure out why the spectacular view of the sandy valley ahead of you and the mountains in the distances make for such an amazing place to see.
This is the driest desert in the world, which means that you have to be prepared beforehand with lots of water and food. The average rainfall in the Atacama is about 1mm per year and some locations never experience rainfall, which is pretty fascinating.
Apart from the glorious cracks in the sand that you will witness the Atacama Desert is a great place for stargazing, and sometimes you might even be able to see the Milky Way with your naked eye.
The best way to experience this desert is by renting a good car and driving around. What you could also do is explore the towns that are very close to the desert and find good accommodation there as this place is a great tourist destination. You can then continue your trip by visiting Machu Picchu as it is something that everyone has to see at least once before in their lifetime.
The Great Victoria Desert
It would be a shame to visit more than one desert on one continent, and that’s why The Great Victoria Desert in Australia is a great place to visit – it’s not that popular as other African deserts, yet the sights are completely mesmerising.
The Great Victoria Desert is the largest desert in Australia and if you want to see it you have to be fully prepared. First of all, make sure that you have a good car as getting around the desert is not an easy endeavour. As many opt for the Kia Sportage model of a car it’s also worth considering something different for the desert, so reading about Escape vs Sportage cars is a good thing to do before embarking on this adventure (after all you need a more powerful car for this purpose).
The vegetation in this desert might surprise you – even though TGVD is a desert plants in Australia are used to growing with no or little water. Make sure to stay on the main road and you will find yourself passing by some of the great original Aboriginal lands.
Sahara Desert
The most popular desert in the world, and at the same time the largest, Sahara is a place where thousands of tourists visit every year, meaning that it’s totally worth it. Some parts of this desert haven’t even been penetrated by tourists, but there is a plethora of significant areas that should be explored starting from the dry yet amazing orange sea, to the perfect dunes sculpted by the wind.
There are two popular ways of getting around Sahara, and if you’re staying in Morocco, Tunisia (where some parts of Star Wars were filmed) or Egypt, you should definitely allocate two days for this exquisite excursion.
The first one is by seeing the spectacular sights while slowly marching on a camel – it is slow but you will get to see and experience everything in detail. The other way is the 4WD expedition, which is faster and you will get to range further into the desert. If you’re up for a challenge sleeping in a tent in the middle of the desert is a must-do, but if you opt for this step make sure that you do it somewhere between October and April as this is the best time to visit this orange beauty.
With New Year just around the corner, it would be a good idea to list “exploring a desert” as a resolution, and actually make it happen in 2019. You’ll have an amazing time, see something new and finally make your Instagram account a bit more diverse!
