5 Extraordinary Deserts Worth Sweating Over

Photo courtesy of Thinkstock

Their vast landscapes offer up some of the most unworldly sights to grace the planet. Although most deserts offer sand as far as the eye can see, there are a few that do more than put the sun on our backs and sand in our shoes. Some like these five deserts flaunt bold colors and lush landscapes. And for that reason, we must give a special shout out to them for being more than ordinary.

Egypt: The Black Desert

One way to stand out amid the sea of barren deserts is to completely change your color.  The Black Desert has successfully become one of the world’s most unique landscapes by dressing in dolerite, a volcanic material that trickles down from the surrounding eroding mountains. 

While some may call the Black Desert strange, it certainly is eye-popping especially if you’ve never seen a desert wear a black coat. Visitors can trek the English Mountain in order to capture a bird’s-eye-view of its rustic beauty or explore its sandy carpet with a tour guide from the nearby areas of Farafra or Bahariya.

Bolivia:  Salvador Dali Desert

Bolivia is rich with drastic landscapes that continuously draw tourists from near and far, and the Salvador Dali Desert is no different. After all, much of its beauty has been restored on blank canvases of the painter whose name the desert shares. 

With an elevation of 4,500 meters, the clear blue sky never seemed so close from such a bare landscape.  And as imposing mountains seem to be caving in, the Salvador Dali Desert’s moon-like features have created a destination where visitors can actually step into a world-class painting.

Arizona: The Painted Desert   

Beautiful bands of colors decorate the Painted Desert like a rainbow in the sky.  Although it lies amid the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forest National Park, it stands in a league of its own by flaunting every hue as though someone emptied a box of crayons onto its collection of rock formations. 

Thankfully, we can give props to Mother Nature for allowing earthquakes, floods and volcanic spew to run havoc, which are all to blame for its drastic features. Not to leave out the sandstone and clay that also intertwine with the sun’s rays to produce such an unearthly color-coated appearance. 

Southwestern, US: Sonoran Desert

You may be wondering how a landscape so rich in vegetation could be considered a desert?

That’s because it receives less than 10 inches of rain annually, although it rains more here than in the average desert. The Sonoran Desert is the driest of all North American deserts and so vast it is divided into different subdivisions that ranges from lush to dry areas.  Even its legume trees and columnar cacti have adapted to the harsh temperatures here. 

And many of its diverse species of plants have learned how to survive also by boring into the ground and living beneath the soil. Measuring about 100,000 square miles, the Sonoran Desert's terrain proves not all deserts have to be completely desolate to be interesting.  Some like this one defy all odds with spaces appearing like an untamed garden.

Ethiopia: Danakil Desert

If you thought taking a trip to the Caribbean was a great way to bask under the sun, then you haven’t been the “Cruelest Place on Earth.” The Danakil Desert is plagued by boiling temperatures that glisten on its pools of green, yellow, red and orange salt deposits intensified by volcanic activity.

Known as the hottest place on earth, the more you venture onto its terrain the more scorching it becomes, especially in the Danakil Depression, which is an unbearable area of the desert that is located 30 meters below sea level. The Danakil Desert is home to Ethiopia’s Afar people who have grown accustomed to its boiling temperatures. Although tourists come from all areas of the world to visit this strange phenomenon, the Danakil remains their beloved possession that is just too hot to let go.