Deserts of Africa
25 deserts.
Sahara
The largest hot desert. Almost as large as the United States. Summer highs regularly excee...
Kalahari Desert
Not a true desert - receives 250-500 mm of rain but the sand drains instantly. Home to the...
Namib Desert
The oldest desert on Earth at 55-80 million years. Its dunes around Sossusvlei are among t...
Danakil Desert
The hottest place on Earth by year-round average temperature at 34.4C. Contains Dallol, th...
Sahara detail
The Sahara was green during the African Humid Period 11,000-5,000 years ago. Rock art show...
Sahara West
The Saharan silver ant forages at surface temperatures up to 70C for only 10 minutes at a ...
Sahara Central
The Tenere means desert in Tuareg. One of the hottest and driest parts of the Sahara. A si...
Hammada
Hammada is the rocky desert plateau covering about 70% of the Sahara. Not sand but bare ro...
Danakil detail
The Afar people mine salt by hand in 50C heat, cutting blocks from the ancient lake bed. T...
Namib detail
The fairy circles are circular bare patches whose origin is still debated. The desert elep...
Sahara South
The transition zone between the Sahara and tropical Africa. 12 hectares lost to desertific...
Sahara detail 2
The Sahara pumps 27 million tons of dust across the Atlantic to the Amazon each year, fert...
Ethiopian Desert
Lucy, the 3.2 million year old hominid, was found in the Afar region. The Danakil Depressi...
Skeleton Coast
Named for the whale bones and shipwrecks along the shore. The Benguela Current creates den...
Kaokoveld Desert
An extension of the Namib into northwest Namibia. The Himba people coat themselves in red ...
Karoo
Means dry place in Khoikhoi. Divided into Great Karoo and Little Karoo. Rich in fossils - ...
Madagascar spiny desert
A unique spiny forest ecosystem. 95% of plant species are endemic. Baobab trees dot the la...
Somali Desert
The Chalbi Desert in northern Kenya is a former lake bed. During rare rains it becomes a s...
Gilf Kebir
A remote plateau in southwest Egypt. The Cave of Swimmers has 10,000 year old rock art sho...
Blue Desert
An area near Dahab where rocks are painted blue as a peace monument after the 1973 war. A ...
Sahara Morocco
The Erg Chebbi dunes near Merzouga are the most accessible Saharan dunes. Dunes reach 150 ...
Libyan Desert
The northeastern part of the Sahara and one of the driest places on Earth. Contains the Gr...
Nubian Desert
Lies east of the Nile between the river and the Red Sea in northeastern Sudan. A rocky san...
Great Sand Sea
A vast field of long parallel dunes along the Egypt-Libya border. Libyan desert glass, a n...
White Desert
A protected area north of the Farafra oasis known for its white chalk formations. Wind ero...