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Atacama Desert  

                      The Atacama desert is the driest place on the planet. Hemmed in by the Andes to the east and coastal mountains to the west, some parts of the region have never recorded a single drop of rain. Spanish explorers referred to it as the “despoblado de Atacama,” suggesting it was uninhabitable. Charles Darwin described it simply as “a complete and utter desert” in the Voyage of the Beagle. Traversing the landscape, he reported, “I saw only one other vegetable production, and that was a most minute yellow lichen, growing […]

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