News & Blogs Chilean Desert Blooms: Travel & Train Destination?

Odin

ANTISOLIPSIST
This Is What Happens When Rain Falls On The Earth’s Driest Desert
http://www.boredpanda.com/atacama-flowers-bloom-worlds-driest-desert/

(The first photo is majestic. I don't know if it would be a possible cheap destination, though worth seeing if your in the right place and time in South America.
Also, note the freight in the background of the second photo... huh riding through the Atacama Desert during the bloom might be possible?) :)

Edit: Gonna add vid at bottom.




The Atacama desert in Chile is the driest non-polar desert on Earth, but even this seemingly barren wasteland can burst with life under the right conditions. If the desert experiences heavy rainfall during the Southern Hemisphere’s spring (October, November), the flowers ‘hibernating’ beneath its surface suddenly bloom with an explosion of color, eager to take advantage of the rain.

This year’s bloom was brought on by the same weather patterns that spawned Hurricane Patricia, the most powerful hurricane to make landfall on record. “The intensity of blooms this year has no precedent,” Daniel Diaz, the National Tourism Service director in Atacama, told the EFE news agency. “And the fact that it has happened twice in a same year has never been recorded in the country’s history. We are surprised.”

Though Diaz attributes the extraordinary phenomenon to climate change, locals have been thankful for the tourism boost the event has brought to the region. More than 20,000 tourists are expected to visit the desert to see the extraordinary bloom. This isn’t the only place in the world that gets desert blooms, however – these deserts in Utah experience a similar phenomenon.


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Image credits: Mario Ruiz / EFE



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That would be amazing to see the desert after a rainstorm. On one of my Brother's tours (bicycle) - he happened to be at the desert just at the right time (somewhere out west) and his pictures were awesome.
 
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Ahhh... took a minute but I found this excellent vid of freight rolling through the Atacama area. About the 10 min mark to about 13:30 has an excellent shot.

You tube description mentions locations: "Capturas entre Mina Los Colorados / Chacrita / Hacienda Marañon / Vallenar....."

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