Travel to the most beautiful deserts in Africa It will mean a great dose of adventure, but also find dramatic landscapes. It's not surprising that some of these places, while simple, are some of the most beautiful on the planet.
As if all this weren't enough, the desert has a magic for spirits. Its simplicity and vastness help you realize the unnecessaryness of material possessions, they help you get rid of worldly worries and connect with nature. However, without further ado, we will show you some of the most beautiful deserts in Africa.
The most beautiful deserts in Africa: What can you see in them?
Sahara Desert
With nearly two and a half million square kilometers, this desert in which we are very close is the largest desert in the world among hot deserts (the third after the Arctic and Antarctic deserts). In fact, it extends from the Red Sea until the Atlantic Ocean, taking up most of North Africa. Exactly to the south it reaches the Sahel region, which is a transition to the Sudanese steppe.
As you can imagine, in such a large estate, you have a lot to see. For this reason, we will only tell you about some truly breathtaking sites that are among the most beautiful of the Sahara. Likewise, we will only do it for people who are in the Moroccan area. Those in southern Algeria or Libya may be at risk due to political instability in the region.
We will start with Merzouga, a small town located in the southeast of Morocco, where you can see unforgettable sunsets. But we'll talk about him, above all, because very close you'll find the Erg chebbi, one of the most spectacular sets of dunes in the entire Sahara. Some of them are up to 200 meters tall and with their orange tones, give you an extraordinary view.
Nor should you miss the draa valley, where you will find the desert as you have always imagined it. That is to say, the sands are vast and occasionally become an oasis of palm groves.
However, if you like Africa's giant populations best, you can't avoid a visit to Ouarzazate, dubbed the "door of the desert" and also the "Hollywood of the Sahara." This last name is due to the many movies that have been shot in this place.
In Ouarzazate, you must see the impressive kasbah by the Taourirt, a burnt-brick fortress built in the XNUMXth century to protect the old golden route. But you should also visit its central market, full of locales; Almouahidine square and craft market.
Finally, about fifteen miles from the previous town, you have a kasbah that holds the title of World Heritage Site. It was Ait ben haddou, a great walled Berber fortress in a state of magnificent preservation.
Kalahari Desert
Namibia This is one of the countries in Africa with the most deserts. In particular, the Kalahari occupies part of its surface, but there are also wide swaths of Botswana y South Africa (here we leave you with an article about the country later), as it covers an area of almost a million square kilometers. square.The first time a foreigner crossed it was in 1849. His name will sound familiar to you, as it said of David livingstone, the discoverer of Victoria Falls. And, out of curiosity, we will tell you that «kgalagadi» means «great thirst». In this majestic desert you can find Chobe National Park, which is characterized by an abundance of elephants, although it also has an abundance of buffalo, hippos, giraffes and galloping horses. However, to spot lions, you must head to the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Also prominent in this desert is Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park, but, above all, Makgadikgadi Salt Flats, one of the largest in the world. They were formed when the giant lake of the same name dried up, which thousands of years ago occupied an area larger than Switzerland. They are very hospitable so this has contributed to their preservation. Humans hardly interfere with them.
Old Namib Desert
Among the most beautiful deserts in Africa, the Namib also stands out for its age, as it is considered the oldest in the world. In fact, it is believed to have existed 65 million years ago. And this is one of the reasons why it has been declared a World Heritage Site.
As you can guess from its name, it is also found in Namibia and it covers an area of about eighty thousand square kilometers. If you visit it, its red sands will grab your attention, but also some of its most interesting spots.
To begin with, at one end is Cape Croos, where Europeans first set foot in 1486. Today, this is home to the largest reserve of sea bears in all of Africa.
Close to the former, you also have the famous Skeleton Coast, which is one of the hardest to reach areas by road in the country. It got its name because of the number of stranded boats and whale skeletons in the area.
But perhaps the most fascinating is Namib Naukluft Park, where you can see sand dunes as high as three hundred meters. Finally, as a curiosity, at one end of the Namib Desert is the ghost town of kolmanskop, a mining town built by the Germans in the early XNUMXth century as a haven for metal seekers. diamond.
Danakil
Located to the south of Eritrea and to the northwest of Egypt, this full Horn of Africa desert is considered to be one of the lowest and hottest places on the planet, with temperatures over 10 degrees Celsius.
It covers an area of nearly two hundred and twenty thousand square kilometers and features volcanoes, large salt flats and lava-formed lakes. Among the former, dabbah, with an altitude of 1442 meters, and ale, are smaller, but still active.
The most curious thing about this hospitable desert, however, is that it is home to the Afar People, a nomadic herding ethnic group characterized by their large curved knives and their fringed hair. They built their makeshift houses or Aris with branches and fabric forming towns called donkeys.
The Tenerife Desert, an extension of the Sahara
We have left to the end of one of Africa's most beautiful deserts, in fact, an extension of the Sahara in its southern part. But we treat it separately because of its many peculiarities. In fact, "teneré" means "desert" in the Tuareg language.
Covering an area of about four hundred thousand square kilometers, it stretches from the west side of the snapper to the northeast of Nigeria. And, before we go on to tell you about him, we couldn't resist telling you about his other curiosities. It pauses the call The Tree of Ténéré, the only place recognized as the loneliest place in the world, as it is the only one for many kilometers around. In 1973 it was destroyed by a truck and today a metal sculpture recalling it has taken its place.
But the Ténéré ranks among the most beautiful deserts in Africa for other reasons. To begin with, because of the huge and desolate landscape of sand it forms. But there are also many archeological sites on which it resides. Perhaps, about ten thousand years ago, its climate was different because it was inhabited.
In fact Tassili n'Ajjer, a plain in the region, is one of the most important sets of rock art in the world. No less than fifteen thousand specimens of paintings and engravings from the Neolithic period have been found that show the life and customs of the indigenous people in this area. They mainly correspond to the kiffian culture.
On the other hand, in the area corresponding to Niger there are the Aïr mountains, a massif with a Sahelian climate with peaks as high as 1800 meters and impressive geological formations
And, between these mountains and the desert, the city of Agadez, the capital of one of the kingdoms of the Tuareg culture. You might be tempted to think that this small town has nothing to offer you. Nothing is further from reality. Its historic center has been declared a World Heritage Site, an award he shares with the entire Tenerife desert.In fact, it has historically been a transit point for many trade routes. Even today, it's the exit of one that leads to the Sabha, one of the harshest routes in the world that not everyone has access to.In conclusion, we have shown you some of the most beautiful deserts in Africa. But we might mention others like the lazy man, in Senegal, with the orange sand dunes; of Taru, in Kenya, near Kilimanjaro, or of ogaden, in Ethiopia. However, not all of them are affordable for us to visit.
