Ask the average Joe American what the
driest place in the world is ,and I would bet the majority of folks would say either the Mojave Desert or the Sahara.
These answers make some sense, but they are wrong. The driest place on earth is the Atacama Desert in Northern
Chile. Now, having lived in Chile for a bit myself, and having visited the desert, I can tell you that the Atacama is very dry. And it is also
one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. The light there is unreal, as if someone lifted a piece of gauze
from your eyes that you never knew was there.
And for all this time that I’ve mentioned Atacama to people,
I’ve always said that it’s been dry, that is has seen no rainfall since the days of the Spanish conquest. Guess what? I
was wrong, by about 40 million years. This fascinating article
in the BBC says that scientists have recently discovered that Atacama’s “super-dry” state and
“hyper-arid conditions” in the desert have lasted at least 20 million years, perhaps 40 million. This is
mind-blowing, really. But it adds further heft to my point that the place is unusual. Indeed it is.