Nature

The Oldest Desert on Earth

Namibia Sossusvlei, Namib Desert Save Add to trip
The Oldest Desert on Earth
Photo: Joe McDaniel / Unsplash

Did you know the Namib is thought to be the world's oldest desert, arid for something like 55 million years? Its apricot-colored dunes at Sossusvlei are among the tallest anywhere, and nearby Deadvlei holds a ghostly stand of camel thorn trees that died about 700 years ago — too dry to rot, they simply turned black in the sun.

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