Although the word “desert” may bring to mind a sea of shifting sand, dunes cover only about ten percent of the world’s deserts. Some deserts are mountainous, others may be dry expanses of rock, sand, cold tundra, ice caps or salt flats.

Deserts are areas that receive very little precipitation where temperatures up to 54°C are normal. But this does not tell the whole story. Although some deserts are very hot, other deserts have cold winters or are cold year-round. And most deserts, far from being empty and lifeless, are home to a variety of spectacular plants, animals, and other organisms. Indeed, humans have adapted to life in the desert for thousands of years.

In tonight’s talk we will visit some of the great deserts of the world including the Sahara, Atacama of Northern Chile, the Gobi of Mongolia in search of dinosaur bones, Namib and Kalahari of South East Africa, the world’s lowest point of land in the Danikel depression of Ethiopia, and some North American rock deserts and canyons with evocative names like Elves Chasm, Havasu, Antelope and Death Valley. Desert landscapes in all their vastness are alive with stories of mystery and wonder. We will see their moods and changes, and their secrets and silences, which may reflect and sparkle in all who live or travel there.

“A rose in the desert can only survive on its strength not its beauty”

Find out more about John on his website.

Bryce Canyon National Park, USA

Blue man of the Sahara

Kazakh Eagle Hunter, Mongolia

Deadvlei, Namibia

Agama lizard