Extremely Dry Places    
         Some deserts are DRIER than others.            
Two of the driest are the Atacama Desert in South America and the Namib Desert in Africa.  These deserts are on the ocean, but they receive almost no rain--ever.   For one thing, ocean currents keep clouds just off the coast, so most rain falls into the nearby ocean.  (Notice where the clouds are in the pictures below.) 
These currents do bring fog to the deserts, though, which some people use for water. (see below)


                                                                                                  

 

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Scenes from the Namib Desert

Desert Fog

Desert Dunes

 Dead Desert Tree
Another dry place: Dakhla,
in the western Sahara Desert.
Dakhla once did not get any rain for 11 years!
Shipwreck Sunken Gallion
Camel

This boat crashed in 1909,
at a place that used to be the shoreline.
Sand has moved back into the ocean,
leaving the boat far from the water.
Atacama Fog Catcher Fog Catcher
The screens catch the fog,
which drips down into pipes.
Then the pipes take the water
to a nearby town.

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