Life in a desert

THE FLOWER'S DESERT
Already in 1831, the French naturalist Claudio Gay, went on a trip to the north of Chile to see the flower desert.

But it was impossible because that year had has very little rain. Only in 1840 he could achieve his goal: the desert had waken up after a long sleepiness and invaded with all its splendor. It was the wonderful flower desert that presented in all its magnitude.
Flower's desert

In the last two decades this phenomena has repeated in the years 1983, 1987, 1991 and finally with last Julys 12th 1997 rain that fell for hours accumulating the historical record of 96mm in 15 hours, something absolutely unusual for the desert. The dry scenery transforms in an unique and colorful show. Initially with a green cover during July and August; then it reaches a wide range of colors in September where flowers, insects and other animals will cover big extensions of the region of Atacama.

We will discover that in part the Flower Desert presents when rain makes that small seeds and bulbs, that have been under soil for years in the desert, germinate and grow giving life to flowers and plants of various characteristics and beautiful multicolor flowers. Together with them surge a great number of insects, birds, and herpetofauna, generating a very special ecosystem, where all the elements of nature live together in harmony during all the time that climate conditions allow.

This natural phenomena that shows up when rain has been generous in the region, allows to visit the Flower Desert and to see during more than three months the different sectors of the great diversity of species that show up.

The real Flower Desert begins in the south limit of the Atacama region, to the south of Cuesta Pajonales, with flowers like Pata de Huanaco, Suspiro de Campo and other ones that form real multicolor carpets.
Yellow flower

Even though, the most spectacular shows up from Vallenar to the north, on the way to Copiapó, both in the central area and in the coastal area of Huasco, Carrizal Bajo and Totoral up to Caldera. It is also surprising the Llanos de Challe national park, to the north-west of Vallenar.

To the north of Vallenar and near the border of the road, enormous and extensive prairies of purple flowers predominate: Pata de Huanaco, Huilli, Senecio or Terciopelo (velvet), Suspiro de Campo and Añañucas.

Near the coastal sectors inhabits the beautiful Garra de León (Lyon paw), of the family of the Alstroemerias and, cactaceus species like the Copiapoa cactus, of a gray color forming hundreds of cushions of a wide variety of diameters. Not all of the species grow up simultaneously, and depending of the month, September, October or November, they develop alternately changing the color of the flower carpet.

SOURCE: Dirección Regional de Turismo, Región de Atacama.
AUTHOR: Raúl Céspedes Valenzuela, Técnico Museólogo Museo Regional de Atacama, Copiapó.