Just as soon as you think you've seen everything, Mother Nature astounds you with more of her stunning beauty. In this case, an extraordinary amount of rain in Chile has transformed the Atacama Desert, a.k.a. the driest non-polar desert on Earth, into a floral wonderland.
The extremely rare phenomenon, which is called "flowering desert," only happens when enough rain has fallen. While the Atacama is home to over 200 different floral species, the most predominant one is a pink color called "mallow," which is responsible for turning the barren landscape into a lush coral carpet.
As gorgeous of a sight as it is, it's important to remember that the flowers come at the expense of flooding that resulted in the deaths of dozens of people and the displacement of thousands of others. As the saying goes, the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.
More than 200,000 tourists are expected to flock down to witness this stunning spectacle, but if you want to be one of them you better plan a trip soon. The floral terrain is expected to start fading sometime in November.
