Sign up for free

Newsletters

Once a month
get new photos
and expert tips.

Photography
Main Photo Galleries Wallpapers Photo of the Day Photographers Photo Tips Buy Prints

Desert Wildlife, Atacama Desert, Chile, 2003

Birds perch on a cactus as a gray fox warily stands below in Chile's Atacama Desert. Rain rarely falls on the Atacama's coastline, but dense fog known as camanchaca is abundant. The fog nourishes plant communities from cactuses to ferns.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "The Driest Place on Earth," August 2003, National Geographic magazine)

Buy a print of this photo.

Photograph by Joel Sartore

Sign up for free

Newsletters

Photography

Desert Wildlife, Atacama Desert, Chile, 2003

Related Features

Special Advertising Section

Photo Tip of the Week

Sign up for free

Newsletters

Photography

Desert Wildlife, Atacama Desert, Chile, 2003

Related Features

Photographer: Joel Sartore

Photo Gallery: Desert Wildlife

Photo Gallery: Desert Landscapes

Photo Gallery: Threats to Deserts

Special Advertising Section

Photo Contest

Photo Gallery

Photo Tip of the Week

Smile!

Photography DVDs

New Photo Books From National Geographic