The normally barren, almost Martian landscape of the Atacama Desert
recently erupted in flowers, painting the hillsides, blue, fuschia,
orange and yellow.
The almost magical transformation occurred thanks to heavy rains earlier in the year, which watered
flower seeds that had lain dormant for years. One Twitter user, Tomás Cuadra Ordenes, captured photos of the gorgeous blooms.
Earlier in the year, the Atacama Desert received heavy rains, with the
town of Antofagasta, Chile receiving seven years' worth of rain in a
12-hour span.
Those heavy rains turned the parched desert into rivers of
mud. But the same rainfall watered seeds that had been buried in the
ground for years, waiting for their chance to bloom. Here, photos of the
blooms painting the landscape.
