The Sahara, Africa

 The world's largest hot desert, the Sahara stretches across much of northern Africa. Entire cities are located within the yellow sands of this barren landscape, but beyond them there are entire swathes of the region that are yet to be explored. It's not all just sand dunes, either. There are salt flats (pictured), mountains, gravel plains and even rivers running through this landscape. The Sahara is expanding too. With climate change making rains less frequent in the region, the area classified as desert is getting bigger each year and valuable arable land is drying up. This lonely landscape has a derelict beauty about it though and, come nightfall, millions of stars glitter in the sky. Hardy species living in the desert include addax, fennec foxes and reptiles such as snakes and lizards.