National Monument- Sonoran Desert, the land of giant cacti!

Largest hottest desert of North America, home for organ pipe and the spectacular saguaro cacti, Sonoran Desert is a place of biodiversity. The Saguaro cactus- popularly known as camel of the plant world, is found ONLY here. These cacti can grow up to 70ft and absorb around 1,500 gallons of water in around ten days. It seems they grow their first side arm at the age of 75-100 years! Isn't it a great experience to stand beside one?!

It is really a long drive from Phoenix along the literally deserted roads of Arizona. I was still thinking to proceed or not even at Gila Bend before I took a left onto the desert area. But, strangely I saw many high end cars moving on that road frequently! Then I drove about another 50-miles on this road looking at the hottest desert with nice green shrubs and cacti. It is a lovely sight.

I stopped at few points on the road to take few pictures of this gigantic saguaro cactus (Camagiea gigantea). It was a strange feeling to be the only human being surrounded by plants that are three-four times  higher than my own height. See how small my car looks against that giant! I entered the open field roadside (not sure if it was legal- it wasn't fenced), just for a nice picture of the cactus. I was near it and a strong wind passed by. Along with the wind I heard a screaming voice coming from right inside the thick trunk of the cactus! OMG! It was scary! Just like something trapped inside the plant desperately screaming for help!

Ha ha! Not sure if there was anything but, I ran out just to help myself. Later, I learned from the people that the sound comes from the hollow interiors of the cactus when the wind passes by. I tried to get a sunset picture with the silhouette of the cactus. I would love to see a flower or a little bird nesting on the cactus, but late October wasn't the time. Hot desert, screaming gigantic cactus, long deserted roads were highlights of my last day in Arizona.

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This post is linked to Skywatch Friday.

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Scrapbook- A Travel Blog by Kusum Sanu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.