When I hear the word Sahara, that makes me think about sand dunes and camels...

For great basin desert, I immediately think about red rocks shaped in the most incredible way: arches, mesas, pinnacles, canyons, etc...

When the Mojave desert is mentionned, pictures of dry lakes, large valleys, dust, dirt, rocks and giant Yucas pass through my mind.

But when I think about the Sonoran, the first thing that pops up is the Saguaro cactus!

This is the biggest cactus in North America, up to 12m (36ft) tall. It grows only in the Sonoran desert i.e. the southern half of Arizona and the north-west coast of Mexico. The Saguaro cactus is more needy in water than other cacti and the Sonoran desert is the only desert in North America that has a mansoon, it rains not only in winter there like in other deserts, but also in summer...

This cactus is very common in Arizona. It is the star of a national park near Tucson: Saguaro National Park where I took these two pictures.