The dryest desert isn't that hot. Atacama Desert...

Why should you be interested in the atacama desert? It's one of nature's true wonders. Unlike other deserts that are dry because of the extreme heat of the sun, the Atacama desert is truely unique. Excluding Antartica (which by definition is a desert) the Atacama desert is bone dry because of it's location. It averages temperatures between 32 - 77 degrees F (0 - 25 C)

It is dry because of the "rainshadow effect". Extremescience.com explainse the rainshadow effect as "As air moves up over a mountain range, it gets cold and loses the ability to hold moisture - so it rains or snows on the mountain. When the air moves down the other side of the mountain, it gets warmer. Warm air can hold lots of moisture, so it doesn't "let go" of the water vapor in the form of precipitation (rain, fog, snow) much at all. The other side of the mountain which receives no rain is said to be in the "shadow" of the mountains because of this atmospheric effect."

This rainshadow effect hits it on both sides. The Andes on the East, and the Chilean Coastal Range on the West.

Bodies of dead people have been preserved for 9,000 years because there is virtually NO MICROBIAL LIFE. It is estimated that the desert gets 1mm or rain annually.