Sechura Desert

The Sechura desert covers a large part of Piura between the Andes and the Pacific, and it is the largest desert in Peru - dunes, gravel plain, salt flat and dry riverbed, crossed by the Panamericana and otherwise almost empty. Within it lies the Bayóvar depression, at around 34 metres below sea level the lowest point in Peru. The desert is not static: in El Niño years the rains that fail everywhere else fall here in quantity, and the depression floods into a temporary lake while the desert greens over with vegetation and insect life for a season before drying again - the 1998 and 2017 events both did this dramatically. Bayóvar is also a major phosphate mining area and a port, so parts of the desert are industrial and restricted. Away from the highway there is nothing: no water, no shade, no phone coverage, and driving off the road without a guide and proper vehicle is a serious mistake.

History

In 1728 a tsunami raised by an earthquake swept over the town of Sechura, then closer to the sea, and the survivors rebuilt it inland where it stands today. In the El Niño year of 1998 floodwater poured into the desert and formed a temporary lake some 145 kilometres long, for a time the second largest in Peru (Wikipedia, Sechura Desert).

What's there

• The dune and salt plain - the largest desert in Peru, largely empty.
• The Bayóvar depression - the lowest point in Peru at about 34 metres below sea level.
• The El Niño greening - the desert flooding and blooming in those years.
• The industry - phosphate mining and port operations at Bayóvar.

When to go

April to November for stable conditions. El Niño years change the desert completely and can cut the roads. Crossing on the Panamericana takes a day.

What to expect

No water, shade or phone coverage away from the highway - driving off-road without a guide and a proper vehicle is dangerous. Mining areas are restricted. In El Niño years roads flood and the region can be cut off.

Nearby

Sechura and its mangroves are north; Illescas peninsula is west.

Key facts