subject: Peruvian Coastal Deserts - The Sechura and the Atacama [print this page] West of the Andes Mountains in the South of Peru and into Chile, covering a 600 mile strip of land on the Pacific coast, is the Atacama Desert. It gets very little rain as it is on the downwind side of the mountains. It is therefore one of the driest deserts in the world and covers an area of over 40,000 square miles made up primarily of sand, salt basins (called Salars) and lava flows. The area is littered with geysers and tourism has built up around 4x4 trips over the desert, with a number of luxury lodges and spas being built and this "otherworldly" landscape is sure to continue to draw visitors from all over the world.
Peruvian Coastal Deserts - The Sechura and the Atacama
