Torrential rains that began in December have turned dozens of normally bone-dry river beds and ravines in Peru's northern desert into raging rivers that have swept away villages and bridges. Traveling the Pan American highway, the lifeline of Peruvian commerce running the length of its Pacific coast, has become a bruising odyssey across a ravaged landscape - requiring travel by bus, boat, donkey and foot. The 620-mile trip from Lima to Tumbes near the Ecuadorean border, which normally takes a day and a half, now takes four days. The highway has been cut by floods and landslides in more than 30 places and travelers must ford five rivers with their luggage held above their heads. Dried mud coats the streets, the remnants of a mudslide.
Winds whip up thick dust storms, forcing residents to walk with rags held to their faces.
A few barefoot children so thin their ribs stick out run to approaching buses to sell soda pop and candy. Parts of the highway look as if a giant has taken bites off the sides. Drivers must swerve around car-sized holes and boulders and plow through muddy river beds. A lagoon swollen by heavy rains burst its banks in February and swept over the Mampuesto cemetery. Dozens of coffins floated down the streets.