2 April: It’s been a great couple of days in the tiny village of Pisagua, there is nothing much to do but it is super tranquil and we have the sound of small waves breaking just below where we are camped. Pisagua is a small fishing village (although it used to be a busy nitrate port in the early 1900’s) and reminds us a lot of a Greek village but with more of a barren feel to the mountain/sand dune behind us. Water is also similarly cold to the Mediterranean.
3 April: Super frustated. Drove into Arica today and went shopping at a big Lider but because we are not sure of safety situation, Stuart stayed by the car which meant only one to search aisles and after nearly 2 hours shopping Tania’s trolley got “stolen”. Can only assume a store worker thought it was abandoned and took it away for repacking but for F@! Sake!!
4 April: Hanging around in Arica killing some time so that we can phone Jenny for her birthday tomorrow. Camping is in a parking area on the beach which allows overnighters, some of whom almost look permanent but to us it feels a bit like squatting as it is quite dirty and you have to walk far to pay for a cold shower and toilet, thankfully we have Mr J side cubicle. Unfortuantely there is no alternative camping options in this town. Spent the day on the beach which was nice and got a small surf in, waves super small but still good practice and was great to finally only need a wetsuit top.
5 April: Super long day: First phoned Jenny for her birthday, then made a stop via shops to purchase water to top up water tank, then a 2,5hour border crossing followed by an hour drive to closest town. Spent 3 hours in town hunting down an ATM and SIM card for our “hotspot” phone and then finally did a 90min drive back out to the coast and a wild camp on a beach. Drive was interrupted with another customs/police checkpoint where they again checked all vehicle documents and captured it onto the system.
7 April: A chilled couple of days as we camp on the beach at Arena Blanca just south of ILO. It’s Easter and we don’t fancy being on the roads over this time. During the day many Peruvians come down to enjoy a day on the beach and one or two have camped over for a night but generally we are on our own at night. Today some curious lady’s come over for a chat. Overall we are liking the vibe of Peru compared to Chile.
8 April: Aargh the beauty of a shower!!! Even though we are once again wild camped in a parking lot on the beach, this afternoon we got to shower for the princely sum of ZAR5.
9 April: Peruvian drivers are definitively a lot more crazy than Brazilian, Argentinian, Uruguan or Chilean. We saw some absolutely kamisake overtaking today on the long winding pass up from the coast to Arequipa and all to just get one truck ahead and then get stuck behind the next.
11 April: It’s been two shitty nights and days! While shopping 2 days ago we decided to grab a bite to eat from the cafeteria style foodcourt in the supermarket, just a piece of chicken and potato bake, and that night both got a severe case of food poisoning. Every cloud however has a silver lining and ours was being in a formal campsite for the first time in 10 days and thus having easy access to toilets and nice grass underfoot to lie on during the day as we tried to recover. In over 1000 nights in Mr Jones we have never slept until 12 midday but we did this time, almost both days.
12 April: Amazing what 12 hours can do, we both woke up feeling much better this morning and even did some chores on Mr J before heading out for an afternoon exploring the Plaza Armas and Monasterio de Santa Catalina in Arequipa.
13 April: Both still feeling below average and so spent a day chilling at camp apart from small excursion to shops, getting itchy feet though.
14 April: A long but very good day, we only pulled into a camp spot just before sunset. Before leaving Arequipa this morning we spent a few hours having Mr J washed which was long overdue. Then battled the slow traffic out of town and then up the passes behind town which skirt its volcanos all the way to a new altitude record of 4886m asl. Mr Jones ran really well and scenery was very good with much more high alpine grassland than we are used to at such altitudes so far. The descent down to Chivay was spectacular as was the drive further down the valley to Colca canyon. We briefly considered camping in some thermal baths parking area but as Tania stomach is still grumbling decided to move on to a spot with toilets. La Granja del Colca is in a spectacular location which we got to just before sunset.
15 April: Chilled day just hanging around enjoying the views and the gardens and basically just relaxing / recovering – our stomachs are still not perfect. A few nice chats with an American couple from Washington DC who were staying in one of the rooms.
16 April: A long day, we only covered 170km but it took 6 hours. We did make a few stops to admire views etc. Despite / becuase of the slow going it was spectacular with many narrow roads and spectacular vistas (valleys, rocks, alpacas, etc) .
17 April: After another spectacular set of passes we initially didn’t come right for camping so heading to an area known as Cuatro Lagunas which meant more winding roads but an okay campsite at a “kind of lodge”.
22 April: It’s been a fantastic 5 days chilling at Quinta Lala which is a real overlanders stop off perched high above the historical part of Cusco. Have helped another landy owner work on his clutch hydraulics, had many chats, been into town for a walk around (way too touristy) and missioned to purchase Machu Picchu tickets. You could definitely stay here longer but it feels like time to leave
23 April: The stay in Cusco was great but it felt good to hit the road today and travel through to Ollaytantambo in preparation for visiting Machu Picchu. Lots of stress tonight though as Tania stomach feels a little sore (having eaten KFC when shopping earlier today and had our first Pisco Sour in the square for sundowners when we got to town) and she is having flashbacks of our food poisoning with the added pressure that we have just spent USD400 for our tour tomorrow!!
24 April: A long but great day. MP is very touristy and crowded but somehow still we felt it was worth the USD400. Train trip is quite cool, walking around was good and we had good weather but because they control entry times to certain main attractions you don’t get to see everything anymore. Bonus of the day was getting upgraded for the train ride home so got to cruise back in vista class – which included a free drink and a bit of dancing and entertainment. We really appreciated it as the train carriage we had been allocated to originally was full of noisy teenage Israeli backpackers (who just gave off a very rude ambience)
25 April: A long day of driving over multiple huge mountain ranges! A day when we saw almost no straight road and we may be feeling a little seasick at the end. After two “busts” in terms of finding a camping spot around the dirty and scruffy town of Abancay we drove 20km west and found a lovely little spot just off the road run by an old couple who were so sweet – he knew of South Africa because of books he had read about Mandela.
26 April: The climbing and descending didn’t let up today! Initially it was quite gentle as we climbed 1000m over 100km up a river valley but then the road went straight up to 4500m before crossing the altiplano for roughly another 100km and then descended to a town at 2800m and what we thought was the end of the mountain but alas we once again climbed to 3800m before running out of time and deciding to spend the night next to a toll plaza in middle of nowhere. From what we can see the road will still go up to over 4000m again tomorrow. Thankfully the scenery is pretty spectacular all along the way but we are a little over the twists and turns. Today was 7 hours for 300km.
27 April: Today the accumulation of some long days caught up! The descent from the altiplano was spectacular(although less so for Tania, as we dropped 2000m in less than 30km) and then we were presented with dirty desert. We stopped and admired the petroglyphs of Nazca and Palpa but were just tired. Took some time out over lunch in a roadside pull-off that had shade which was good and needed but still ended up driving until late afternoon and then being disappointed by the supposed desert oasis of Ica. Camp for the night is a cramped parking lot of an eco-camp surrounded by very noisy French families with their multiple kids and music blasting from the pool bar. We need a quite surf spot somewhere but how to find that.
28 April: We have found a surf spot but it isn’t exactly comfortable camping. We are parked in the beachfront public parking in front of some condominiums which although it appears acceptable to do this there aren’t any facilities and Mr J generates a lot of attention from walkers passing by. At least there is no wind and so we can open the shower/toilet cubicle but you can’t exactly be discreet when going to the bathroom, hopefully it gets quite at night. Stuart had a reasonable surf in the later afternoon.
29 April: Had a pretty good night apart from being woken at midnight by idiot who parked right next to us and proceeded to play his car music very loud (after half an hour the condominium security chased him along). This morning was not so good as the parking started to full up early with surfers and walkers making the toilet once again, a less than private affair. After breakfast we did dishes, pulled Mr J roof down and were then at least less conspicuous, so Stuart had a surf session before we set off in search of somewhere better.
30 April: Last 1,5 days have been much better as we are camped in a hotel/surf club enclosed parking lot which has toilets, cold showers and electricity hookup for Mr J. We have a pretty private little corner and can just relax a bit. No surfing for Stuart though as it is quite a hardcore break with a long paddle and large waves. Nice to be by the ocean though.