Travel Diary: Peru – backtracking in order to cross the Andes and enter Brazil (August 2023)

In our roughly 18 months on the South American continent we had, until this point, almost always been moving “forward” in that we were going to new areas and countries but August was to be the first time we back-tracked on ourselves.  A full 2100km of backtracking!  The reason for this was that we were heading back to Brazil, as despite spending 6 months there last year we had only managed to visit roughly half the country and the only feasible way to enter Brazil when on the western side of the continent is from southern Peru.  

An alternative to backtracking along the predominantly coastal route we had followed north would have been to head into the mountains and try and follow the Andean spine south but as we were never going to stop along the way and do big hikes we had decided that the improved scenery did not counter the negative of spending all day everyday averaging 30km/h or less as you snake up, down and around mountains.

With the knowledge of the long journey that lay ahead of us and also being mindful of trying to time our entry in Brazil to maximise the dry season we had decided that we would break the journey up into parts and in between spend rest days in locations we knew from before where good for a few days of rest.   The first of these was ironically after just one day at a spot called Puerto Verde on the outskirts of the town called Piura, as its name implies it is a true little oasis.

Initially we had only planned to stay a couple of nights but when we discovered that it was Peru National day and that meant a long weekend with many people potentially being on the roads for a short vacation we decided to rather stay put for a few extra days (in general Peruvian drivers are the most dangerous we have encountered so far on the trip).  

Once the long weekend had passed we hit the road with the intention of a few big days in the car until we would could take another break in a little town where Stuart spent some time surfing previously.  We weren’t expecting much out of the first days overnight stop and even less when we pulled into a very dusty and rundown “eco lodge” but it turned into a fantastic stop.  We had just opened up Mr Jones when a van pulled in driven by an Irish & Nigerian/Omanian couple with whom we immediately got on with really well.  Then a local Peruvian/Venezuelan family invited all of us to join them at the pool for some beers as they were curious about our countries and while there, another overlanding couple arrived, this time a German & Chinese combination who we also got on really well with.   Supper only started around 9pm and we got to bed late after many laughs and a few too many drinks.  Needless to say, we started a little later the following morning than we would have if we had spent the night alone.

Once on the road we headed further south down the coast to Huanchaco, a small surfing town, where we had spent a good few days on the way up. The little campsite there doesn’t have much space as in reality you are camped in a very narrow garden in front of the owners house plus there is also a sheltered kitchen, a room and ablutions all competing for space. So, we were truly amazed to pull in and find the place empty and after been told to pull right forward which puts you in the best space but in the worst location as you will be boxed in if other people arrive, we settled in to having some lunch and relaxing after the drive. 

A few hours later the gate opened and in drove a small van followed by an irritated looking woman, who promptly walked up to us and stated “you guys are in our space”. Please note in van life, if you want to retain a space when you go out, you leave your chairs etc in the space to denote that people are camping there and so when there is nothing left then the space is free. Plus if we had parked in the driveway they would not have been able to get to “their” space any rate and we had parked where had, after being told to do so by the owner.   So all in all one of the most passively aggressive introductions we have ever had. We won’t bore you with the details of them (you can get more insight in the captain’s log) but sadly over the two days they remained in camp, the attitude and atmosphere never truly improved.

After they departed friends of ours Keith and Gertrude from the USA, whom we met in Ecuador, arrived and they seriously improved the vibe with good company and some excellent sundowner sessions over the next few days.  We probably stayed a few days longer than initially planned; Tania will blame it on the fact there was some surfing to be had but Stuart is adamant that the extra days were needed to restore the balance from the negative energy the Australian couple initially left in the camp and plus Gertrude poured a mean G&T for everyone at sunset each day.

Leaving Huanchaco we again put in a couple of big days of driving to get us just north of Lima and back at a spot called Sunset Lodge.  Interestingly we didn’t find the driving and scenery as boring or demoralising as we had before on our way north, when the sheer starkness of the desert combined with the huge amounts of litter scarring the landscape had really got to us, and can only assume that this is because this time we had very low expectations and could “see beyond” the negatives and instead find some beauty in the starkness.

In last month’s travel diary, we mentioned the issues we had been having with Mr Jones brake pads, with the last near failure incident happening the day before our border crossing into Peru.  After that incident we had replaced the brake fluid and thankfully had had no more serious issues again but the pads were squealing terribly (as they had before) and so while at Sunset Lodge we had made arrangements with one of the very few Landy mechanics in Peru to purchase new pads.  This determined how long we stayed at Sunset Lodge as we needed to collect these on a workday and so after just a few days we departed early on a Friday mentally prepared for a good few hours of brutal Lima traffic.  Thankfully while the traffic was bad, it was not horrific and we managed to get across town in just a little over 3 hours, which gave Stuart enough time to change the pads that afternoon when we stopped at a Punta Rocas just south of Lima.  

The new “silent” brake pads made the drive to the desert oasis of Ica a real pleasure, where we once again intended to stall for a few days before beginning the next big haul up and over the mountains to Cusco.  For this month’s travel a lot of our timing was being determined by a couple of external factors, the first one being that we only wanted to enter Brazil around the beginning on September in order to hopefully time the rainy, windy and/or summer seasons for the overall route we planned to take.   The second external factor influencing us is that during last month’s debacle with Stuart’s WhatsApp and South African SIM card we had learnt that Tania’s might also suffer the same fate and so had decided to order new numbers and cards, which with the help of family were being couriered out to the campsite in Cusco. 

While it is pretty impressive how quickly modern logistics can distribute something like that, it still takes some time and so we were trying to time our travels to ensure we arrived in Cusco in time to receive the package but not too early to spend multiple weeks hanging around at a relatively high altitude with coldish weather.  A desert oasis with a nice pool to hang out at during the day was therefore a good option.

A couple of days after our arrival, Gertrude & Keith once again joined us and along with them come the daily ritual of sundowner G&T’s and good conversations into the evening.

Once we had confirmation that the SIM cards had been dispatched from South Africa, we packed up and headed onwards towards Cusco.   Ahead of us lay 3 days of some hard(ish) driving as we headed further south in the desert, then up into the mountains with some passes going over 4300m before they descend to 2000m and then go right back up again.  It didn’t take long before Mr Jones brakes decided that they were going to remain silent no longer and once again started squealing, this was both very frustrating (as they were brand new and in theory a good brand and to insult to injury had been very expensive in Lima) and secondly worrying as when we had had this before they had overheated on some steep descents and we had been lucky to avoid disaster.  As there was nothing we could do at this stage about the brakes other than take it super easy, Stuart engaged low range on a couple of the descents and used the engine and gearing to keep us real slow.    

In the meantime we had ended up travelling in an unintended  convoy with a young French couple that we had meet at our first overnight stop in the mountains, the convoy was formed because they had encountered problems with the turbo on the Mercedes Sprinter campervan and so were really struggling on the uphills (so we hung back and waited for them in case they needed assistance) and then we were taking the downhills real easy (so they would hang around and wait for us).  It made for a long and slow second day but thankfully we both got to that night’s campsite safely and along the way made some new friends.  We could sleep well knowing that just one shorter day was ahead of us before Cusco.

The campsite in Cusco, Quinta Lala, is a true overlanders haven:  you can have parcels DHL there, get your laundry done, store your vehicle if you need to fly home & it has decent WI-FI and is conveniently located just a short (but steep) walk above the old city with many sights and restaurants.  As a result, most probably every Overlander that passes through Peru spends at least one night there and therefore during your stay you are guaranteed to have some interesting social engagements.  

While waiting for the SIM cards to arrive we attempted to have the brakes seen too without much success.  Once again, the mechanic was adamant that there was nothing wrong with the braking mechanism and that the squeal was just due to the quality of the brake pads which left us mystified as the set bought in Lima a couple weeks prior was of the exact some brand and part number as the original ones we had on from South Africa which for 57 000km had made no noise whatsoever.  In the end we decided to put that original set on which were close to end of life but still okay and to nurse them over the last bit of the Andes and into Brazil where we hoped availability of quality parts (& cost) would be better.

After 7 days the SIM cards arrived and we could start trying to reconnect ourselves, initially this proved rather difficult and we were beginning to think that the whole expense and waiting for the shipment may have been a pointless exercise when we were reminded of how great South African customer service agents can be – we received and participated in a 30 minute phone call via our local Peru number were the agent talked both of us through the issues and duly resolved it for us.  Considering the cheap plan we are on and the monthly spend on it, this was remarkable and really appreciated!

With our ability to receive One-Time-Passwords and other essential messages via our cellphones and having ticked off most of the other small jobs that needed attending too, we left Cusco after 9 days ready to climb up and over the Andes for one last time.   The first day’s drive was truly spectacular (if more than a little slow) as we first climbed up to nearly 4800m and then proceeded to descend 4000m over just 100km as we dropped down into the start for the Amazon.  While we may have been happy to be putting the high altitudes behinds us we suspect Mr Jones was even more so, in general he climbs very well at altitude and doesn’t smoke too much but he absolutely hates high altitude descents and shows his displeasure by blowing out humongous clouds of white smoke – it is so bad that for cars behind us it is almost impossible to see past him in order to overtake. When we had first entered the high altitudes many months prior, this characteristic had made Stuart quite stressed as typically large clouds of white smoke are signs of impending doom for an engine but having experienced this many times now, we don’t worry too much about it and in fact often quietly chuckle when an impatient tail hugging driver suddenly finds himself enveloped in a thick cloud of white, smelly smoke.

Being in the lowlands should have meant easier driving and therefore faster driving conditions but Peru wasn’t quite ready to allow that to happen just yet and served up a 4,5 hour stop and go for us on our second day in the Amazon.  In the mountains on our way to Cusco we had been caught up in a 2,5 hour one which we thought was bad and frustrating but this one really “took the cake”.  To add insult to injury we were only the 4th vehicle in the queue, meaning we had just missed getting through it, and throughout the time we were stationary there was never any sign or communication to indicate how long it would take.  We did eventually establish from our surrounding motorists that the road would re-open at 12 but weren’t able to understand what the issue was.   When we did get to move, our frustration quickly dissipated when we saw the size of landslide that the road workers were dealing with and realised that they had no choice but to keep the road closed for many hours or else they would never be able to make a dent in the huge pile of sand and rock that needed to be moved in order to repair & clear the road.  So, what should have been a short 4-hour drive into Puerto Maldonado ended up being a whole day affair.

Although we were still very much on the fringes of the Amazon, we were already getting glimpses of just how immense and dense the jungle is together with how big the rivers are that flow through it and at the same time we were seeing the impact that man is having on this eco-system.  We spent much of the drive mulling over the topic and in the end have not drawn any conclusions with regards the rights and wrongs.  On the one hand it is very easy to criticize the massive deforestation that takes place in order to create arable land (whether it be for crops or cattle) but when you see just how dense the forest is and consider that for the people that live in and around it, the forest has no day to day economic value then you have to consider the other side of why deforestation takes place.  Is the rest of the world prepared to pay a “heavy preserve the Amazon tax” for eternity and even if we were, how could you allocate that money to ensure the people of the Amazon benefit correctly and in fact you don’t just make them dependent on a welfare state.   Much more can be written and debated about the subject and we certainly don’t even begin to think that we understand the problem but the drive gave us plenty of food for thought and no doubt when we return to the amazon region in 5 or so months we will gain even more food for thought.

The campsite in Puerto Maldonado was quite pleasant surrounded by large trees full of bird life and so a much deserved rest day was taken before we took on the final few hours to the Brazilian border where the countries of Peru, Bolivia & Brazil all intersect.  When we left Brazil roughly one year ago in the south at the Igauzu falls, the customs lady had not known how to cancel our TIP (temporary import permit for Mr Jones) and had instead written on the back that she certified we had left the country with him and had told us it would be cancelled when somebody else came to the office.   We only had a photograph of this as “proof” because they keep the TIP and so were a little nervous for our re-entry, in case in fact it hadn’t been done properly and therefore MR Jones would still show as resident in Brazil past his allowed time which would imply the payment of import duties.  Thankfully the border crossing went smoothly and all was in order, even if we did have to wait 2 hours after getting our passports stamped as the customs office was taking siesta.

Below are links to other pages that complement this diary entry: