Barely There

Don’t be embarrassed if you’ve never heard of the Andean Bear. We hadn’t either until Layne started poking around the Lonely Planet guide for Ecuador. We decided to go see what we could see at the bear lookout.

The main road out was a lovely drive after we broke out from under the heavy rain of the morning. 

This was where we broke down so driving by was a landmark. 

I find a lot of travelers down here seek out dirt roads and wilderness. I can see why Europeans feel that way as wilderness camping isn’t easy to find on an overpopulated continent. Why you’d come here from the US to miss the culture and the history which fills these lands baffles me. Luckily there’s room for all of us and my pleasure in asphalt and easy driving baffles others in turn. I’d just like to see more Americans here driving as they wish. 

It was a pleasant drive and then we turned off the highway.

We were only at 5600 feet but the high peaks all around us gave us a first feeling of really being in the Andes. 

Off the highway the side road up into the mountains saw the road narrow considerably. 

After the bridge the road got even worse as the asphalt ended. 

And the cobbles began. I hate cobbles as they make our heavy van bounce. Slowly does it. 

Locals aren’t deterred and come at you like they want to see you dead. It’s unnerving. 

And then the dirt began with signs of previous rain.  We pressed on a bit. 

It was about here the Google Map got lost and with the signal for our cellphone long gone we looked at the intersection. The downhill was very steep, but we poked our nose down. If it rained this would be mud and we both decided no. GANNET2 is running nicely so why try to wreck our van here? 

Vertigo Road didn’t inspire confidence so we backed up and turned around. 

I think that if this kind of stuff is important a more versatile car is indicated. It’s not just a question of will the van get there it’s also a question of how much damage will you sustain. Clutches and brakes fail on lots of vehicles which get over stressed in these mountains. 

Even pavement is steep around here. 

We came up at 20 mph trying not to stress anything and back downhill we drove in first and second manual gear to save the brakes. 

All I can think is this is the road for next three thousand miles to Chile. Sigh. The future is one of patience and taking our time. I guess there’s a reason why the PanAmerican is a tough road to drive. We continue south; maybe we’ll see bears further along.