If you buy a motorcycle in Latin American using your ride to deliver food is one way to help pay for it. The delivery system is well established and we’ve been in Arequipa long enough we’ve learned to enjoy getting Indian lamb curry delivered on two wheels.
And don’t be surprised to see women riding either.
Along with Chinese cars and phones you will see other products outlawed by the US sold on store shelves. I can’t say Havana Club rum tastes particularly good ($18) and we stuck with Flor de Caña from Nicaragua which we find smoother. But around here you can at least make your own mind up.
If you like Kellogg products you’ll find them in supermarkets all the way down (not Post) but I also spotted chocolate flavored nonsense produced locally that the llama ( pronounced “yah-mah”) promises has reduced sugar content with cinnamon and stevia. Very modern. If you think it’s all tortillas and rice and beans like the 1950s you’d be amazed.
So I’ve heard a desire for more traveler stories so here’s a round up. And don’t be surprised that they all speak German. Above is Paul and Andrea in a four wheel drive Sprinter conversion. They are going south so don’t be surprised to see them again. Paul admits to getting stressed on the road and he hates dirt roads especially as his big rig sways a lot on uneven surfaces. Andrea wants to go to Bolivia to see pink flamingos and salt flats but Paul really didn’t want to go, as he knows Bolivia will be a hassle. I hope we’ll see them in Patagonia and find out how it was.
Jurg and Anya are below. Always smiling Jurg is on his second tour of South America in a Ford pick up truck. They are going to tour Peru but with a shipping date in December back to Germany they are running out of time. His best friend owns a company that builds Unimog four wheel drive expedition trucks and he has begged Jurg to come back for a few more years to help. Jurg really likes the work so he’s off home again. That’s another couple we would love to see if or when we take GANNET2 to Europe (after Rusty).
Herman the manager going to open the big gate for Jurg and Anya to leave. You can imagine Layne has everyone’s WhatsApp and is communicating with them.
A rental camper truck from Chile turned up in the night apparently occupied by…Germans of course. You can rent and tour for a few weeks or months and save yourself the hassle of getting here.
There you go, check their website if you are so inclined:
Cora and Florian last seen in northern Peru at the beach. First seen at Sommerwind campground in northern Ecuador. Florian is a cog train engineer and helped Sean repair the diesel fuel pump in his Volkswagen Eurovan. Cora is an operating theater nurse and is taking a keen interest in Layne and her leg wound. She inspects it and doesn’t throw up…
Sean and Nina on their way to Alaska in a Volkswagen camper van with lots of mechanical issues. His gearbox is popping out of gear and his glow plugs are worn out, problems he hopes to solve in Lima.
Nina had her 35th birthday and we drank Pisco and ate cake at the potluck with the American family hunkered grumpily in their Sprinter van. Sean is a social worker and Nina is a physical therapist and they have no deadline to reach Alaska with their adopted Chilean kitten rescued from a log pile on a farm. You can see Layne getting their WhatsApp.
Their drone followed them out much to my amazement.
The Americans have left too, apparently going south unfortunately. I feel sorry for their kids who sit around silently, hooded, with none of the joy of childhood I have come to expect from travelers’ offspring. After their stupid fight with Sean over the ridiculous cat situation they actually did as he had asked politely in the first place and everyone exercised their animals on a separate schedule. They missed out on meeting some really nice people.
I somehow got on a history-mail list and I have come to enjoy the daily odd facts. I’ve reproduced here a column about some illustrious van lifers from the past just to prove there’s nothing new under the sun:
I wonder how long the powers will allow us to wander at will on public lands in the US camping in glorious wilderness. We get to see so many wonders at home that the places Europeans crave to visit in South America are a reminder of how few natural wonders there are in their overpopulated corner of the planet. I’ve seen pink flamingoes and alligators in south Florida, salt flats in Utah and canyons and mountains all over the western US. Europeans aren’t so lucky.
Above you see an innovation we embraced years ago sailing through Central America- solid dish soap. It doesn’t spill and it works. Highly recommended next time you are in Mexico eating tacos pick up some tubs of dish detergent. You’ll thank me.
In the era of instant communication above you see someone totally left behind. And below internet banking has yet to arrive for most working people. I snuck a picture at Banco de la Nacion of people lining up in crowds to speak to a teller. I was in line thirty minutes to deposit 25 bucks into the government account for Rusty, the little darling, to leave the country.
And if the road through Big Sur in California remains closed due to landslides don’t forget there’s three hundred miles of empty coast road here in Peru for you to enjoy.
Come on down and mix it up with a bunch of Germans. It’s what we do.
