Tuesday

A few pictures from around town. 

Bird watchers I think, last Sunday morning. 

Our Final Week

There was a couple from the Netherlands in the campsite and they found my general irritation with Peru quite amusing. They might mention a power outage when I got back to the campground and then in chorus growl: “But it’s Peru!” Or the food delivery might be down (a real crisis of course) and the chorus would rise up around us. Anytime anything went wrong it was and is a matter of blaming Peru. 

So look at the picture above and ask yourself why has he parked his car in the travel lane? Answer: because it’s Peru! And he gets bonus points because there was plenty of room to pull off the street completely. We’ve been here far too long in this dusty desert town. Look at our windshield: 

I’m not going to post a picture of the hole in Layne’s leg as it is a sight only a surgeon could enjoy but it is taking its sweet time to heal. The frustration level is high as we are running out of time in Peru and will have to save Lake Titicaca and Cusco for our return trip north next year. And there is no new sealant honey to be found around here. It would be quite soothing too for her skin. 

This week, which has to be our last full week in Arequipa will see us start the process of checking Rusty out of Peru, a process that involves getting a vet to de-worm him. Child requires him to take a Nexguard pill (which we give him every month anyway) administered and recorded by a vet between five days before and up to one month before he crosses into Chile. So that we can do this week. He also needs a health certificate and an export certificate which are easier to get closer to the border. When you drive with a pet you don’t get to cross borders spontaneously; not that he cares. 

I’ve also learned to manage 220 volt electricity outlets. I put the fan on the converter box as it was tending to overheat and shut down. It’s a ridiculous looking arrangement but the fan cools the box and we get 110 volt electricity to charge our batteries. Our Starlink internet connection on the roof of the van is a power hog:

Layne has started to refer to the campground as “doing time” so to relieve the tedium we try to get out and have lunch somewhere and on doctors orders we don’t walk but take Uber or a cab. I walk Rusty of course and take a stroll to do shopping or the laundry but we are mostly confined to the campground. I did manage to beat her twice at backgammon which felt like a victory as she is ultra competitive. 

The good is really quite good in Peru but funnily enough a German couple who arrived a couple of days ago in a small Volkswagen van mentioned how grumpy Peruvians are, even before I started my lament, so I know I’m not alone. I’ve heard Chileans are just as bad but I’ve got to give them the benefit of the doubt first. A modest pork chop lunch eaten without electricity on Sunday as the restaurant luckily cooked on gas. 

Layne also found a crepe restaurant and it reminded me of the place in Key Plaza in Key West with a burger in a blue cheese sauce in a crepe. It was pretty damned good actually. 

Such are our amusements as we wait for a week from Tuesday to roll around. We’ll have some van cleaning to do as well to get the dust off. I cleaned the solar panels of accumulated dust and output rose to eleven amps from eight previously.  I had to borrow a campground ladder and boil my brains in the sun but I guess it was worth it. Solar by day and 220 volts by night. They sell this tiny minivan in Latin America, and even though it’s a Chevy 300 ( or 400 for the bigger one) it’s made in China. 

I find them fascinating especially as small vans in the US are so unpopular they don’t sell them anymore. I thought about them when I was in Key West last week and noticed all the huge modern pickup trucks parked in the narrow streets. 

Drywall is I guess a word with no D  equivalent. You’ll see lots of electricians and plumbers and various artisans including healers and snake oil sales advertised on lamp posts around town. 

A fashionable yet abandoned Land Rover: 

A Chinese built truck sold by the “Inca Power” dealership cracked me up.  I am easily amused. 

Rusty doesn’t mind the chaotic garbage situation at all. He came back from one walk holding a bond he found and refused to put it down. He gnawed on it for shes, being a dog I suppose. 

One sunny day after another. What marks the start of Autumn in the northern hemisphere means it’s the beginning of Spring down here. Time to get moving toward Antarctica. And not Bolivia. From

the BBC:

3,600 miles to go to get to the bottom of the continent but I’ll bet we can easily double that distance going back and forth and sideways as we do. We’ve got lots of driving ahead. 

Arequipa

My visit to Florida was a useful reminder that all will still be there when we get back in a year or two. Finding myself back in Arequipa I was ready to get driving but of course I had to go walking instead. 

The city always seems to have a tourist attraction going and there are as many foreign visitors on the sidewalks as ever. We have the feeling we have overstayed our welcome in what is a very pleasant city and a comfortable campground. 

Layne’s surgeon told her his first attempt to close the skin cancer wound has failed as her skin hasn’t closed over the cut as he had hoped. It’s now a race to see if the wound closes before our visitor permit runs out October 8th and we have to leave Peru. That’s for later, for now we pass the days and wait for this mess to sort itself out. 

It’s a hell of a climb up to the laundry so I left Rusty at the bottom of the cliff to save him the effort. After I got back from Florida he can’t bear to be away from me. Layne is a bit more rational about it. 

Add a new word to your Spanish vocabulary. You may have heard the Spanish word for beach as “ playa,” but in Peru it also means…parking garage. I have no idea why. 

The Road Ahead

Let me be clear: I am long past ready to get to Chile and be done with Peru until we are driving back north to go home. I want to be done here for now, and Chile beckons.

Layne’s skin cancer removal is healing but without any sense of urgency. The surgeon inspects it every two days and applies the dressing with his own hand. He says it’s going okay but slowly. So Layne is supposed to keep her leg up and walk just a little bit. We are wishing it to heal and be done but that’s not reality. 

The campground is comfortable but dusty and we are alone much of the time. Most overlanders are inland here visiting Cusco, Machu Picchu, lake Titicaca and on to Bolivia. We aren’t going to Bolivia on the way down to Ushuaia. It’s a pain in the ass country to drive across as they have inadequate supplies of fuel  and gas stations have to charge tourist prices to foreigners, not particularly expensive but  which require tons of paperwork so they prefer not to bother selling to foreigners. Diesel is even worse as it’s in short supply and overlanders have to ask permission to get to the front of the line if they do find gas stations that will sell to them.  

Almost all of Bolivia is at extreme high altitudes, above 12,000 feet and after the sun goes down the temperature freezes. Travelers report frozen water in their vehicles overnight, so you can imagine I’d love that. Plus Bolivia is in a state of social unrest so there are frequent protests and road blockades. We had that in Colombia and we’re over it. Plus Bolivia charges Americans $160 each to enter the country because they love us. Sigh. Our $3:50 lunch in Arequipa: 

November is the beginning of summer in the southern Hemisphere so we want to be poised to make the most of the best weather in southern Chile and Argentina. We’re going to see country in weather that closely resembles Alaska, long empty roads, mountains, rain, and generally harsh conditions.  Exactly what I look forward to after decades in Key West where we hid out to escape the cold. 

Chile is said to be the wealthiest country in South America with high prices great roads and strict traffic rules and not hugely friendly people. This is going to be something of a change but because I’m a rule follower I’m looking forward to no trash organized traffic and some slightly easier traveling. I’m a bit tired of the dirt and chaos of Peru. 

It feels graceless to grumble as the city is very pleasant and the campground is comfortable and the medical care is excellent. We’ve got the nearby Indian restaurant on speed dial. But we are here to be there, to be traveling to see things. 

The trash situation never gets better but that’s Peru and the dust cloud over Arequipa never grows less either. We wipe our gone for obsessively but the costing of dust never quite goes away. It’s a daily reminder we are in a desert. 

The one thing we are missing is fellow travelers from the US. There are so many Europeans especially Germans and while they are nice they aren’t people we have points of common interest or history. Europeans come to South America in droves at the moment as the Ukraine War has made the Silk Road journey rather uncomfortable for them towards Mongolia a classic European route. And yet American overlanders are hardly to be seen here in our own backyard. I really enjoyed hanging out with my friends in Key Weet and that highlighted the absence of a common culture on the road here with travelers.  

This journey is teaching me many things, not least patience. Onward we go in two short weeks. 

I miss you all.