Tacna

As of Friday evening we were in Tacna about 45 minutes from the border with Chile in a campground not necessarily among the most comfortable but it’s safe and quiet for our what we hope is our last night in Chile. 

It was a long day’s drive across yet more coastal Peruvian desert. 

Our Friday morning started with a visit to the surgeon in the public hospital for one last check on Layne’s leg wound from where he removed a skin cancer a month ago. He was very happy with the wound’s progress and spent a few minutes showing me how to clean pack and cover the wound as we drive south.

We said goodbye to Herman the manager who said it wouldn’t be the same in the campground without us after six weeks. I was wondering how it would feel to be back behind the wheel in Peruvian traffic but like riding a bicycle it all came back to me. 

We passed through three toll booths between Arequipa and Tacna at $4 each for our van that rates as a private car at the cheapest rate. We also drove through a customs post that was not staffed and an agriculture check who didn’t ask for Rusty’s papers but took our mango, apples, mandarins and red pepper to prevent fruit fly infestation in southern Peru. Whatever. Entering Chile on Saturday is going to be worse. Coastal Peru is pretty dusty and run down.  

Some exciting passing on the mountain roads, and while we did go up and down a few passes the highest I noted was around 5,000 feet. Mostly it was pretty gentle driving compared to the Andes. 

We started at 10:30am and arrived at the campground at dusk just before six in the evening. Then went down and even at just 2100 feet the air got cool, below 60 degrees. 

I see these people walking across these lost towns and I wonder at their lives, their opportunities and their hopes. Education for their children? Job offers? I guess picking vegetables in the US looks better after a life lived here:

I’d go for a military career if I was raised around here. We passed a huge air base and an army base both lost in the desert. 

Why they put this here I have no idea. Once again  find myself puzzled by it all…Had our toilet been full I’d have stopped and emptied it here. 

This is desolate country. 

We didn’t quite get these structures in the desert, some made of brick and others of reeds. I don’t think they are homes precisely as we saw no sign of life. Were they inhabited there would stuff lying around, buckets, firewood and pots and laundry would be in evidence, dogs and chickens and so forth. They are too sterile to be full time homes. More puzzlement. 

On and on it went for six hours. 

All Over Town

By the time you read this we should be leaving Arequipa to arrive Friday night in Tacna with a border crossing on the weekend sometime. However Chile is preparing for our arrival. 

We are hoping the landslide created by an earthquake will be cleared before we get there early next week. If not we are stuck once again as there is only one through road across the desert of northern Chile. 

Until then some last pictures of Arequipa as we pack up and go. 

Chinese electric car doing some publicity: 

Peru has a wine industry: 

Ever had Peruvian freeze dried potatoes? Me neither. 

A birthday celebration for Florian’s 33rd involved a seafood lunch at a restaurant called Manta, like the ray. 

Surf and turf noodles: 

A mild teriyaki type sauce over potato and tuna: 

That appetizer also got a flame treatment table side: 

Below this is a Peruvian classic called causa. It’s a pile of potato and seafood with avocado and peppers with in this case, crispy fried onions on top. This one was surrounded by fried fish bites. 

A clever menu with pages of descriptions linked to photos: 

Good bye Arequipa after six long weeks: 

An unusual way to serve a salad but it worked: 

The sidewalk below ran out suddenly and ended in a wall. One of those special Arequipa grotesque moments. 

So you descend to street level and walk along the busy road. 

Then back up yo the sidewalk past the wall. 

I’m sorry but it’s an idiotic way to build a sidewalk. 

Water rushing to greet you on the sidewalk Arequipa style. They know how to waste water in this desert. 

Safety first: 

The government agricultural office is lost in a suburb near the airport. 

They checked Rusty’s papers for me and we should be good to go to Chile. Fingers crossed as this is a strict border. 

The vet had done is best to follow their instructions. 

I have no idea what was going on here: 

I sometimes wonder if I have a clue what’s going on along the way.