Our last couple of weeks in Arequipa were mostly spent working and hanging out with our friends Michelle and Matt and their kids Emilia and Matthew. Quinn and Emilia really hit it off with their mutual love of Minecraft. We had another sleepover, and Jen and I even got to go out for a nice dinner while the two of them played!

In truth, the bull fighting wasn’t all that exciting. It mostly consisted of the bulls’ owners trying to drag them around with ropes to get them to engage with each other. Supposedly if they won’t fight they bring in a cow to get their blood pumping, but we didn’t see that happen.

On Monday evening we dropped Quinn off at Emilia’s house to play Minecraft, and Jen and I got a rare evening out together. We picked the top-rated restaurant in Trip Advisor and weren’t disappointed. They didn’t have any tables, so we sat at a small coffee table in a waiting area next to a fireplace and ordered appetizers. We had a cheese plate, followed by a selection of meats served on hot volcanic stone so they were still sizzling after 10 minutes. We enjoyed Pisco sours, a bottle of wine, and finished the whole thing up with a chocolate mousse. Yum!!

On Tuesday we packed up the van, planning to spend a few days touring the Colca Canyon before heading into Chile.

We visited the canyon as part of a loop that would take us back to the Pan Am. After we left the area frequented by tour groups, the road turned to dirt and the adventure began. After stopping to buy food for dinner in a small village market, we headed out thinking that we’d make it to the beach that night to camp. That proved optimistic, as it would take us about 7 hours to cover the next 150km of dirt roads.

Shortly after we set up camp a man walked by herding sheep. I asked him if we could camp here and he smiled and said yes. A few other people walked past and looked at us curiously, but they mostly seemed pretty shy and reserved.

The next morning just as we were preparing to depart a woman walked up to the van and offered us a plate of food – cooked potatoes and corn. We were amazed by her generosity. We graciously accepted the food, gave her a small gift in exchange and waved goodbye. That night we incorporated her gift into our meal.

It took us about 2 hours to cover the remaining 50km back to the highway. The road seemed to get worse the closer we got, and the scenery returned to the lifeless dust bowl that seems to dominate the Peruvian coast. We dropped off the passenger we’d picked up along the way and got out to kiss the blessed asphalt. (Not really, but we talked about it. 🙂 )

The plan was to go to the coast and work our way down the beach toward Chile. No sooner than I had observed that we had been from 16,000 feet to sea level in two days, we came upon a roadblock. People were lounging beside their cars, and this didn’t seem like a regular road construction stop. I got out to talk to a truck driver and discovered that there was some kind of fire and that he had been there for three days. We went up to the head of the line and a police officer told us that we couldn’t pass. When we asked how long the delay would be he smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

With that we turned around and went back to the Pan Am. We tried one other route to the coast and were again stopped by the police, who told us that there was fighting going on. We still weren’t sure exactly what was happening, but by this time it was getting late and we needed a place to stay. We found a ravine that we could drive into and be hidden from the highway. It wasn’t great, but it was very dark and the stars were beautiful.

Next stop Chile!

Yes, I said some of the nuns had nannies. Although they took a vow of (among other things) poverty when they entered the convent, apparently poverty is relative among nuns too. Those that came from wealthy families brought assistants with them and had better rooms and furniture.

On Friday afternoon we visited a museum dedicated to the frozen body of an Incan girl sacrificed atop one of the local volcanoes 500 years ago. In 1995 a climber / archaeologist discovered the frozen body at over 20,000 feet. Although it’s not a mummy because it wasn’t intentionally prepared for preservation, the cold, dry climate atop the mountain has kept it intact and preserved. During a trip to Johns Hopkins University for a cat scan, a sample was extracted from her stomach to discover what her last meal was. The entire exhibit was amazing. We weren’t allowed to take photos inside the museum, so you’ll have to take my word for it.

Did you notice the new banner photo at the top of this page? It was taken in Paracas, Peru. How do you like it? Happy Travels!

Our next stop on our way south was the Nazca Lines. Officially known as geoglyphs, they’re a series of geometric patterns carved in the desert about 1500 years ago. The amazing thing is that despite being basically trenches (and only about 6 inches deep) they’ve lasted for an incredibly long time.

Each morning a few guys would arrive and gather seaweed that had washed ashore. They were taking it to the town of Nazca where they could sell it for 50 centavos (about 20 cents) per kilo (dried) to a factory that makes soaps and beauty products.

After a long drive inland from the coast, we arrived in Arequipa and began moving into our apartment here.

Jen met another worldschooling family online who are also happen to be staying in Arequipa. We met up in a local park one day to let the kids play. They are the Tupy family — Michelle, Matt, Emilia (10), and Matt (4) — and they document their travels both on their And Off We Went Facebook page and web page.

We ended out having a great time in Lima, and were kind of wishing we’d scheduled a month there instead of Arequipa. But we had a house rented through Airbnb and only a week to get there, so we headed off down the Pan Am, comforting ourselves with the knowledge that 1) an apartment in Miraflores would have been very expensive and 2) finding a place to park the van would have been a mission.

We were reminded before we left on Tuesday that Semana Santa (Holy Week) started on Thursday and that the city would pretty much empty out onto the surrounding beaches for the holiday. We didn’t have reservations anywhere and hoped things wouldn’t be too crazy.

It took us about 4 hours on good roads to reach Paracas National Park, a reserve on the coast known for its marine and bird life. Our first stop was the excellent visitor’s center. After we parked and went in, I returned to the van to get the camera. There was a small red minivan parked next to us, which in retrospect was a bit odd since it was nowhere near the closest available spot to the entrance. I got the camera and went back inside, where we spent about 30 minutes exploring the exhibits.

It wasn’t until we arrived at camp that evening when Jen pointed out that some of the cushions in the back of the van looked “disturbed” and the cam strap securing one end of the fridge had “come loose.” I inspected the outside of the car for signs of forced entry.

Amazingly, nothing in the van was missing. The guy was obviously looking for electronics, all of which were locked away in our safe, and fortunately he didn’t even find that thanks to the cover we have over the front of it. After nearly two years on the road, this was our first break-in. We were very lucky that nothing was stolen.

That evening we camped at La Mina Beach. We talked with some motor bikers camped next to us, and they recommended that we take the “off-road” route south through the park rather than going back out to the Pan-Am the way we came.

After a few hours playing on the beach the next morning we headed south. The road at first was good, but deteriorated into tracks in the desert.

While stopped to take some photos, we noticed our first flat tire of the trip. Thinking back to our Africa trip where it seemed as though we had nothing but flat tires until we replaced all of them, we’re pretty happy.

Once our tire repaired, we headed to the town of Huacachina where we planned to spend the night. The town is a resort oasis nestled between giant sand dunes. It would have been pretty nice except that it was crawling with Semana Santa revelers. With no good camping options in town, we splurged on a nice hotel with a pool.

We needed to get our tire fixed, so we decided to spend the afternoon visiting a local winery and a tire repair shop (two very different experiences).

The winery was nice, but the only wines they had for tasting were the super-sweet varieties that Peruvians seem to prefer. It’s somewhere between alcoholic grape juice and cough syrup.

On the way back we stopped at a llanteria (tire repair shop). There were about four guys sitting around, and one doing all of the work. Since it was the holiday and these guys were stuck working (or at least one of them was), I bought them beer and we talked while the one worked slaved over my tire.

After re-packing the van Friday morning and having the amazing chicken pesto sandwiches for lunch at Cafe Andino one last time, we said goodbye to our hosts and hit the road. We continued up the Santa river valley aiming for a campsite at a refugio.

After 40 minutes on a slow dirt road, we made it to the refugio at over 14,000 feet. It looked like a good base for hiking, but it was deserted and there wasn’t really a flat place to park the van, so we headed back down and camped in a pullout above the main road. It was cold and quiet and once the clouds cleared out the stars were amazing.

The next morning we resumed our drive to Lima. We would drop from over 14,000 feet to sea level in about four hours. As we descended the terrain became drier, and eventually only the river bottom had any plant life at all.

We had heard reports of unusual rains in the region – Our host in Huaraz, Isabel, had warned us that the main route to Lima had been washed out earlier but had been re-opened. As we headed down the valley we saw evidence of the flooding.

That night we camped in the small Lashay Nature Refuge

After a quiet night in the park we drove back to the Pan Americana and continued South toward Lima. We hadn’t planned to stop (as we visited there once before), but then we found some fun things to do with Quinn, and Jen found a family living there who wanted to meet up. We’re glad we did; we had a fun day there.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for our next exciting update that will feature driving through a (nearly) trackless desert, our first break-in (don’t worry, nothing was stolen) and our first flat tire!