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.

Yep. This is how he got in.

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.

One of the fishing ports in the park.

La Mina Beach

After almost two years on the road, the blue and orange dump truck is still a great toy.

This large (about a foot in diameter) jellyfish washed onto the beach.

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.

Miles and miles with absolutely nothing green in sight.

The contrast between the blue waters and the barren desert is striking.

A motley collection of 70s vintage Dodge and Chevy sedans chugged along the dusty roads laden with all manner of goods.

At some point we lost the “main” road and followed tracks through the desert for awhile before getting back on track with the help of the GPS.

We eventually found a spot on a hill above the beach for the night. Time for a drink!

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset with the last of our rum and pear juice.

The next morning we headed inland for about 50km to meet up with the Pan-Am once again.

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.

Jen set up the awning so we’d have some shade to work under, and Quinn helped me change the tire.

“Are you almost done yet, Daddy? Why is this taking so long?”

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.

Quinn gets a popsicle while the adults taste wine.

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.

$7 worth of beer: an easy way to make friends.

After we returned to our hotel, I climbed a sand dune to watch the sunset. It was nice, but the dunes were crawling with sand buggies, which was a sharp contrast to the quiet evening we had enjoyed the night before.