So much for a two-week visit to Ecuador!
June 21st. We had planned on a week in the Galápagos Islands and another week to pass through the country. But we were so wrong. It turns out there’s much to see and do here, especially hiking volcanoes, which has become a bit of a theme of this trip. By the time we finally left, we’d spent just over a month in Ecuador – 33 nights to be exact.
What a fabulous country. We thoroughly enjoyed our time here, and I’ve once again changed my favourite country ‘so far’ from Guatemala to Panama to Colombia, and now it’s Ecuador. It feels stable and progressive here, with cities that have a higher standard of living than any other countries we’ve visited so far. Using USD makes life easy, everything is reasonably priced, and we felt safe everywhere we went.
So thank you, Ecuador, for being such a wonderful host. We’ve been blown away by your beauty and kindness. Let’s hope Peru can match – or even raise – the bar.
Passing acres of banana plantations on our way to the border, we made a final stop to fill up on diesel, knowing it would be double the price in Peru. Bruce is like a camel now, carrying 85 gallons (322L) of diesel in her tanks and 200L of fresh water. We’ve been warned that prices will keep rising the further south we go – a pity, as we were finding Colombia and Ecuador nicely affordable.
Hola Peru!
First, we had to find the office to check Bruce out of Ecuador, which proved a bit confusing. There was no obvious entry, and the exit gate that was clear was far too small for the truck. After driving around in circles for a bit, we ended up moving some barriers out of the way. Not something you’d get away with in North America, but here it seemed like a sensible solution, and no one minded.
Exiting Ecuador and entering Peru all happened in the same area, so we moved from one lineup to the next, taking about an hour in total. We were welcomed into Peru with a 90-day visa, then over to the Aduana to get Bruce her TIP, and finally to the SOAT tent to buy vehicle insurance – two months for $16 USD. That was it; we were free to explore Peru.
We felt sad leaving Ecuador but excited to dive into a new culture. Immediately we noticed the roads weren’t as good. The Pacific coast of Peru is desert – one giant windy, dusty garbage dump, in fact. There is no colour here, just endless shades of dry beige-brown.
Our first night was spent at a popular overlanders camp called Swiss Wassi – a beachfront property with palm trees, a swimming pool, and everything we could need. Tim and I sat on the beach for a sunset cerveza while the kids played in the pool. At $30 CAD a night it was a little pricey for our budget, so one night was enough. Evenings are cool here, so it was a treat to indulge in a hot shower before moving on.
Máncora
June 22. We had heard about Máncora from more people than I can count, so driving into town I felt disappointed to see such a scruffy place. It’s a popular destination for surfers, and I’m sure the surf is good, but the town itself did nothing for us. We walked around, had lunch at a beachfront restaurant – fresh ceviche for Charley and me, fish and chips for Jaxon and Tim – then headed to the beach for a free camp. We parked near another van from Quebec while the kids played on the sand. Charley buried Jaxon, who then went to rinse off in the cool Pacific water – only to stand on a stingray.
Instant pain, blood, and a bit of shock. He came running back to the truck yelling for me to put the kettle on. Normally this means a jellyfish sting, but the blood said otherwise. Poor kid – for the next hour his foot, now swollen, was in excruciating pain as the venom attacked. Hot water – as hot as he could stand, not boiling – was the only relief. Thankfully, the bleeding stopped, and after 90 minutes, the pain just vanished. The swelling went down overnight, leaving only a small cut as his survival trophy.
June 23. Moving on, Google Maps misled us down a dirt road that turned into quite the adventure. First, we passed a guard and gate. I asked if this was the way to Lobitos. He said yes and waved us through. A couple of kilometres later it became clear we were driving through an active oil field, with iron donkeys nodding their heads, pumping black gold from the earth and feeding it along a network of pipes. Offshore, there were 30 or more oil rigs pumping up the same goo. Our “road” was under construction, but for whatever reason, they let us through. We passed surveyors, workers tying rebar, pipe layers, earth movers – and then there was us, trundling along in our giant camper. It was pretty funny, and the road continued for at least 25 km before arriving at our next stop.
Lobitos
Another known surf spot, also popular for its wind. There was another van here, from Colorado – an American guy and his Brazilian girlfriend who had been camped out for the past three weeks enjoying the waves to themselves. True to Murphy’s Law, the day we arrived there was no wind and teeny tiny waves.
We tried to drive down onto the beach to camp, but even with the tires deflated to 40 PSI, Bruce was sinking into the sand. After a few attempts and some digging, we deployed the sand tracks. Third time lucky, but we decided it was best to camp up high on terra firma.
It was a quiet night, and we slept like babies. When wild camping, we don’t use the rooftop tent. Instead, I’ve jimmied the kids’ bed to be 8 inches wider by pulling out the table and propping chopping boards under the mattress cushions for support. It makes the walkway smaller, but everyone’s happier with more space – darn kids keep growing. When they were babies, they would snuggle up together in here. Now it’s WAR if anyone’s limb crosses the line!
Morning came with a forecast of light wind and no waves. We debated staying, but with nothing to do and the kids having zero intention of doing schoolwork, it would have been a long day. So we decided to push on towards Pacasmayo, where we hope to kite the world’s longest left-hand wave.
Piura
Our stop for the night was Piura, after a full day of driving. Tunes were cranked as we introduced the kids to the great rock bands and artists of the 80s and 90s. The sun was warm, windows down, singing along like nobody was watching. Life is good. The scenery, though, was the same dry, dusty desert, with garbage everywhere – buried in layers of dirt and flapping in the warm wind. The road surface was good, and we loved the free toll roads. For some reason, only northbound traffic pays – lucky for us, as Peru’s tolls are the most expensive we’ve encountered yet.
We made a quick stop at a mall to stock up on groceries. I feel like I’m constantly shopping – two growing kids eat everything in sight. Run little guinea piggies, RUN – Jaxon wants to eat you!
That night we stayed at a “club” on the outskirts of the city. The kids were straight into the pool, then straight out again – it was freezing cold. Fifty soles for the night, not bad, with a warmish shower and quiet sleep. The next morning we took our time leaving – I love travelling at a more relaxed pace. But we still had another full day of driving ahead, so we turned up the music and rolled on South.
There really isn’t much out here, we passed endless areas of big black bags being trucked to massive storage yards, where there were thousands upon thousands of them. Turns out they’re full of rice – Peru is a major rice producer, and by the looks of it, this region alone could save the world from starvation. The grains are dried out in huge open areas amongst the dust and dirt – a strong reminder to wash your rice before cooking!
It was another long day like the one before, many miles heading south, the Pacific coast somewhere just out of sight. Warm weather, t-shirts and shorts, windows down, volume up. We passed town after town drowning in its own garbage. But it’s not just the garbage – it’s endless acres of construction debris, dump truck after dump truck of concrete, rebar, plastic, and more. It honestly looks like this is where Gaza has sent all its war-torn rubble to be disposed of.
Fingers crossed for wind and waves I Pacasmayo!