Northern Peru

The day after Boxing Day and it was time to move north. We stayed a couple of days in the tiny oasis town of Huacachina. A lovely place surrounded by sand dunes and only one road in and out. Met another NZ couple from the North Island as well as a couple of other bikers heading south. The best moment was the dune buggy ride off into the dunes to watch the sunset. The most fun thing you can do in the sand. Nine people in a V8 buggy tearing around the sand. Environmental conservation, never heard of it.


Lima was next and this is where we spent a quiet New Year as the city fire-worked itself to bits. Lima is a huge city full of many old colonial buildings as well as the ultra modern western style complexes. Hard to believe it is all here, McDonalds, Starbucks, KFC, etc when you see what it is like in the rural areas and small towns.

We left Lima on New Years Day hoping the roads would be quiet going north. We followed the coast north through the desert dunes heading for Casma. We wanted to be through Northern Peru and into Ecuador by the weeks end.

Things were going well, with little traffic on the road we were making good time keeping up with the other traffic. Police were everywhere and we ended up being stopped five times over the next couple of days to have papers checked and questioned as to where we were going and where we had come from.

Sand, sand and more sand. Big dunes, wind blown sand on the road and in your eyes. it’s a constant battle keeping sand out of your house. The slightest breeze and the sand moves. Amazing stuff to watch.

This whole coastal area is growing and developing at a fast pace. Huge irrigation projects have been completed and new ones constructed. The flat desert areas are growing all manner of crops. Bananas, large areas of sugarcane and rice paddies as well as maize and grapes.

New beach-front towns are being built for the new wealth of Peru and are filling fast.

One thing they have not solved yet is how to best get rid of rubbish, especially plastic bags, they are everywhere when you approach a town, along with the smell that rotting rubbish and dead animals bring. You get the lot on a bike.

But one thing that doesn’t change much is the people. We have met some amazingly friendly people. From the taxi drivers who guide us in and out of towns to the guys at the gas stations and accommodation places. Once you engage them they open up and it is sometimes hard to leave.

So now we are about to cross into the wee E tomorrow so we will see how that one goes.