This particular border was a fascinating place. Trucks of all types filled with toilet paper, milk and watermelons were in line to cross. Frenchie was out wandering around and a man offered to buy his shoes for US $30. He sold them. Just took them off and sold them. On both sides of the road there were big dirt lots. They were filled with truck trailers selling all sorts of things. Hundreds of people were walking around. It was more like a fair then a crossing.
As we inched closer to the crossing the soccer van and Klaus showed up and with them was Juan in his yellow car. So we were all together again.
We finally reach the border out of Ecuador. They never even asked for the extension papers that were such a hassle to get.
We had been told that entering Peru was time consuming. That they wanted an inventory of absolutely everything you were bringing with you and that they conducted really thorough searches. We figured we would be there a long time.
We pulled over and Bill went in with all the paper work again. Including a partial list of what we had in the motorhome. We had worked on it the night before.
Before long he was climbing back in and starting the engine.
“Where do we have to go to be searched?” I asked.
“No where, we’re through,” He replied.
That was it. They took his word for what we had and after paying a fee of 500 Soles had stamped everything good to go. It took about two hours from when we started to move. Oh but then we had to stop again and pay a toll of another 60 Soles.
While waiting to cross we were all talking and decided to spend the night on the beach by Tumbes, about 40 miles down the road. Everyone would meet there.
When we left the border Frenchie was riding with us and Gil and Paul were riding with Maynard. The boys had really taken to him and he enjoyed them. None of us thought anything about it.
In about 25 miles we came to a police check, there sat the Volvo. Maynard was leaning on the fender watching up the road for us. At this one they checked everyone’s papers and of course he didn’t have anything for Gil or Paul. Luckily we were only a few minutes behind him.
The kids came running up as soon as we stopped. “They’re going to arrest all of us, we don’t have no papers!” wailed Gil.
Maynard was walking up behind him. “I didn’t think about their passports, you just need to show them to the officer and everything will be fine.”
Passports and papers were shown, the guards got a laugh out of the fuss made and we were on our way. Another check point up the road. This time Klaus was in front of us and the soccer van, Juan and the Volvo behind. Klaus on his big silver BMW and dressed in fatigues, came abreast of the check point, slowed, smartly saluted and rode on through. The guards saluted back. We were right behind him. Bill and the kids waved and we sailed through. But they had the barrier down before anyone else could make it through. This became Klaus’ MO for the rest of the trip along the Pan American Highway.
We stopped in Tumbes to go to the central market for a few things. We could buy everything but beef, the first 15 days of the month beef couldn't be sold. There was a shortage of beef and that was the way of rationing it. But there was a large supply of live chickens and turkeys. Just pick one out and it would be killed for you. Ugh! Because the market was outside, everything was covered with flies. We were getting less fussy and picked up what we needed - we’d wash or cook it later.
Just down the road we found a nice place on the beach where we could pull off and spend the afternoon and night. One by one everybody showed up and settled in. We set up the tent and dragged the lawn chairs down off the roof and bbq off the trailer and set up for dinner.
The guys all played a long, dirty game of soccer. After that we all chipped in and Bill cooked a big bar-b-que. The beach was full of big red crabs that the kids kept chasing.
The days were hot but it was nice at night. A pleasant evening was had by all.
We took a lot of pictures while on the beach, some are included.
The next morning Maynard and Frenchie decided to leave for Lima as they were running short of money and wanted to get to Bolivia. They would be able to make it in one day in the car. Next the soccer van, Klaus and Juan also chose to hit the road. We thought about staying another night but then the bugs came. Great big biting ones flying and crawling all over. Don’t know what they were but we let them have the beach. We loaded up and headed down the road towards Lima.
The roads and scenery in northern Peru left much to be desired. It was like driving through the Southwest US desert. What greenery there was grew near the few rivers. And there would be a few houses and lot of grazing goats.
The driving was pretty slow for us as big and heavy as we were. The road was mostly chuck holes with a little asphalt between them.
We got to Piura and stopped for lunch. And who did we meet up with? Why the soccer van, Klaus and Juan all sitting in a sidewalk café enjoying lunch. Suddenly a commotion, someone was breaking into Juan’s car. He grabbed some stuff from the back seat and ran around the corner. Off they all went chasing the thief. Paul Perez was the fastest and kept chasing the guy and soon was lost.
Again we headed out without them and drove on to Motupe where we stopped to spend the night in another all night gas station. A few hours later the van, BMW and yellow car pulled in beside us. They had actually caught the thief and turned him in to the police. Juan got his belongings back and all turned out well.
While stopped that night we had a problem with the generator. It sputtered to a stop and refused to start again. After poking and checking connections Bill announced he thought it was the fuel pump. The batteries were charged so we had lights and the water pump worked so it was not really a problem yet.
We did 271 miles that day.
Off early the next morning. There was no improvement in the condition of the road. It was narrow and very bumpy, like a washboard. We did a lot of grabbing of the bunk bed to protect the head of The Driver. Every once in a while we would see some huts off in the distance.
As we inched closer to the crossing the soccer van and Klaus showed up and with them was Juan in his yellow car. So we were all together again.
We finally reach the border out of Ecuador. They never even asked for the extension papers that were such a hassle to get.
We had been told that entering Peru was time consuming. That they wanted an inventory of absolutely everything you were bringing with you and that they conducted really thorough searches. We figured we would be there a long time.
We pulled over and Bill went in with all the paper work again. Including a partial list of what we had in the motorhome. We had worked on it the night before.
Before long he was climbing back in and starting the engine.
“Where do we have to go to be searched?” I asked.
“No where, we’re through,” He replied.
That was it. They took his word for what we had and after paying a fee of 500 Soles had stamped everything good to go. It took about two hours from when we started to move. Oh but then we had to stop again and pay a toll of another 60 Soles.
While waiting to cross we were all talking and decided to spend the night on the beach by Tumbes, about 40 miles down the road. Everyone would meet there.
When we left the border Frenchie was riding with us and Gil and Paul were riding with Maynard. The boys had really taken to him and he enjoyed them. None of us thought anything about it.
In about 25 miles we came to a police check, there sat the Volvo. Maynard was leaning on the fender watching up the road for us. At this one they checked everyone’s papers and of course he didn’t have anything for Gil or Paul. Luckily we were only a few minutes behind him.
The kids came running up as soon as we stopped. “They’re going to arrest all of us, we don’t have no papers!” wailed Gil.
Maynard was walking up behind him. “I didn’t think about their passports, you just need to show them to the officer and everything will be fine.”
Passports and papers were shown, the guards got a laugh out of the fuss made and we were on our way. Another check point up the road. This time Klaus was in front of us and the soccer van, Juan and the Volvo behind. Klaus on his big silver BMW and dressed in fatigues, came abreast of the check point, slowed, smartly saluted and rode on through. The guards saluted back. We were right behind him. Bill and the kids waved and we sailed through. But they had the barrier down before anyone else could make it through. This became Klaus’ MO for the rest of the trip along the Pan American Highway.
We stopped in Tumbes to go to the central market for a few things. We could buy everything but beef, the first 15 days of the month beef couldn't be sold. There was a shortage of beef and that was the way of rationing it. But there was a large supply of live chickens and turkeys. Just pick one out and it would be killed for you. Ugh! Because the market was outside, everything was covered with flies. We were getting less fussy and picked up what we needed - we’d wash or cook it later.
Just down the road we found a nice place on the beach where we could pull off and spend the afternoon and night. One by one everybody showed up and settled in. We set up the tent and dragged the lawn chairs down off the roof and bbq off the trailer and set up for dinner.
The guys all played a long, dirty game of soccer. After that we all chipped in and Bill cooked a big bar-b-que. The beach was full of big red crabs that the kids kept chasing.
The days were hot but it was nice at night. A pleasant evening was had by all.
We took a lot of pictures while on the beach, some are included.
The next morning Maynard and Frenchie decided to leave for Lima as they were running short of money and wanted to get to Bolivia. They would be able to make it in one day in the car. Next the soccer van, Klaus and Juan also chose to hit the road. We thought about staying another night but then the bugs came. Great big biting ones flying and crawling all over. Don’t know what they were but we let them have the beach. We loaded up and headed down the road towards Lima.
The roads and scenery in northern Peru left much to be desired. It was like driving through the Southwest US desert. What greenery there was grew near the few rivers. And there would be a few houses and lot of grazing goats.
The driving was pretty slow for us as big and heavy as we were. The road was mostly chuck holes with a little asphalt between them.
We got to Piura and stopped for lunch. And who did we meet up with? Why the soccer van, Klaus and Juan all sitting in a sidewalk café enjoying lunch. Suddenly a commotion, someone was breaking into Juan’s car. He grabbed some stuff from the back seat and ran around the corner. Off they all went chasing the thief. Paul Perez was the fastest and kept chasing the guy and soon was lost.
Again we headed out without them and drove on to Motupe where we stopped to spend the night in another all night gas station. A few hours later the van, BMW and yellow car pulled in beside us. They had actually caught the thief and turned him in to the police. Juan got his belongings back and all turned out well.
While stopped that night we had a problem with the generator. It sputtered to a stop and refused to start again. After poking and checking connections Bill announced he thought it was the fuel pump. The batteries were charged so we had lights and the water pump worked so it was not really a problem yet.
We did 271 miles that day.
Off early the next morning. There was no improvement in the condition of the road. It was narrow and very bumpy, like a washboard. We did a lot of grabbing of the bunk bed to protect the head of The Driver. Every once in a while we would see some huts off in the distance.
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We Have Driven our Motorhome as Far as Peru
