[Above: Four Drive Around the World Land Rovers are parked for the night along the desert landscape of the Peruvian coast south of Huarmey.]

Journal by Justin Mounts

Sometimes when you’re traveling, you find yourself stuck in the middle of nowhere. Today is the 64th day of the Longitude Expedition. Our route today takes us from Puerto Chicama on the western coast down near Lima, the capital city. We are in the middle of a long series of driving days through Peru in order to explore the town of Cuzco and then proceed over to the majestic pyramids in Machu Picchu. Peru is an interesting country for a number of reasons. First, it is the 3rd largest country in South America, and it is roughly twice the size of the state of Texas. Second, it is contained entirely within the tropics. Third, I’ve seen sights here that were absent in other countries. And the last reason is that Peru is nothing like I had imagined.

We are driving through the desert. That’s right, the desert. Never mind the fact that as I just mentioned Peru is located entirely in the tropics, and every mental image you have of the tropics makes you think of thick rain forests filled with vines and sweat and wild animals that you can only see in the zoo or on TV. There’s no doubt about it, we’re in the middle of the desert. This barren, parched stretch of earth is smashed down right in between the Andes Mountains and some of the most beautiful coastline in the world. And it feels like the middle of nowhere. This stretch of desert is so barren and yet visually captivating; Rolf compared to both the Gobi Desert in Mongolia and the Libyan Desert in western Egypt.

We started this morning with a film excursion through part of the desert down to a beautiful little beach tucked into a cove. The morning air was salty and the sky was a hazy blue. Two tanned fishermen were wading into the water with nets trying to make their catch for the day. In the distance, there were two-dozen boats jockeying for the best fishing position in the bay. We were tempted to remain here for a while, but as we watched the men loading up their fish into nets they had attached to a pole for carrying the fish into town, we were reminded that we had a long day ahead of us, too.

We stopped for a quick breakfast right inside the town of Puerto Chicama. It was the usual fare for this part of the country: runny fried eggs, plain white rice, a smattering of grayish-brown beans, and a piece or two from a yucca tree. While desayuno (breakfast) was being prepared, I went for a walk around the block. The town itself is a dirty, reportedly high-crime area visited by both native and foreign tourists alike to experience the beach and what is reported as the world’s longest left-break for surfing fanatics. However, my impression is that it is primarily a fishing town and that more tourists visit the centro turista of Mancora to the north. It could also be that the waves were only about 4 inches high today.

For the most part, I found Puerto Chicama very representative of most of the small towns in Peru. The houses are small and very modest. They are built with cinderblock or thatch walls, even mud occasionally, and they have tin or reed-like roofs. While there are beaches fairly near these towns, most of the inhabitants don’t have transportation available to them, except for bicycles, taxis, or buses. From what I can tell, most buses don’t go to the beach, a taxi to the beach would probably be too expensive, and it’s just not very feasible to put the whole family on a bicycle to go to the beach, although I believe many Peruvians may try on a nice enough day.

We are without a doubt in the middle of nowhere. So I think.

But over one half of Peru’s 27 million inhabitants live in this narrow stretch of desert in the middle of nowhere. That’s roughly equal to the population of California or Canada. This band of sand dunes and rocky hills that I perceived as uninhabitable also contains Peru’s three major cities. I suppose it’s no different than living in parts of Arizona, Nevada, or New Mexico, but when your mental image of a country is so different from what you encounter, it takes the brain a while to adjust.

While I waiting for breakfast to be served, I sat down on the side of the road and I began to ponder the concept of “the middle of nowhere” For many of these people in most of these towns, this is all they have ever known. They may or may not have dreams of travel or a different life, but the reality is for most of these people, this is not “nowhere,” this is home. Generations of Peruvians will be born, grow up, work, live, love, marry, grow old, and die here. From the cheerful woman selling fresh bread; to the dark-skinned, leathery-faced, wrinkled old woman walking along-side the road carrying a bundle of sticks that must weigh 4 times her body weight; to the myriad of young and old men who drive three-wheeled motorcycle taxis like kamikaze pilots -- this place that I would call the middle of nowhere is their entire world.

And you know what? They all seem pretty happy about it, too. As we pull through towns, Peruvians whistle and wave at us, genuinely pleased to see us driving by. As we stop to get gas or eat a meal, everyone asks questions and gives us a thumbs-up to our expedition. I finished my breakfast and decided to spend more time thinking about this.

We continued with the day’s drive and the sights of Peru constantly whizzed by me: first, the small wooden crosses along the side of the road marking memories of loved ones. Then, old trucks loaded to three times their height with branches -- the beds of all of them looking ready to burst at the seams as they slowly moved along their daily routine of climbing hills and belching exhaust fumes. Then, a unique sight along the road interrupted my thoughts. I had read in one of our Lonely Planet guidebooks that it is a common sight in Peru to see men urinating in public. In fact, it’s not that strange for women to urinate in public. To be perfectly frank, along the highways, we have even found it necessary at times to pull over on the side of the road to let nature take its course. However, we were driving behind one of the three-wheeled motorcycle taxis when we noticed that its passenger needed to relieve himself -- while it continued on its way down the road. I guess when you have to go, you have to go.

Our day ended on a beach south of the coastal town of Huarmey. As I hiked around searching for sea urchins, starfish, shells, and investigating the bones of dead animals, my thoughts returned to my morning musings. Perhaps it’s just our lack of perspective or first-hand experience that prevents us from seeing past what’s right in front of our faces. “This isn’t the middle of nowhere,” I thought as the sun slipped beyond the horizon. This is the middle of everywhere. So, the next time you find yourself thinking, “Man, I am really in the middle of nowhere,” take a minute to ask yourself, “Is that really the case?”

Justin
Justin@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for January 2nd, Day 63
Start: Mancora, Peru, 0700
N: 04* 06.543'
W: 81* 03.571''
Finish: Puerto Chicama, Peru, 2015
N: 07* 42.276'
W: 79* 26.627''
Mileage: 327
Notes: The team continued south through Peru, crossing the Desierto de Sechura. The scenery is amazing. Just when I thought we were running out of sand, Peru pulled through with the mother-load! The team continues to battle cold-flu symptoms. Neil is pretty bad off, with a fever of 101.9 F. He can hardly move, poor guy. We made a pit stop in a random town today to witness the random site of lions in a cage. They were on their way to a circus. (N.O.)

Logbook for January 3rd, Day 64
Start: Puerto Chicama, Peru, 0815
N: 07* 42.276'
W: 79* 26.627''
Finish: South of Huarmey, Peru, 1700
N: 10* 20.036'
W: 78* 03.265''
Mileage: 220
Notes: The team did a photo shoot with the desert as a backdrop and then explored down a dirt road to some awesome beach areas near their hostel in Puerto Chicama. Nancy had time for a run AND a bike ride. The views of the ocean with the desert cliffs in the backfground were amazing. We continued south through the huge country of Peru, past the historic city of Chan Chan and past the Moche Pyramids. At about 4:30, Nick surprised us by knocking off early to find a suitable place to camp on the beach. This was the best campsite of the trip, and this was the best bike riding area of the entire expedition. I rode my Santa Cruz up and down super-steep dunes with my hair on fire. I'm feeling sick with a headache and stomachache (N.O.)

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

Posted by Rolf Potts at 01:25 AM
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