[Above: Todd "Chipper" Borgie works on removing a boulder from a mountain road not far from Cusco.]

Journal by Chanda Baggarly

Boulders blocking Indian village access roads are no match for the Drive Around the World recovery vehicles.

The LONGITUDE Expedition makes use of four Certified Land Rover Discovery Series II vehicles with each vehicle playing a distinct role. Vehicle D1 ('D' being short for Discovery) serves a technological purpose. It's a base for technology items such as, satellite phones, HAM radios, and laptops (provided by Seagate). The laptops are running a fascinating piece of navigation software made by Keyhole software, called EarthViewer Pro. D1 also includes a wireless router that allows team laptops to communicate in camp and even while the convoy is moving. D1 is also responsible for charging batteries for computers, cameras, and radios. All of the technology is powered by three Optima batteries, separated with Sure Power battery separators and a 1000-watt inverter provides 110 watts of power for hours.

Vehicle D2 is manned by the documentary crew of Flip Flop Productions -- Adam Burgess, Neil Dana, and Colin McAuliffe -- and holds the film crew's cameras, lenses, filters, lights, and tape stock. Vehicle D3, piloted by Nancy Olson and Todd Borgie, is the chuck wagon. It holds food and water provisions for two weeks as well as everything needed to make and break camp. Finally, vehicle D4, driven by Justin Mounts and Rolf Potts, holds spare parts, tools, and the main medical kit provided by Adventure Medical Kits (the other vehicles have smaller med kits). While all vehicles are equipped with ARB bumpers and Warn winches, D3 & D4 also server as recovery vehicles. They are equipped with extra gear such as Extreme Outback recovery equipment, compressors, shovels and other tools to dig the team out of stuck situations. Whenever we split up, the rule is one recovery vehicle must remain with each group. Today we needed our recovery vehicle.

Nick and Nancy recc’ed some trails earlier today and came back to fetch the rest of the team, wearing ear-to-ear grins. They had found a good trail to take sponsor pictures so we all piled into our vehicles and drove thirty minutes southeast of Cusco into a nearby canyon. On the way we drove through two Indian villages and through some pretty deep mud bogs too. All vehicles made it through, as always, without a hitch.

Passing through one village, we looked down from the hillside and spotted a football game going on. As we passed the field, people waved and yelled "buenas dias," reinforcing the notion I already had; people in Peru are very friendly.

The road quickly turned to dirt and we continued to snake back into the canyon, taking great care as we drove along the ridge. To our left was a steep drop down the canyon to a rushing creek below. At times, the road narrowed and was barely passable. I call these roads, 'two-handers' because you're wise to keep two hands on the wheel at all times with priorities being to watch the road first and scenery, second. The scenery was indeed breathtaking. Small mountains with neatly kept crops growing on the hillsides, distant views and a sporadic bright red-orange poppy to break up the greenery. Some of our best sights and experiences with nature and local people occur while driving on these back roads. I kept thinking, I know we'll make it back here again some day.

Eventually vehicle D3, came around a bend and discovered a large boulder blocking the road. The boulder was the result of a small landslide and there was no easy way around the obstacle. I suppose one of these small to mid-size road vehicles could make it around but one false move to the left and it's creek-city, bent metal, and certain death. Being members of Tread Lightly! we figured we could use the opportunity to clear the road for these people and get in a bit of winching practice to boot. We're light on this sort of training and Nick says the roads in Indonesia and Russia will demand that we have these techniques down. Nick and Nancy took turns spotting one of the vehicles around the boulder with some excellent shovel work by Todd, 'Chipper' Borgie to reduce the size of the big rock. Once around we placed an Extreme Outback recovery strap around the rock, and connected the Warn winch using a heavy-duty snatch block. Our team and friends retreated to higher ground while Nick took the wheel of D3 and Nancy operated the winch remote. After some movement it became apparent that the boulder's center of gravity wouldn't accept a straight pull in the desired direction. In fact, if we continued the tug the boulder would fall smack dab in the middle of the road, trapping our vehicle. A plan B was necessary so we snapped some great pictures for our sponsors and hung up the winch; The solution was a great one. It used the team's might and the intellect of our new friends. Noticing that we were re-evaluating the object, the Indians headed up the road and returned with several long logs. Using smaller rocks as fulcrums, the logs were used to lever the boulder up a bit, allowing us to place a rock underneath. This technique was repeated over and over until the boulder was tilted up on it's side. Finally, our team and the Indians leaned in together and moved the big rock off to the side. The road had been cleared but, more importantly perhaps was the lesson this little exercise had brought. Tomorrow we will visit Machu Picchu, home of the ancient Incan civilization over 500 years ago. I can't help but think that we will have a new appreciation for its construction after our little rock-moving incident.

Chanda
chanda@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for January 11th, Day 72
Start: Cusco, Peru
N: 13* 31.017'
W: 71* 58.835''
Finish: Cusco, Peru
N: 13* 31.017'
W: 71* 58.835''
Mileage: 035
Notes: Today we had an evening photo shoot in the hills of Peru. Nick and I went out in the morning with a shoddy map of the area. Our plan was to find a dirt road, explore it, and decide if it would provide the sort of landscape we'd need to take some photos for our sponsors. Nick and I had a blast driving through a quaint and happy little village, past pigs and goats and sheep, past a town soccer game, past the farmers working in their fields, and past giant mud pits and children playing. We ended up on a bunch of switchbacks leading up a mountain along a fast-flowing stream. It was perfect for a photo shoot. We returned with the whole team, our four Certified, Pre-Owned Land Rovers causing quite a stir in the tiny little village. We found a road which had been blocked by a huge boulder, and we used our WARN winch, our Extreme Outback recovery equipment, and a lot of elbow grease to help a few of the local men remove the boulder from the road. It felt great being able to clear a road and help the village, and we got our sponsorship photos, too. I even got to ride my Santa Cruz most of the way home along the winding switchbacks. We're having a great time here in Cusco, and we get to go to Machu Pichu, Titicaca, and Bolivia in the next few days. (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.