5,000 miles of the Panamerican Highway--Photos of our Little Chevy and her Crew

On January 15, we set off for a month long drive from Ecuador to our new home in the Patagonia region of Argentina--a 5,000 mile adventure.  In Ecuador, the Panamerican Highway makes its way along the backbone of the Andes.  Near the Peruvian border, the route heads to the Pacific, then continues along the coast until the highway ends in Southern Chile. 

Our first couple of days of travel through familiar Ecuador was a smooth start to the journey.  We had time to reflect on leaving our friends in Azogues, as well as ponder the excitement (together with a bit of anxiety) of traveling to the new countries of Peru, Chile, and Argentina to the south.

For the next 4 weeks, many of our rest stops were at the beach.    Since we often spent 10 or more hours in the car, getting out and playing in the sand and waves was a treat.

 

 

The back of our little SUV only held half of our possesions, so we put the rest of our stuff in the cargo bag directly on the roof.  After a few days, Hans pointed out that the ceiling above him was sagging closer and closer to his head!  After removing the load and banging out the dent, Erich rigged up a roof rack with metal tubes and duct tape that miraculously held up for the entire rest of the trip. 

This GPS turned out to be invaluable technology for guiding us into and out of the big cities along the way.

Headphones, eReaders, and shades were essentials in the backseat.

More than half of our route was through desert.  Hans was hoping we would take our rig off-road to do wheelies in the sand.  After contemplating being stuck on the side of the road in the hot desert sun, he settled for some of his own barefooted wheelies in the sand.

 

The entire coast of Peru is a desert, interspersed with fertile valleys irrigated by rivers originating in the Andes.

The kids have seen a big new part of the world, many different ways of life, sometimes intense poverty.  In Peru, the life of the poor is not hidden by lush vegetation the way it is in Ecuador. 

So often, as with these hitch-hikers we met on a side-trip in Central Peru, the positive spirit of the people impressed us as much as their simple lifestyle.

On the Panamerican Highway, there are all sorts of vehicles that share the way...

This one was the widest loads any of us had ever seen in our lives! 

This is the truck part of the dump truck bed pictured above, being transported to a nearby mine.  Look at those tires compared to the semi-truck tires!

Of course, most of the people that live along the Panamerican Highway don't have cars at all. 

Initially, we thought the role of graft in Peru had changed significantly since the 1980's when we were last in the country.  At the border, there was a sign reminding everyone (most likely primarily directed at the custom agents themselves) that it shouldn't cost anyone anything to cross the border.  

But on our second day on the Peruvian highway, we were pulled over by a patrolman for not having our headlights turned on(!).  After wagging his finger at us disdainfully, the policeman said with great sincerity, "If I give you a ticket which you would have to pay at the state capitol, it would ruin your trip.  If you pay me, oh...let's say, about half of what the ticket would cost, you can be on your way".  It took Erich a few trips back and forth from his wallet to the patrolman's car to figure out what that "halfway mark" was.  

On a similar run-in with a motorcycle cop in Southern Peru, Erich initially offered the equivalent of $10 to the the fellow (who looked so much like Peter Sellers it's not funny).  He raised his voice and said, "Malo (bad)!"  All of us in the car thought we would surely spend the night in jail for offering a bribe to an official, but to our relief (!), the guy quickly followed up to say $10 was nowhere near sufficient sum for this bribe!  We settled on $30 and were on our way again!

 

Further down the road, we took a brief side-trip back up into the mountains to Huaraz to visit the Olaza family who befriended Erich when he first came to Peru in 1982.  We will share photos of Olazas and Huaraz later. 

We had a memorable trip to Cuzco and Machu Picchu along the way as well (more photos to follow).

And in Southern Peru, we snuck in a trip to Arequipa and the Colca Canyon.

 Then it was on our way to Chile!

The northern part of the Chilean coast is as dry as the Peruvian coast.  But the water, waves, and beaches are gorgeous.

 

The hand of God emerging from the Atacama Desert!

In Northern Chile, we took a side trip into the mountains to San Pedro de Atacama to see a salt flats preserve where flamingos make a stop over on their migratory pathway.

 

Back along the coast near Vina del Mar, outside of Santiago.  This area looks very much like the Central California coastline, in the area of Monterrey and Santa Cruz.  


About halfway down the length of Chile, annual rainfall increases significantly and further south the vegetation and landscape begin to look just like the western part of the US Pacific Northwest.  

 

The volcanoes in the Southern Andes are a beautiful, prominent part of the landscape.  The one pictured here is outside of Pucon, Chile.  

But when a similar volcano just a few kilometers to the south of this one erupted in June last year, it spewed smoke, ash, and a 6 inch layer of sand (!) that blanketed Bariloche and the surrounding area.  As you can imagine, there is still a layer of sand throughout the area and it resulted in the closure of the airport for 6 months!  There are amazing photos of people shoveling sand from city streets and sidewalks as if it were snow from a recent storm!

Near the Chile-Argentina border.  The Araucaria or Monkey Tail Tree is native to this area and is the Chilean national tree.

We hope to return to see more of  beautiful Chile another time!

After 4 weeks on the road, we were ready to settle into a home again when we arrived to Bariloche.  

We have been captivated by the beauty of Bariloche and the surrounding area.  And the house we rented from the internet when we were back in Ecuador has been a great place to call home.  The house is located in the flats to the right in this photo.  

Another view of Lake Nahuel Huapi a few minutes drive from the house.

Another lake to the west of our house.  They call this area the Lake District of Patagonia for good reason.  The glaciated peak in the distance is on the border between Chile and Argentina. 

We're looking forward to spending the rest of the school year here (though we're bracing ourselves for the arrival of the winter rainy season)!