Monday 17th January was D-Day. The start of our trip only 2 weeks later than anticipated. John & Carlos (our extremely helpful customs agent) spent over 12 hours with customs and the storage place to extradiate GR2. By 9pm they arrived at our hotel to collect me and our suitcases. A quick stop to load up with groceries before spending the night right outside Carlos' house, slap bang in the centre of Lima. It was a late night as we visited Carlos & his lovely family.
The next morning we were up bright & early to exit Lima before the rush. This turned out suprisingly easy, and we were finally heading south on the Panamerican Highway. We reached the Paracus Nacional Park by the evening and camped on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. The next morning we spent putting GR2 through her paces on the bare cliffs.
We continued south to Ica, and tried to find the "tallest" sanddune in the world, but only found a scruffy village on sanddunes. We are passing through lots of desert & dropping down into fertile valleys. At one valley I notice a shortcut on my map....which we take. The road plunges straight into a narrow rock tunnel - we only just squeeze through. Then down a steep, windy hill - no wonder the trucks go the other way. I am sure the signs warned us.....if we could read them!
We finally reach Nazca where we book flights for the next morning. After hunting for a free camp spot we give up and "pay" to camp in a hotel carpark where we meet 2 South African couples travelling in 4x4's. It took them 6 weeks to get their vehicles off the port in Brasil (makes us feel much better) The next morning is clear, ans more importantly, not windy. We have a magic 35 minute flight in an 8 seater Cessna. We were seated by weight....I got the whole back seat to myself and so could slide from side to sige as we tilted each way., A bit of a recipe for nausea!!! Totally worth it.
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