Peru has been a struggle for Mark, Maya, and me, but we hope to find our groove one of these days. Not that anything bad happened. Just that things have been difficult – finding internet, being able to sleep at night due to noise, witnessing all the trash, not connecting with the locals, weird vibes, the bad quality of food in stores, the higher cost of living – and fuel…
Jaen
The border crossing from Ecuador into Northern Peru in La Balsa was busier than usual on a Sunday, but everything went relatively smoothly and was wrapped up within two hours. As always, the TIP (Temporary Import Permit) for the vehicle took the longest to obtain. Our biggest disappointment happened at immigration. Mark and I requested a “visa” for six months, but the officer was only able/allowed/willing to give us three. Peru is a huge country to explore within three months by camper.
At the Peruvian land border
Waiting in line to get access into the country
Bye, bye Ecuador
From the moment we touched Peruvian soil, the roads turned into smooth pavement and offered a welcome change. People were drying coffee beans alongside, which cut the width of usable surface in half, but traffic was light. We took in the sights and pushed all the way to Jaen, the first city. We found a decent-looking camping spot by a river and needed the local currency (soles), a Peruvian SIM card and data plan for internet, and food.
Plenty of space in between, as long as nobody comes from the other side…
Drying coffee beans
We were surprised to see rice paddies, but the border was at a low elevation with a temperature of 90 degrees F.
After Mark, Maya, and I finished our car projects and left the comfortable and safe haven of friend Graham’s driveway in Ibarra, we only had four weeks left to explore the central and southern part of Ecuador, before our three-month visas expired. We hadn’t gotten very far yet, after two months!
Our visited sites in Central Ecuador
Cotopaxi Volcano
We drove a bunch to pick up our trail from a month prior, south of Quito, the country’s capital. Our first stop was the impressive Cotopaxi volcano, which is often hiding in the frequent clouds at this altitude.
Cloudy arrival at our camp spot
Thanks to our free iOverlander app, we found a peaceful wild camping spot near the national park. We failed to see the mountain, but we persevered, spending two nights at 12,000ft (3,650m) without internet, walking Maya in the paramo, meeting wild horses, running our heater at night, and waiting for a glimpse.
Pretty horse
More wild horses
Morning walk with Maya
Small waterfall during our explorations
On our second evening, after the sun set, we spotted Cotopaxi’s snowy top. The light was not ideal for optimal viewing or photography. We crossed our fingers for a clear morning the following day as, unfortunately, we couldn’t stay longer due to the lack of cell service.
Waiting for a glimpse of Cotopaxi’s top
The volcano appeared in the last light of the day.
And, look what we woke up to on day three! Time for photo shoots – and to drive into the national park for an up-close view and feel of Cotopaxi!
Early morning glimpse of Cotopaxi
A joyful walk
The moment to take selfies
The same small waterfall, now with the volcano in the background
Another family portrait attempt
Since dogs are technically not allowed in Ecuadorian national parks (which are free), Maya stayed in the car and camper during our visit. We first drove to a small lake with decent views.
National Park entrance
Hand-drawn map of the park
Driving into the National Park
Getting closer to the active volcano
Not too much snow left
A detour to the lake
A mellow day
Then, our heavy vehicle managed to climb the volcano itself, to the parking lot at 15,000ft (4,570m), from where visitors can ascend the mountain to a glacier and refugio (shelter/restaurant). It is possible to climb further to the top with a guide. As you can imagine, the air was thin here and putting one foot in front of the other laborious. Mark made it “up there,” but I had to turn around when dizziness and a serious headache threatened.
Slowly climbing to 15,000ft with Thirsty Bella
Approaching the road up Cotopaxi
Ready to ascend the mountain on foot to the “refugio” (building up ahead)
View from the climb up, before I turned around
When we drove back down the volcano around 11am, it was already shrouded in clouds again.
Quilotoa Lagoon
Quilotoa has been a highlight for many visitors to Ecuador, so we had to check it out. The road to the small town with the same name was paved and pretty, but realizing that hundreds of homeless, starving dogs are being dumped and now linger along this “highway” was heart-breaking.
Stray dog in the gutter
Waiting for food
I really hope someone picks a dog up once in a while
El Trampolin de La Muerte (the Trampoline of Death) in Southern Colombia connects the city of Mocoa with the town of San Francisco.
From Mocoa to San Francisco
Trampoline of Death road
Before we even reached this notorious route, we had to deal with bad roads, crazy drivers, more landslides…
(As always, click on or hover over photos in galleries to read their captions.)
Heavy load
The small bags on the sides of the car contain live chickens
Many potholes
Being passed before a curve is common practice in Colombia.
Roadwork – “siga” means “go”
Congested area
Landslide 1
Landslide 2
Landslide 3
…and one other giant obstacle: a road block with miles of backed-up traffic that had been there for days.
Backed-up traffic in Mocoa
Walking the multiple-mile line of traffic, mostly semi trucks
The truck drivers have been here a while…
A bus had to get towed
After waiting in a fuel station for five hours, one of the protesters took pity on us and guided us through the blockade. It was a slightly unnerving but peaceful experience.
Despite its famed high temperatures, Mark and I were looking forward to visiting the Tatacoa Desert after leaving Bogota. This off-road adventure promised to bring us peace, beauty, and remoteness. The only problem: our recently punctured and fixed tire. Would it hold up on the bumpy, challenging roads?
(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)
Toll booth heading south
Construction
Police check
No way to go by this truck in town
Narrow, dirt roads and oncoming traffic
Heading towards the desert on narrow roads – luckily, it was quiet
Getting to the start of the desert loop was exciting in itself. After a couple of toll roads, road construction delays, another landslide hold-up, a police checkup, a small town, and narrow dirt roads, Thirsty Bella had to cross a narrow, 100-year-old railroad bridge and traverse two windy, one-way tunnels where opposing traffic was not visible. We kept our fingers crossed when entering these dark, water-filled passageways and, once inside, honked and flickered our headlights for good measure. We made it okay! It took us an entire day to drive from Silvania to Tatacoa.
A dark hole!
Inside the tunnel
Popping out on the other side
Tricky plates on the old bridge
View of the river – they are often muddy in Colombia
Ready to cross the old railroad bridge
Continuing our trip towards the desert
Crossing a few rivers in the process
This desert area in Colombia is relatively small, yet, we hoped to stay a handful of days because we craved peace, solitude, and relaxation.
After two chilly nights of camping near Volcano Nevado del Ruiz at 13,000ft (4,000m)), it felt nice to arrive at a lower altitude again. Filandia is located at 6,500ft (2,000m) with pleasant temperatures but Salento and the Cocora Valley had us back at 8,000ft (2,400m) with consistent dreary weather.
Coffee Region in Colombia
Coffee Region, Colombia
Filandia
While Filandia is busy with Colombian visitors over the weekends, it is not so much on the gringo trail. Yet. It’s a cute, colorful, and vibrant town with plenty of places to eat and drink; good coffee being prominent in the local and westernized cafés.
The weekends are much busier than the weekdays
Mark and I parked Thirsty Bella along a quiet street next to the soccer field. Since we were there over the weekend, we were treated to a game. The good thing: we could watch from the comfort of our bed. The bad thing: a plastic horn seller found an enthusiastic crowd buying him out!
In the middle of March, our trio decided to head south and then east from Jerico, high into the mountains, to visit natural hot springs… The road was long, windy, and not without obstacles, but our biggest disappointment was arriving at our camping spot in the rain, with no visibility.
(Hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)
A windy road climbing up, up, up
As often, mountain roads in Colombia aren’t great…
Lots of construction areas
Delays and cleared-up landslides
And, where there are mountains, there is rain!
But we woke up with this: blue skies and a view of our surroundings.
Imagine our surprise when we spotted this snow-covered volcano on our early morning walk with Maya.
We had to do a double-take!
At 7am and at an elevation of over 13,000 ft (4,000m), it was cold!
The flora was interesting as well.
I was enamored by all the flowers that bloomed at this altitude.
Flowering plant
These little flowers had frost on them
We couldn’t get enough of this view – Can you see Thirsty Bella?
The other side of the valley. Clouds started to roll in again.
Maya had to pose with the volcano and our camper in the background.
My favorite shot of Maya running on the path – she didn’t seem out of breath!
After our morning walk and breakfast, we drove to El Sifon hot springs. It wasn’t even 9am yet and the volcano was already covered by clouds, with fog starting to roll in. But the first few miles were still photogenic, with lots of waterfalls along the road.
We saw many waterfalls on our drive to the hot springs, even further up the mountain.
The weather was still nice this early, but the volcano was already shrouded by clouds.
Well above the tree line…
And then the clouds, mist, and rain arrived – for the rest of the day!
Parking area for the walk down to the hot springs
Where is the trail?
We managed to find a dirt road at some point and descended about 1,000ft towards the river and the natural hot springs.
We had the area to ourselves!
Hot river
It was a pity that the sun didn’t reach down here.
We scanned the steaming river for the best place to take a dip.
We found our spot: under the two waterfalls was a small pool.
This was a very scenic area, despite the steam.
Maya was not allowed in the hot water (our rules).
Maya behaved well and patiently waited on dry ground.
After our soak – the contrast between the water and air temperature was huge!
One last shot of El Sifon hot springs!
Then, the walk back up was inevitable. It took forever, since the air was thin and we needed to stop often to catch our breath, especially me.
Back at the parking lot, life went on as always.
On our second morning, I encouraged Mark to take a photo of me and my book, Plunge, in front of the volcano…
That’s when we noticed a slight change in the appearance of Nevado del Ruiz…
Most of the snow had melted and it was spewing steam!
The photos underneath were taken around the same time, early in the morning, two days in a row. Do you notice the difference in the volcano’s appearance?
Our camper looks tiny in this immense landscape.
Can you see the difference between the two moods of the volcano!
Mark took this fabulous shot.
Mark, Maya, and I came here in our truck camper Thirsty Bella to check out the hot springs and we received these spectacular views as a bonus! It was one of the quietest places we camped in Colombia. We did have to leave after two nights, though, because it was difficult to sleep and breathe at 13,000ft (4,000m) altitude and the condensation inside the camper was so bad that water kept dripping down from the ceiling!
(A week later, people from the surrounding villages had to be evacuated because of the heightened risk of a volcanic eruption and access to this area became restricted. Until now, nothing dangerous has happened. Read a CNN article here.)
360-degree view on our morning walks with Maya
Curious about a previous ten-year chapter in our nomadic lives, which includes eight years aboard a 35-foot sailboat in the tropics with dogs, check out my compelling, inspiring, and refreshingly honest travel memoir:
Plunge – One Woman’s Pursuit of a Life Less Ordinary
The negative about writing these blog posts three months after the facts means that I don’t remember all the details. Like when I’m behind with my diary for a few days – which often happens. A positive – in case of the diaries anyway – is that I don’t remember all the details. So, instead of an hour, such an entry takes half an hour to write. ????
Pretty mountain drive
All this being said, I remember Mark and I wanted to do something different after leaving the sinkholes of Las Gachas: driving to the municipality of Paipa across the mountains, via dirt roads. Why is this such a big deal? Because there is no information available about secondary, or tertiary, routes in Colombia.
(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)
One-lane roads
New road after a landslide
Ooops. We got too close to the berm when passing another vehicle
A lot of rain falls in this country, causing landslides every day. Our thoroughfare might be blocked by fallen trees, piles of dirt, rocks, or other objects. Or, the road might be gone, crumbled down a cliff. In other cases, the streets might be too narrow or low due to overhanging trees. Our truck camperThirsty Bella is big. In Colombia it’s not an issue of “When will we get there,” like in other countries, but “Will we be able to get there or do we have to turn around hours into the voyage?” Such is the kind of adventures we embark on these months.
Sightseeing in the mountains
Dirt road through the mountains
Scenery along the way
Dominating the mountain roads
Small waterfall along the road
After quickly visiting Guadalupe, filling our fuel tank, backtracking over the narrow, potholed road to the main “highway,” following that south for a couple of hours, and turning off for the rough “shortcut,” we reached Gambita. We descended into this small town, still in the department of Santander, after asking locals if our rig could navigate the narrow streets. It could. Barely.
Mark, Maya, and I spent the last week of August in the Bend, Oregon, area. We visited our friend Patti and her two dogs, Koozie and Pekoe, did a few more projects on our camper, and explored this popular outdoor town and its surroundings.
On a neighborhood walk with the dogs, we could see our destination… that mountain in the distance
We lucked out with permits for the 5-mile No Name Lake & Broken Top trail. The distance was not that long, but the elevation of over 9,000ft made us huff and puff. It was a beautiful day and the views were stupendous. As a matter of fact, this hike competes with the slot canyon one we did in Baja California Sur, Mexico earlier this year for #1 of 2022…
(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)
Hiking up
A bit closer to “that mountain in the distance”
Broken top – I never tired of this view during the hike
Luckily, we passed a few streams, so the dogs could drink – this meant more bottled water for us
Wildflowers near the river
Getting even closer to the mountain – we would not climb this one
Hiking above the tree line
Snow!
Snow on Broken Top
The dogs frolic in the snow – or eat it, like Maya
About a year and a half ago, Mark and I (and our friends Duwan and Greg) visited Bisbee in southeastern Arizona. Other than sightseeing and getting a good feel for this historic town’s vibe, we looked at houses for sale. Yes, there was a time that we might have gotten serious about the prospect of owning a “real” home. But, us being wandering spirits, picky, and frugal made us pass on Bisbee, a town we enjoyed exploring. I blogged about those impressions and experiences here.
(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)
Entrance to a magic show
A door that hides magic?
This door/gate must be one of a few to get into the house.
Old fire station
It was in this picturesque town that I took a few photos of doors, thinking that, one day, I would join the Thursday Doors blog hop. Yeah, sometimes it takes me a while to follow up on thoughts and ideas. 🙂
While any visit to the Agua Verde area by vehicle can only happen after taking a 30-kilometer/20-mile slow, steep, uncomfortable, and extremely bumpy ride (after another 10 kilometers/7 miles of pavement), exploring the East Cape by its access road Camino Cabo Este is even tougher and more demanding. No wonder this stretch is called one of the worst roads in Baja.
Camino Cabo Este
Luckily, you don’t have to drive the entire 100 kilometers (60 miles) of washboard and potholed dirt track in one go! As a matter of fact, it took us twelve fabulous days to complete this one-way adventure.
(As always, hover over or click on the photos in galleries to read their captions.)
La Paz
But first, Mark, Maya, our friends Duwan and Greg, and I spent a few days in La Paz, where we found a decent parking spot for three nights. Mark and I remember the capital of Baja California Sur as a pleasant town with a good vibe and historic charm. In the last sixteen years, it hasn’t changed much.
Fishermen next to our camper, going out in the early morning
Roaming About – Liesbet Collaert & Mark Kilty & Maya
We have been perpetual nomads as RVers, sailors, house and pet sitters, and overlanders since 2003. Currently, the three of us are roaming about South America in our truck camper Bella.
As lifetime adventurers, we are self-employed and maintain a tight budget. This blog is about all that – and more – to inspire a life less ordinary. Don’t dream but do! 🙂
