8th March 2015 – Chiclayo to Tumbes – 2015-03-13 13:09

Today we drive 500 kilometers from Chiclayo to Tumbes through the desert to the Pacific Ocean coast. It’s hot and dry and there’s not much around between the towns.We have our morning tea stop off the Pan American highway in the desert.Further down the road it’s very windy and an ideal place for a wind farm.At times all we can see for miles is desert.Red car has some problems with its overdrive so they keep stopping to make repairs and green car and blue B stop to help them. The rest of us keep going as we pass through lots of rice paddy fields with palm trees, it reminds us of Bali only flatter. I guess we’re at the same latitude as Bali were about 3 degrees so the equator is not far away. Casper has a flat tyre, so a few of the guys help George change it and were on our way again. We reach the cost and drive through small seaside villages, stopping at Mancora for lunch and a few people have a swim, others paddle on the waters edge to cool down. We arrived at our hotel at about 5:30 in time for a swim before our 6:30 meeting. We have a tropical down pour which makes it more humid. By the time we go out for dinner the rain has stopped and the streets are full of people some going to church others going to eat. At the restaurant the lady at the next table has a black Tumbes monkey that is only 13 months old, her name is Kimberley and she jumps around among the tables and up onto a door and back to her owner. She mustn’t be toilet trained as she is wearing a Nappy.An interesting dinner companion! ÿ