UJ #9 - Adventure in Peru

CONTINENTAL JOURNEY
Continental Journey
From the Pacific Ocean to the Amazon jungle
START AND FINISH ON THE
COAST. THE ROAD LINKS THE
PACIFIC WITH THE ATLANTIC
CROSSING THE HEART OF
SOUTH AMERICA IT IS MORE
THAN 5,000 KILOMETRES
LONG, OF WHICH 1,413
ARE IN PERU: THE MOST
DIVERSE, VARIED AND
CHALLENGING. ITS NAME:
THE SOUTHERN INTER-
OCEAN HIGHWAY.
Text
Iñigo Maneiro
Highland road at the
so-called Cuesta del
Borracho (Drunkard's Hill).
This stretch of the road is
the start of the ascent to
Puquio.
Christian Declercq
We start in the Peruvian desert, a place full
of diversity and good cebiche: San Juan
de Marcona. After crossing the desert plain
where the Nascas displayed their knowledge of irrigation,
architecture and art, and a visit to the town
of Nasca, we start on a steep ascent to another
plain, this time covered with ichu and four thousand
metres above sea level. The Pampa Galeras National
Reserve, which is home to the largest population
of vicuñas in the world.
After driving some 25 kilometres across the reserve,
we descend towards Puquio. We can see deep
canyons where the vegetation, at a lower altitude, is
different. This is the first place since we left Nasca
where we eat a good breakfast, at the farm belonging
to professor Daumet. We have a long high road
ahead of us: the chilly plains of Negro Mayo. Before
then, about kilometres from Puquio, we passed
the turn-off to Andamarca and the Sondondo Valley,
where large numbers of condors can be seen, as
well as ancient terraced fields and stone-built archaeological
sites.