#overlanders

Laguna Colorada (Bolivia) was…FREEZING! However, it was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen and so it was worth the two day drive (from Uyuni) through corrugated roads, sand, snow and mud! It snowed the last two nights and we were lucky to get out when we did as a snow storm hit after which many roads were closed. 

When you are at 4,600 metres above sea level in the freezing cold in southern Bolivia the last thing you expect to see are flamingos, but there are hundreds! There are also plenty of llamas and vicunas

Chan Chan was a pleasant surprise, just outside Trujillo (which is not a very nice place!) Chan Chan was the largest city of the pre-Columbian era in South America. It is like a little bit of Egypt in SA. In the middle of the desert right on the ocean in Northern Peru.

It is believed to have been constructed around 850 AD by the Chimú people. It was the Chimor empire capital city with an estimated population of 40,000-60,000 people.

Like a lot of places we’ve visited in South America, we were the only tourists, the huge city walls and the main square (where markets flourished, music was played and human/animal sacrifices were made) made us remember how easy it is to live in the 21st century! Building such structures (all from mud) was a huge accomplishment without the modern tools we have today.

We finally crossed the Ecuadorian border, it was like any other border crossing we’d seen so far - dirty and a bit run down. However we were also pleasantly surprised to run into our Dutch friends - Rob and Esther, in the immigration line whom we’d originally met in Colombia a month before.

We travelled together for about a week, James and Rob sat in the front seats and Esther and I sat on the mattress in the back of the car (very comfortable!).

One highlight was hiking Imbabura Volcano together. We hiked for 10 hours reaching a peak of 4,500 metres. That was the highest peak I’d ever climbed, Rob barely broke a sweat whilst I was constantly trying to catch my breath in the altitude!

We walked in the clouds for a lot of the trip but we were lucky to see bits of the mountainside for a few minutes whilst at the summit. It was a great day! Credit goes Rob for the photos as we didn’t take our camera with us.

I know a good place to practice #socialdistancing All the #overlanders out there must be loading up their rigs and prepping to #gtfo Where are you gonna go?
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