Peru: The Coastal Route

Peru has three primary regions - coastal (desert), highlands (Andes) and tropical (Amazon). While there are so many possible places to visit in Peru our journey took us along the coastal route. We had a smooth border crossing from Ecuador into Peru at Macara. We were treated well; one of the Peruvian officials even gave us some great tips on places to visit along the coast.

Our stop-overs along the coast included mostly small towns such as Colan (Colan Beach Lodge), Sipan (camped at the museum), Tortuga (El Farol Hostel) Chancay(small hotel), Pucusana (Mirador Hospedaje), Itaca (Camino Real) and Puerto Inca (camped). The one exception on the route was a side trip to the famous white stone city of Arequipa (Hotel Mercedes - camped).

We had anticipated hot weather because of the desert climate along the coast – but November, was a great month to head south along the coast. As we traveled along the coastal desert we encountered green belts/agriculture regions which were feed by rivers flowing from the Andes. The breeze off the Pacific Ocean was great!!! In our travels through Peru our only challenge was being stopped by the Peruvian Police – they were mostly friendly except near the big cities of Lima and Arequipa.

We enjoyed our journey along the Peruvian coast the following i-movie captures some images from our travels.

Sharon
Bariloche, Argentina
December 2009