Peru!

Border crossing day and all is good. I researched a little on Peru and found that potable water was not readily available outside of big cities and to rely on bottled water or water purification. I have taken water for granted since leaving Belize. We have used my triple water filter exclusively since but only bought bottled water for Christine in large 6-8L jugs. Gasoline in Peru is double that of Ecuador, so more on par with the US. 

We filled up water and dumped gray water. The toilets at the gas station were locked so we left and headed to the border. We passed a few cacao plantations with cacao bean drying on the side of the road. As we reached the flat coastal plains there were banana fields.

The border was as expected from iOverlander. I had to cancel my TIP at the aduana in Ecuador and then drove to the combined Ecuador and Peru immigration area named CEBAF and stamped out of one and into the other. Unfortunately the TIP for the RV takes a bit longer but I was done with the border after two hours total. It was orderly and clean and hassle free and there were no touts. There was even an ATM with free transactions so I was able to withdrawal a little money on two cards (limited to $100 twice).

We drove on a road with intermittent potholes and speedbumps for 90 minutes. The scenery was desert like with shrubs and trash stuck in the shrubs. I read that trash is dumped outside of the towns to force the government to take care of it. I am not sure if forces anyone to take care of it. It was warm and we ran the AC. The beach appeared and there were many small fishing boats moored off shore as well as oil drilling platforms off in the distance. The water was a mixture of brown and blue.

We pulled into Swiss Wassi, a campground at Zorritos whom I had sent a text to last night and they welcomed us in with a spot near the beach. Melba, the host, showed us around. There was a communal kitchen and a couple bathrooms with shower, laundry room, honor system refrigerator, pool, sun chairs, and the beach. They even had water to fill up the RV but no dump station so if we stayed more than a day we would need to shower and wash dishes in the communal area. Also she reminded me that the rest of south America is on 220 V and I would need an adapter if I wanted to plug in. I had brought a travel sized one and not sure if it was up to task. The good ones are 20 lbs and the size of a counter top appliance. 

The kids changed into swim wear and got slathered in sunscreen and went off to play in the sand. The beach we were warned has a strong current.

There were a couple other families here, one from France in an RV and another was from Peru in one of the rooms.

We opened the doors and windows and popped the top of the RV and deployed the awning. We moved a picnic table under our awning. There were about eight flies with us from the border station that eventually flew away. It was breezy enough here to keep flies and mosquitos away. 

A young German couple, Manual and Katy with a toddler, Sonny, whom Christine had been messaging showed up a few minutes later and we formally met and talked for a long time.

They had been on the road for six months and shipped to Cartagena from Antwerp. They had sold their home and were traveling now indefinitely. They had a Knaus Van TI Plus class c RV which had a VW crafter chassis with 4 wheel drive and he had it lifted for $800 in Quito. I had not heard of a 4 wheel drive van from VW. He tried to get emissions and def delete done but it is too new of a model. He says it climbs very slowly at high altitude.

We went swimming in the pool which was perfect. 

The beach has large red crabs, much larger than we have seen.

Ellie and Dd played with Sonny and kept him from the water. 

We met Quentin, the French family of two twin kids who are in an RV travelling north. They have one year off as well. He gave us some travel tips for Bolivia. He said buying gasoline would be no problem for us with only a wait of one hour in lines. The diesel waits were sometimes 3 days. One hour seems like too long to me.

We ordered food from Swiss wassi, chicken Milanese and fish ceviche. It was pricey for Peru ($10 each) but very convenient since we would have to either make food ourselves or take a tuk tuk to town. The food was great. The kids were distracted and just wanted to play with the other kids and catch red crabs with the sand toys we put out.

We showered and cleaned in the communal areas. It was warm once we closed the doors but we kept the AC in fan mode and the windows open and fell asleep. We could not use the AC because we wouldn't be driving tomorrow to charge up the batteries and I didn't want to try out the voltage converter if I didn't have to. I will save that for a rainy day. It was pretty fun to find this place with so many kids to play with. The French family will be moving to Ecuador tomorrow and so it will be a sort of a shuffle of vehicles to get them out. A defender with pop top roof pulled in late. He is the only one not in an RV. There is a Belgium woman traveling solo in an Rapido campervan and there is a Hymer parked next door with a couple. I am not sure if that is extra parking or the same property.