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Published: March 26th 2014
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DAYS 35-36 Today we farewelled Equador although the 6.30 am taxi to the bus depot was not welcomed by the group. Loaded up with breakfast & lunch supplies for a 5.5 hr local bus to the Peru border where we had to change busses after clearing customs & immigration.
The trip was generally downhill from the highlands heading towards the coast. The outlook was more lush valleys scattered with agriculture & dairy farming communities. On levelling out the land was noticeably drier yet we came across vast bananas plantations.
Our guide offloaded us at the border turn-off & arranged taxis instead of remaining on the bus which proceeded to the next town before going to the border. The move proved to be a godsend in saving about 45 min at the notoriously slow border crossing. It still proved to be the longest exit out of a country I have ever experienced at 1.75 hrs (during which there was a power failure where the system had to be re-booted through a generator.) The entry into Peru was a queue next to the exit line & only took a further 15 mins.
Over the border were vast green fields of
rice in various stages of growth & flooded through irrigation. Chinese immigration has had a long history of tolerance in Peru & now form a large minority.
Our Equador experience has been far better than we expected. The country is still an underestimated tourist destination & is therefore cheap,very safe ( at least in a group environment) & with friendly people. The biggest surprise has been how cool to mild it has been considering its on the equator at the end of summer. While we have had some light rain most days it has not bothered us. Most are now looking forward to some sun at the beach.
We had a private mini bus take us from the border to the major Peru border town of Tumbres (pretty drab) to change currency before proceeding to Zorritos at a beach side hostel. This was a late change to our itinerary & we are not overly impressed.
Both beach & hostel ok (but basic) but after a nice cold cerveza (beer) & creviche (lime marinated raw fish) things seemed better & we will see what tomorrow brings.
Day 2 Zorritos
Great sleep & woke to warm day
& gentle sea breeze. Most of the group opted to go to a mud bath in a long abandoned oil well but did not interest us. Returned standing in the back of an opened truck, yuk! Instead we had a lazy morning catching up on washing, news, blog etc.
In the late afternoon when the tide went down we walked for 3 to 4 km's along the beach to Zorritos village to pick up a few supplies for a very long bus trip tomorrow. Not much to choose from. A little warm to start with but a nice cool breeze coming back. One of the most impressive sights on the walk was the single line formation of large flocks of frigate birds flying down wind with the precision of North Korean soldiers on parade except the wing movements were minimal & effortless.
Soon after returning watched an amazing sunset & reflection on the clouds as the sun slipped below the horizon.
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