Due to some very goods news we received recently, we left Ushuaia with a certain urgency to head back north and hoping to reach Santiago in the next couple of days. I’ve been working on finding us volunteer placements in non-profit organisations in Peru and was really pleased to receive all very positive replies! We have been fortunate to have some project proposals come our way and have been asked we provide our skills and services as photographers to help their cause. We have a lot to finalise, however we probably will be shooting documentaries and updating photography for their websites and folios to help generate more fund raising and new volunteers for their program’s. We are really looking forward to getting involved with these organizations and more than keen to work with them on the projects proposed. Which is why we have re thought our plan and now want to spend a little longer in Peru and spread out our time there over hopefully 3 organizations. To make this happen, we will need to be in Peru by the beginning of April and so realised we have little time to get there. Especially as we want to spend at least a month in Bolivia before so..
Which is the reason for the hectic amount of ground covered this last week, not only have we managed to get 3000km north! But also…. we’ve picked up 3 hitchhikers, seen 2 mechanics, had the pleasure of waking up to a flat tyre! (which lead to the buying and mounting of 2 new ones!) And enjoyed two different Argentinian BBQ’s on two separate occasions – offered to us by some wonderfully kind and generous Argentinian people we met along the way..
Encase your wondering why we needed to stop at ‘two’ mechanics, Betsy is a little greedy with how much oil she likes to consume.. Around a ltr of oil in 250km! So we had our mechanics help us to temporarily fix the problem until we can get to Santiago. The first in rio Gallegos with Marcel and the 2nd Enrico, in Esquel. A beautiful little town tucked away in a valley with a mountainous backdrop, hence it’s popularity in ski season.
All being well, the van shouldn’t take longer than a week to fix up at our mechanics in Valparaiso (close to Santiago), we will take what time is needed to have her prepared for the roads ahead in Bolivia… And then we will continue up through northern Chile, stopping in la Serena, one of the worlds best spots to star gaze before entering the heat of the Atacama desert….
