Brazil v.Peru

Because of my financial situation since 2013 I have been spending 6 months every year in Brazil, and 6 in Peru. Inevitably this has led me to notice some differences between each country, and this is aimed at being a light-hearted comparison between them. 
I enjoy my time in each country, and my situation in each is different - in Brazil I own my own home and pay all my own utility bills and taxes (property, car and motorbike), while in Peru I rent all-inclusive and only pay motorbike tax. In Brazil I live in a remote rural area, 262 miles (420 kms) from the nearest city of any note, but in Peru I am only 10 miles (16 kms) from the third largest city in Peru. In Brazil I drive a car and a motorbike, while in Peru I have only ridden a motorbike. These small difference all have an impact on how I view the 2 countries and must be taken into consideration in the final "reckoning"!

1. Driving/Traffic.
Brazil:
Motorists in Brazil are all crazy! They all think they are Ayrton Senna (and this includes truck drivers) and that the road belongs to them. A car in front is there to be overtaken - even in a queue of traffic with no gaps available to slip into. Once your nose is in front of the other motorist you have priority and can force your way in, even if you are driving a double-trailer truck going uphill on the wrong side of the road over double white lines ("no overtaking") passing a queue of vehicles nose-to-tail all travelling at 12 mph (20 kph).
Motorcyclists believe they have right of way, and toot to get you to move aside (in your lane) to make room for them, and if you should dare to move into "their" lane, even if there is plenty of room and they are 50 metres back, they will ride into your bumper (fender) and blame you! Motorcyclists also believe that traffic signals do not apply to them and will pause before driving through red lights. Mind you, buses will also do the same thing!
In big cities like Salvador it is generally accepted at night (after 9.00 pm), and possibly at weekends (seems to happen but I am not sure if it is "acceptable"), that, due to the risk of car-jacking, you can ignore a red light if it is safe to do so! In Brazil they joke that you drive through a red light, drive faster through an amber, and stop at green - in case someone is approaching from the other direction!
I have driven extensively on highways and in Salvador in a car, but would not risk my life on 2 wheels doing this. My motorcycling is restricted to local around the town I live in, and short main road runs of up to 50 miles (80 kms) - I value my life too much!!

Peru:
Motorists in Peru all all crazy, but marginally less so than in Brazil! They are not as aggressive as in Brazil, but just seem unaware of any rules of the road. Lane discipline is appalling - if you want to turn left at a traffic light you can use any lane, even the extreme right-hand lane and cut across everyone. Even if there is a "no left turn" sign, or "no U-turns" it is OK to do so without any indication, or any concern about drivers following you not realising what you are doing!
There is an incredible amount of public transport in Peru, numerous buses - ranging from minibuses with 12 seats (that will fit 16 adults and 4 children at a pinch), to larger single-decker buses with 24 seats and standing (squashing) room for another 24, and taxis - I have never seen so many taxis in a city before - and in smaller towns the favoured mode of public transport is the three-wheeled Tuk Tuk.

Tuk Tuks in Moyobamba

Some of the taxis are "coletivos" (collectives) which are cheaper (taxi fares in Peru are incredibly cheap compared to, say, England, anyway) but means that the driver is always looking to "fill" the car, and will drive along hooting at anyone walking to try and tempt them to join the ride. Actually taxi drivers do that ALL the time! If you are walking anywhere, or even sitting near a road, taxis will toot to let you know they are available. and near busy roads this means that the tooting is continuous! Buses follow a similar pattern - there are a few "regular" bus stops, but basically a bus will pick up and drop off anywhere, usually at a street corner (which often means blocking access from the joining road). Most buses have a "conductor" as well as the driver (there are some modern buses with a driver-conductor, who takes money and issues tickets - you don't get a ticket issued in most buses - usually while driving, which can be fun!), and he hangs out of the door whistling and calling out the route (unintelligibly to foreigners) to anyone he sees standing by the road.

All this means is that 75% of the traffic (I think that this is a conservative estimate, as the percentage of "public" transport could be higher!) is continually stopping on the right side of the road (remember we drive on the right in South America), or slowing down to look for fares, or cutting across from the left to drop off/pick up/seek fares. Initially I cautiously rode my bike on the right, but soon realised that the safest position was riding to the extreme left, but watching out for all the illegal left-turners! You still have to keep your wits about you - I was turning right on one occasion and approached a traffic light - there was a taxi stopped in the centre lane (of three) to go straight, but as I was almost alongside his fare decided to alight, and opened the door into my bike almost knocking me off! Buses and taxis also will pick up, and drop off, fares indiscriminately in whichever lane they happen to be in at the time when stopped at traffic lights.

Speed limits are another problem in Peru - there do not seem to be many signs indicating what they are! Mostly they are still a total mystery to me in the absence of any indication, so I just tend to go with the flow and keep up with other motorists. I have not noticed any speed cameras during my travels in Peru, so haven't had any problems.

I was very nervous before my first trip into Trujillo by motorbike, but soon realised that driving in Peru was considerably safer than Brazil, despite the poor driving standards.

2. Cost of living.

Brazil:

Living in a very rural area in the North-east of Brazil the cost of living is very reasonable - fresh fruit and vegetables at the local market are cheap, as is meat at the sole butcher we have in town. The butcher does not have the range of cuts I would like, claiming there is insufficient demand for many of them, but we do have a mini-supermarket that also sells some frozen meat, though at a premium price! Availability of dry foodstuffs, and everyday household goods (cleaning materials, and so on) is generally pretty good, and prices (unless you insist on imported brands!) are reasonable, too.

Domestic goods are another thing altogether! We do not have anything available locally (there is a "depot" of a large store in town, but it obviously does not hold much of a range of goods), so a trip to Seabra (40 miles, or 70 kms away) is necessary for larger purchases, and even there the choice is not brilliant. Locally produced furnishings and white goods (fridges, cookers and the like) are reasonably priced, however most people complain about quality, though I have not had any issues, but am fairly gentle with my things!

Regular utility bills are reasonable in Brazil, water and electric are much cheaper in real terms than the UK, but if you compare average earnings they are fairly expensive - however my council tax bill is a fraction of what it would be there, but my internet bill is my single highest outgoing, and very expensive for what it is.

Petrol is about 25% cheaper than the UK at the moment, but has continued to rise throughout the falling oil price, and, again, comparing average earnings fuel is quite expensive here.

Not having to pay monthly rent makes my overall cost of living very cheap in Brazil, and buying a house when I first came in 2009 was probably the single most sensible thing I have ever done!

Peru:

Despite living in a tourist town in Northern Peru the cost of living in Huanchaco is very reasonable. There is a daily market in town with local produce at cheap prices, though I tend to steer clear of the meat they have on display there as I do not trust their hygiene standards in unrefrigerated displays. In Trujillo there are two (there are more, but I have only visited 2) big markets - one is huge and predominantly fresh produce, and prices there are incredibly cheap, and quality very good. 

Hermelinda's Market, Trujillo

The other market is more general, but does have fresh food, and a big butchery area, with good selection and reasonable prices, though sometimes hard to find cuts that I recognise!

Trujillo also has many large supermarkets, and though fresh produce is quite a bit more expensive that at the markets quality is excellent, and the range is extensive. Some of these supermarkets are really hypermarkets, and sell electrical goods as well, and the range and price appear considerably cheaper than Brazil. I have not had to shop for furniture in Peru, but from what I have seen in Trujillo the quality is higher than Brazil and, certainly compared to where I live, the choice is much greater, but you would expect that in such a large city.

3. Eating out.

Brazil:

When I first arrived in Brazil I was impressed by the reasonable cost of eating out - even the tourist places seemed fairly cheap, and quality of food was good. I live in  tourist town, and there is a huge choice of eating venues, but prices tend to be much higher here than other local non-tourist towns, though there are small back-street places that cater for the locals if you know where to find them. There are eateries that charge by the kilo - you fill your plate and they weigh it and charge you depending in how full it is, and these are reasonable - unless you happen to be in a tourist hot-spot! I have seen these "per kilo" places three times more expensive depending on location, and quality and selection pretty much the same.

In the 5 years I have been here I do not eat out much locally, preferring to cook for myself, so only eat out on special occasions - and last time was amazed at how much prices have risen. I rather think that they are aimed at the tourist market, but I find eating out in Brazil no longer a cheap option.

Peru:

I live for the main part in a tourist location in Peru, but eating out is still relatively cheap, even at the higher end restaurants. Quality is good, portion sizes generous, and even in the tourist areas prices good, though probably helped by the amount of competition! many Peruvians eat out at lunchtime and there are numerous small restaurants (usually someone's front room!) serving a "menu". This consists of a starter, usually ceviche (lemon-"cooked" raw fish) or soup, followed by a choice of main course (usually three or four options), and a drink (this is generally some sort of squash). In Huanchaco you will pay between 8 and 12 soles (between £1.70 and £2.50) for this, but in the interior, away from the tourist towns, it can be as little as £0.85! The main restaurants in Huanchaco have caught on to this lunchtime fixed "menu" and offer similar deals for 12 to 15 soles (£2.50 to £3.20) which includes a soft drink, but portions are generally a little smaller.

During my travels I stayed at hotels that had their own restaurants, and whilst these are usually more expensive than you can find in town, in most cases I found the food to be better and cheaper than eating "out". I was surprised while travelling along the extreme North coast, prices in restaurants there were much higher than back in Huanchaco, also a tourist destination, and I can only assume it is because they are not as seasonal as further South due to warmer weather all year round, meaning more tourism all the time.

4. Accommodation

Brazil:

In Brazil you have Hotels (high end accommodation), Pousadas (guest house or inn, mid-range), or Auberges (hostels, cheap lodgings). I will admit I have not used many of these in Brazil - and there is a huge difference even in hostels here, from flea-pits to very nice accommodation. Most hostels offer mixed dormitory rooms, with up to 10 beds and an en-suite shared bathroom, but some have smaller rooms, and will always allow you to book a whole room for one person (at a premium, of course). Some have en-suite facilities, air-conditioning (and at least one has a small pool!), free breakfasts (and these can really vary from place to place), and various other services for their guests. Generally when I am paying (my nephew owns a hostel so I get to stay for free but take pot luck on the room!) I will book a single en-suite room, and prices are reasonable (much less than say, a bed and breakfast in the UK if you go for a single). I have stayed in  Pousada and had a private room with air-conditioning, which was very nice and as it was just out of season was reasonable.

Peru:

In Peru you have hotels and hostals - hostals are like high-end hostels/mid-range hotels in Brazil. Dorm rooms are available in some, but most have smaller rooms with 1 to 4 beds, and may come with en-suite facilities, but some have shared bathrooms. Unlike Brazil may in Peru do not include breakfast in the price, and even if they do (or it is available at extra cost) it is not as good as the Brazilian hostel breakfast! You may get a glass of juice (probably from a packet), coffee and two small bread rolls with butter and jam, but there will be many places locally that will serve breakfast (especially bakeries) and these are much better and very reasonably priced.

Hostals in Peru, even in tourist destinations, are very reasonable, and especially so if you book through a booking site (one I stayed in was US$11 a night booked online, but the price list in reception showed US$20 a night!). One of my requirements while travelling was secure parking for my motorbike, so this limited my options considerably, so I ended staying at pricier lodgings than necessary, but none of them would be considered expensive.

I rent an apartment while staying in Peru, and this includes electric, water, TV and internet (I only have to pay for gas cylinders for cooking - usually one lasts me the whole 6 months). There are many options available in Huanchaco, especially from the beginning of March when the summer tourist season ends, but I have certain requirements that limit my choice, and push the price up a little! One was secure parking, and the other was a "proper" kitchen (many have a hotplate and a small fridge as they are aimed at the short-term rental market), but despite this my costs while in Peru were acceptable.

5. The people - I realise I may generalise a little here, and some may even take offence at some of this, but none is intended. I simply write about my experiences, and my views on life and the people I meet. I love living in Brazil and Peru, and the people I meet here - I would not stay if this were not the case. There are frustrations in the experiences I have, but they are minor irritations rather than major shortcomings!
I do not like to class people by ethnicity, either, as we are all citizens of the planet, but governments and statisticians like to have classifications so I will use them for clarity.

Brazil:

Disclaimer - my experiences are almost exclusively with the people of Bahia, in the North-east, one of the poorest parts of Brazil. Brazil statistically has a population ethnically that is almost 50:50, that is 50% white, and the remaining 50% mixed race, black, Asian, or indigenous. However it varies greatly from state to state and here in Bahia, the white percentage drops to 20%, and in rural areas it is much lower still.

Brazilians are very friendly, and laid back to the point of being almost horizontal! No-one wears a wristwatch, and time is a vague concept - morning or afternoon is sometimes as close as you can tie anyone down, and that could be tomorrow or even next week!! 
There are close to 3 million people in Salvador, and any large city has its problems, but the hustle and bustle of daily life there is similar to anywhere else in the world - however I am not a city dweller, and could not wait to get away from metropolitan areas!
Lencois, where I live, is much safer, and friendlier, as everyone seems to know everyone else, or knows someone who knows them. Again I cannot fault the people here on friendliness, but trying to find a skilled tradesman is a nightmare!! No-one appears to have any formal qualifications, but claims to either to be able to do any work you need, or has a friend who can. Unfortunately many of these people do not have the necessary skills, and much work is shoddy - the problem is there is little employment here and everyone is desperate to find work, so will "lie" in order to get the job. I think part of this too is that they want to make you happy, so will make wild claims - the ones you want to hear - even if they cannot deliver. You ask, "When can you deliver my furniture?" - they reply, "Tomorrow." "Wow, that is great!" - so you wait in all day, and when you call they give excuses, like "the van has broken down", the next day "we had a puncture", then the following day "well, when we checked the chair was broken, so we have had to order another", and so on, and eventually a week later you get the delivery - and that is when you were always going to get it! I just wish they would be honest from the outset!
There always seem to be parties going on - many organised by the local council - and fireworks! Fireworks are let off day and night indiscriminately, even by the church or other organisations, with no consideration for the feelings of others. They seem to think that if they want to make a noise they have a right to, day or night, or all day and all night, and to hell with everyone else.
I could go on, but will end Brazil with something that I see all the time - which is people just milling around in the streets. Any time of day there will be groups sitting on the pavements talking (and drinking!), or just hanging about. If you go into any shop or business there will usually be a few "friends" who have dropped in to pass the time of day, and others who just seem to hang out there permanently! The streets are always busy, and children are usually out playing (very loudly) as well.

Peru:
Disclaimer - my experiences in Peru are probably more extensive than Brazil, as I have travelled round more, however I have friends in Brazil, but only acquaintances in Peru (having spent less time there and always as a tourist).
Ethnically Peru has a very small white population, with only 5% considering themselves to be white, with 60% considered to be "mixed race", or mulatto, 8% Asian and black, and the remainder belonging to indigenous tribes. Peruvians appear to be a lot more serious, but equally friendly. A solo gringo touring around on a motorbike generates a lot of interest and people will come and strike up conversations. You will, however, rarely see groups just hanging around (though there are a lot of concrete sports pitches and a lot meet for a kick around with a football), and  there are times of the day when the streets are almost deserted - no children out playing and no adults just standing or sitting idly. In Pisco, in the South, I walked towards the beach for over half an hour after a meeting, and did not see a soul the whole time. Even on my return I only saw the Tuk Tuks tooting for business!
I live in a different location in Peru, close to a large city, and as a result the quality of tradesmen appears much better, and they appear to get on with the work too, possibly because they have another job waiting for them to finish this one. Punctuality is better in Peru, as well.
Families appear to be very important in Peru, and you often see families out for a walk together at the weekend - fathers appear to play a strong role in family life, though I do know that there are still many single parent families with absent fathers!

6. Conclusion:
On the whole I think Peru is slightly cheaper than Brazil to live in, and certainly feels safer on the roads. It is hard to compare city life - Trujillo seems safe to me, and despite riding around a lot I have never felt threatened there, not even riding in remote areas alone. One third of Peru's population lives in the Lima metropolitan area, and this causes huge social problems, and I believe Lima has serious safety problems as a result, much as found in the huge metropolitan sprawls in Brazil (but since I wouldn't live in a big city anywhere I can discount this in my summation!). Shopping and availability of everything comes out in favour of Peru, too, though I think that the people of Brazil are warmer overall.
If cost of living were my only criteria, I would have to find in favour of Peru, and there are very few areas where Brazil "wins", but ... I love the part of Brazil I live in, I love the simplicity of the people (and I do not mean this in a bad way!), and the way of life, and if I had to choose one to live in permanently I think it would be Brazil. However as things stand I have the best of both worlds, as long as I am able to spend 6 months in each country!!

Fishing in Angola

Introduction:
Fishing causes me stress! Not the actual process of it, but I find it hard to reconcile my love of fishing, with my aversion to bloodsports! I have not, and would not, go out and shoot any animal for sport (except with a camera), but I have no problem throwing a baited hook into the water and catching a fish. I know that this distresses the fish - all scientific studies seem to indicate this to be true, and I read somewhere that fish can lose 40% of their bodyweight during a long fight (apparently they had previously caught and weighed the particular fish), and some die even after release due to the physical damage caused during the fight.
I suppose I would hunt animals for survival, and do not have a problem with anyone who hunts for food, but it is those who shoot for trophies, for sport, or just to kill, that concern me. But I digress from fishing.
Maybe it is because from my first fishing experiences we did eat what we caught, or gave it away to be eaten, including taking some round to a pelican who appeared to be a pet near where we lived!

Pelican in Luanda

I think also the fact that you cannot see the poor fish struggling on the line until you land it, or that you do not actually see it take the hook, or that you don't hear its cries of pain, helps me to "overlook" the fact that it is still pretty cruel. The fish has a choice whether it bites my hook, unlike an animal in the sights of a high-powered rifle. All these help me to assuage my conscience and continue fishing, but I still feel a twinge of guilt, and this causes me some stress!

Fishing in Angola:

Fishing in Luanda

I don't remember ever fishing before moving to Angola in 1960, but I do recall that the following three years were the best fishing years of my life! The photo of me was taken at the end of the "island" in Luanda, we used a large cockle-like shellfish for bait called Mabanga, and used to cut it into quarters - I used to take a whole one and bite pieces off to put on my hook, sometimes eating the bait as well (it used to be served as a shellfish dish in restaurants and bars, so not as crazy as it sounds!), which is what I think I was doing in the photo. The long sleeves were not because of cold, though Luanda did have a cool winter due to the cold Benguela current running along the coast, but rather because I used to suffer really badly from sunburn, so had to keel my arms covered.

I do not know the names of all the fish we caught, but the waters at this end of the island were a haven for small fish to around 2 pounds, including the occasional Puffer Fish or small Moray Eel. My father used to cast further out and there would catch Spotted Grunter to around 10 pounds. At the other end of the island the fishing was not so fast paced, but bigger fish used to congregate there, and occasional schools of Barracuda would be found, and I caught a large Red Sea Bream there once (around 10 pounds). On one occasion my father went snorkelling there with a friend and a spear-gun, and came face to face with a Brindle Bass twice as big as he was, but luckily he wasn't on the menu that day!

For a special excursion we went to the mouth of the River Quanza (in the days when it was still safe away from the cities), and on one occasion my father caught a Sand Shark, and a large Red Sea Bream, while I caught a few small fish. The Bream weighed in at over 30 pounds, and was shared among friends as well as providing us with some lovely meals.

Mum posing with the Sand Shark

Me with the Sand Shark, the Bream was too heavy

Dad with his catch

There was another favoured spot to the North of Luanda, a bridge over the Bengo River, which at times of high water was a haven for small Tarpon (to around 5 pounds) - I say "small", because compared to some I have seen in books and on the internet these were modest, but they were still incredible sport. We used to use spinning lures for them, and when they got hooked they would launch out of the water and shake like crazy to try and throw the hook, which they did more often than not! I never did manage to keep one on my line, but my father was more successful, though on our first visit we lost most on the way up to the bridge as once clear on the water on being landed they started shaking again, and would get free. A basket on a long rope solved this problem though.

Posing with Dad's Tarpon

Although we fished a lot in Mozambique during our time there, and I have fished in other countries as well, I still recall Angola as being the best fishing, possibly because the variety of fish caught was amazing.

Buying a motorbike in Peru

Before I returned to Peru at the beginning of 2014 I decided to research motorbikes. I had decided that I needed something a bit bigger than the 150cc I had borrowed the previous year, so started looking on the internet for ideas - and soon realised that Peru has not really taken to internet commerce!
I started in classified ads, and soon found a vendor in Trujillo who appeared to be selling a few large bikes, some suitable for touring, at what appeared to be low prices (first warning, I guess!). Often vehicle adverts in Peru have the prices in US dollars (which is legal tender, and even cash machines will dispense them), and occasionally a price will show Peruvian Soles, but is in fact dollars (2.5x  greater!) so can catch out the unwary. However these adverts were showing dollars already and I decided to try and make contact. There was a "reply to advertiser" button, as well as an email address and a telephone number, so I tried that first - as expected no response! So I emailed (2 different adverts) and again, no response. As a last resort (as I was in Brazil) I tried phoning and my cell provider did not recognise the number!! So I made a mental note to try again once I arrived in February.
I had, in fact, experienced this lack of response to internet ads before, when apartment hunting - I must have contacted a dozen advertisers online and only one ever responded to me. It made me wonder why they went to the bother, and sometimes expense, of placing an online advert in the first place!
In my research I had spotted a rather nice looking 350cc bike - the Regal Raptor SPT350 - manufactured in Singapore, but the only dealership was in Lima, a long way from where I was in the North, and there were no agencies anywhere near. Despite the fact that they assured me I could get servicing done "anywhere" I was a little concerned that any warranty might be invalidated, and that I would be unable to find anyone suitable skilled while touring.
All imported bikes are very expensive in Peru, and they hold their secondhand values too, so I was finding myself priced out of the dedicated touring bike market, and also the "larger engined" market! There is a huge motorbike market in Peru, heavily skewed towards imported Chinese machines, and none bigger than 250cc, so I started researching this market, and decided I needed a trail bike, for my fishing trips, but that might be suitable for long distance cruising.
A problem I soon encountered was that fuel tank sizes were very small (at that stage I wasn't sure how easy it would be to find petrol stations while travelling in rural areas) - usually no bigger than 3 gallons, and these are US gallons, so 3.7 litres rather than the Imperial 4.5. The second problem was that most of these "trail" bikes had a maximum top speed no greater than 55 mph (88 kph), so touring was going to be very slow and tedious, and potentially dangerous on highways where you would be among the slowest moving traffic.
Armed with rudimentary knowledge I went to Avenida Peru in Trujillo, where all the bike shops are, and started asking questions. I started with Ronco (the same make as the 150cc I had used before), as I had seen one there the previous year, and it looked the part, but they had no technical data for it other than tank size (12 litres - 3.25 US gallons, or 2.7 Imp gallons), but "thought" it would do 120kph (75mph)! I visited various other companies, and they all had visually similar models (in fact at least one appeared identical other than brand name and stickers), and was even showed one that had a built-in MP3 player and speakers on the mirror stems! Technical data was again in short supply, with wild claims being made by the salesmen - most of which were seriously at odds with the data I had found from the manufacturers' websites!

Ronco Demolition 250

Eventually I decided on the Ronco Demolition 250, mainly because it was the best looking of the bunch, and I knew the shop and the mechanics from the previous year! At the prevailing exchange rate the bike was just under £1000 - on the road! This also included plates, registration and a crash helmet - oh, plus a small t-shirt, and a litre of oil for the first change!

I was expecting a long drawn out process to get the registration and paperwork done, especially since a foreigner is supposed to go to Immigration and get a document allowing him/her to sign contracts. But the shop simply gave me the receipt, and the (unsigned) sales contract and told me I had to go to a Notary and get it authenticated. I had no idea what the process was at the Notary, but went to reception and explained I was there about a bike purchase and they pointed me in the direction of an office at the back, where there was quite a queue. One of the two employees attending then went for lunch, and this delayed things further, but eventually after over 2 hours it was my turn - and I was in the wrong place!! This was for transfer of ownership from private sales, and all I needed was to go to the front desk and get my identity authenticated!!! They looked at my passport, checked it was me, signed the sales contract and then I had to pay a 15 soles fee, and was done!!

I went back to the bike shop and handed the papers back in - and they gave me the keys!! I asked about registration and plates, and they simply said I just need to show the bill of sale to prove ownership and tell them that the rest was on the way - but I did need to go and get SOAT, the compulsory third party insurance. So it was on my birthday, February 14, 2014, I walked into a bike shop at 10.00 am, and then rode away on a new bike at 4.00 pm (would have been quicker if I had known what I was doing at the Notary!!). Two weeks later they called to say the plates had arrived, and 5 days later the bike registration (like a credit card) was ready. Compared to Brazil it was a piece of cake!

Joca's birthday

Just after Christmas, at the end of 1971 (I think - the memory is a little rusty!!), a small group of us (Rob, Susie, Ze Banana and I) decided to go to Chinde to celebrate Joca's birthday! Joca's father ran the Chinde office of the sugar estate all our respective fathers' worked for - Chinde used to be hugely important, not only as the administrative capital of the Zambezia Province we lived in, but because previously all the sugar had been transported downriver on barges to the mouth of the Zambezi river attached to paddle steamers,

Paddle steamers on the Zambezi

and then loaded onto ships anchored offshore for transport to the market (which back then was exclusively Portugal). However times had changed and with the building of the Caia-Marromeu railway sugar was transported to the port of Beira much faster, and Chinde's importance had waned considerably. The office remained open, as the barges and steamers were beached at the coast for repair at high tides, and having a presence close to the administrative capital was good for business when permits and the like were needed!
The company maintained a "beach house" at Chinde and over the years we had gone down on family trips to stay there - the house had accommodation for around 12 people, running water (pumped by hand by the staff there) a generator for electricity (that was switched off when everyone had gone to bed), and at least one flush toilet (the remainder looked conventional, but the "soil" was collected in buckets and emptied regularly by the staff - on one occasion while a friend was using it, and a hand suddenly appearing beneath her nearly gave her heart failure!).
The road to Chinde was a poorly maintained dirt road, almost impassable even in 4-wheel drive vehicles during the rains, and entailed two river crossings - the first a small river on a ferry pulled by rope, and the second across the Zambezi itself on a motorised ferry. We had done this trip before by bike, but decided this time, due to reports of heavy expected rain, to do part of the journey by river, on a motorised barge called a Harbourmaster.

Harbourmaster

The sugar company had extensive coconut plantations at a township called Matilde (the coconut kernels being used in the production of copra) and this was our destination, cutting at least two thirds of the journey time.

Susie, Ze Banana and Rob - waiting to board.

As we approached Matilde the skies got progressively darker, and we knew we would be lucky to get to Chinde before the storm hit, but arrived there before the rains. There was a bus waiting for any passengers so we asked if they would take our luggage and made a run for it! Rob was carrying his sister Susie as pillion and this slowed him down, but I stayed with them, while Ze took off to try and get there before the storm, and get Joca to meet the bus and collect our luggage. In the coconut plantations the road was very sandy, and progress was slow, and Rob and his bike were struggling with the extra weight (apologies to Susie if she reads this, but I am not implying anything, simply there were 2 people on his bike!), so as soon as the rain hit I said I would take Susie for a while to help out, and we did, in fact, make a little better time (the rain had compacted the road so it was easier than soft sand!).

However once we left the shelter of the trees the full force of the storm hit us - the rain was coming at us horizontally, and the dirt road turned into a slippery, slimy mess that was almost impossible to stay upright on! Within half a mile we had caught up with Ze, who was also unable to progress quickly! I don't know how many times we fell off, but we were on the ground more often than on our bikes, and on one occasion Rob fell off in front of the bus, which had by then caught up, and it slid to a halt with the bumper hanging over him!! Suddenly we saw a Landrover approaching from the direction of Chinde - it was Joca! He had realised we would be struggling in the rain and come to look for us! Susie gladly jumped into the vehicle, and set off after the bus to get our luggage, and clean clothing, while Rob, Ze and I slipped and slid the remaining few miles to the guest house! It had taken us about 90 minutes to travel the 7 miles from Matilde to Chinde!

As soon as we got to the house we all headed for the shower, and then sat around in towels waiting for our clean clothes to arrive - which Joca brought, along with some much needed warming alcohol! I don't remember much more from that day, other than having a monster hangover the following morning, and finding out that we had told the staff to turn the generators off early so they could go to bed, and then almost burning the house down with a misplaced candle! Fortunately only a curtain succumbed to real damage.

Intrepid fishermen!

Chinde is also famous for the huge Langoustines found off the coast, and the local fishermen catch them in front of the guest house, so Ze decided he would give it a try - and soon realised there was a skill to it! We had to make do with buying some off the locals and having them grilled over charcoal with butter and periperi - for breakfast!

Rob and his sister Susie

More alcohol was consumed the remaining time we had there, before we headed back to Luabo for the New Year's Party, bringing Joca with us - on the back of Ze's bike. The road had dried out so the journey back was much smoother - aided by the fact that both Rob and Susie's, and my, parents came to meet us at the main ferry crossing, so took the extra passengers and luggage back in Landrovers! There was one mishap on the way back, however - we were riding in convoy, with Ze in the lead followed by Rob and then me, with my dad driving behind me, followed by Rob's dad. The road surface is full of potholes so we weaved our way back and forth, at about 40mph, to miss the worst of the bumps, when I noticed my dad's Landrover catching up to me, and assumed he wanted to overtake (which was incorrect, in fact, he was concerned about Rob's dad catching up to him and tailgating so he had accelerated to open the gap again). I moved to the side of the road to allow space to overtake, and then hit a series of big potholes - which pitched me forwards over the handlebars and onto the road!! My bike was a little mangled so it, and I, continued our journey in the back of the Landrover, and the vehicles made sure they kept well back from the bikes.

 

Pretogues and Portunhol

I remember vividly the day my father came home from work in 1959, gathered the family and asked "Who wants to go to Angola?" We all jumped up and down and said "Yes!!! Where is Angola?"
So a few days later he bought a small blackboard and started teaching us a few basic Portuguese words - not that he could speak Portuguese, but he had learnt Italian at school and had a knack for languages, something my sister and I inherited (possibly helped by the fact my mother was Danish, though we never did learn to speak that). So at least we could say "Please" and "Thank you" before we set sail.
Early in 1960 we left a cold and snowy England on a boat from Tilbury headed for Luanda, Angola. I am not going to cover that adventure here - the days of seasickness crossing the Bay of Biscay are best forgotten anyway - because this post is about foreign languages. Our few words were not adequate at all, but my sister and I were enrolled at the local "English School of Luanda" where we had some lessons in Portuguese, but I seem to recall the ones about metric measures rather than anything about grammar and syntax, if we indeed had those!
There was a good expatriate community so we spoke English exclusively amongst our friends (Americans, South Africans, British), but I used to play with my next-door neighbour's children, a Portuguese family, so my linguistic skills improved, and I became pretty fluent, and even picked up some of the accent.
We were in Angola for three years before we returned to Africa, this time to Mozambique (another Portuguese territory) and started speaking Portuguese again. The same situation existed there, a very large expatriate community so most social conversation was in English, and, indeed, some of my peers lived there longer but had little interest in the local language. We were schooled in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) so spent 9 months of the year away at boarding school, but when we were back in Mozambique I used to spend almost as much time with Portuguese friends as English-speaking ones, and my vocabulary came on in leaps and bounds, though my grammar didn't.
As I was not having formal lessons I knew nothing about correct verb tenses, proper sentence structure (though, fortunately, Portuguese has a similar sentence order to English!), syntax, and so on, but was becoming very fluent - though my friends teased me that I was speaking "Pretogues", not "Portugues", that is the Portuguese that was spoken by the indigenous population (the blacks, or "pretos"), who had no formal education and to who Portuguese was a second language (after their tribal dialect).
My command of Portuguese was now so good I was on more than one occasion mistaken for being Portuguese, despite my grammatical shortcomings! In 1975 (shortly before Independence), however, I left Mozambique for South Africa, and never returned, and my use of Portuguese diminished and dwindled, though I did have a few Portuguese-speaking friends in South Africa, until 1978 when I returned to the UK and stopped speaking it at all.
Fast forward to 2009 and my first visit to Brazil - 31 years after last speaking Portuguese - and it all started flooding back, much to the amazement of my nephew, who lived there, but had no idea of my language skills! What was amusing was that every time I spoke people commented on my command of the language, but then added "But it is Portuguese from Portugal!" - there are far more differences between Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese than I ever imagined, and, 5 years later, I am still trying to get to grips with them all.

Now we come to Spanish. Because I do not have permanence in Brazil I needed to find a second home for the remaining 6 months of the year, and my research led me to believe that Peru might be a sound choice, except for the fact that I spoke no Spanish. Brazil is surrounded by Spanish speaking countries, and, in fact, apart from French Guiana (French), Suriname (Dutch) and British Guyana (English) all the other South American nations speak Spanish. There is fairly easy migration between the South American (Mercosul) countries, and there is a lot of Spanish spoken in the bigger cities (in fact my nephew always has a couple of native Spanish speakers working for him - he speaks Spanish as he spent a fair amount of time in Spain), and I found that my Portuguese helped me a lot in my understanding of Spanish, but realised I needed some help with my oral skills.
I decided to take some lessons in spoken Spanish, but found it far harder to pick up that Portuguese (or French back in my school-days), possibly because there are so many similarities in the vocabulary with Portuguese, but sentence structure is slightly different, and the pronunciation of letters and combinations of letters is vastly different. But armed with my basic skills I headed for Peru in 2012 on my reconnaissance visit, and found that I managed adequately, apart from one hotel where the only staff member could not, or would not, understand me - everyone else seemed to cope with my mixture of  Portuguese and Spanish (Espanhol) - Portunhol!
I am soon heading back to Peru for my third 6-month stay, and, though my Spanish is by no means great, I am confident that I can get by, and last year toured 5500 miles (almost 9000 kms) alone by motorbike without any problems. In some of the remoter areas there were no English (or Portuguese!) speakers so I had to manage, and even dealings with the Police at roadside checks (who were mostly amazed at this lone Gringo on a motorbike!) went without incident.
Although my Portuguese and Spanish are not that grammatically correct, I am pretty sure that I am fluent in Pretogues and Portunhol!

Driving in Peru

June 2013

Not long after arriving in Peru I decided I needed some form of transport – there is ample, regular cheap public transport here in the form of buses and taxis, but for my fishing trips I wanted to go a way out of the town to find empty beaches to fish from. Nothing to do with being anti-social but swimmers, surfers and fishing are not a good mix!

Mountain bike

I bought a mountain bike and used it a few times to go up to about 3 miles out of town along a little-used dirt road, and found that to be OK. However a neighbour of mine, an American, offered to sell me a motorbike when he left! I did not need asking twice! There was one snag – he had not completed the paperwork fully when he bought the bike, but thought it would just be a formality for me with the previous owner. We agreed a price and he said that I didn't need to pay him till the paperwork was in order, but as he was leaving I offered a deposit, which could be counted as rent if anything went wrong with the transfer.

Ronco Pantera 150

As with anything official here in South America transferring ownership is nowhere near as straightforward as in the UK, and it turned out that all three of us would be needed in person to effect the transfer. As he was now in Sweden this was not going to be possible, so I have the use of the bike till I leave then will have to find somewhere to store it for him (he is hoping to return at some stage).

The bike is not brilliant, only 150cc, and does need a bit of work doing (which I am rather unwilling to do if I am just “borrowing” it), but it is certainly better than having to rely on the public transport system! At first I was a little apprehensive about driving in Trujillo, the large city of almost a million people just a few miles away, but decided I had to give it a try. In fact the actual road surfaces (potholes, raised manhole covers, and speed bumps everywhere!) are more hazardous than the other drivers – and that is saying something in South America, where driving standards are appalling! At a rough guess I would say that 60% of the vehicles on the road are taxis and buses, so driven by “professionals”, but as they are always looking for fares they do tend to stop suddenly, and without warning, anywhere they see a likely patron – and this includes in the middle of junctions, and even in the centre lane! But despite all that I am enjoying being able to drive around at will, though finding somewhere to park is a mystery still to me, as you are not allowed to park in most streets (though everyone appears to ignore this, and all other traffic rules!), but there are plenty of “Cocheras” (parking garages) where they charge 1 sol, or 25p, an hour!

I must admit that my bicycle has not been used as much as it should have – I need the exercise – but I do intend to use that more around Huanchaco from now on till I leave (I can get further afield faster on the motorbike for fishing). Just have the small problem of finding somewhere to store it, and some other belongings, for 6 months when I leave, until I return early in 2014.

Fishing in Peru

April 2013

I have tried fishing three times so far since arriving in Peru, once on the pier in Huanchaco, and twice from the beach a little way outside the town. The Pacific Ocean is quite rough along this stretch of the coast, famous for some of the best surfing in Peru, and I have blamed this, my ignorance about local tides, and my lack of knowledge about what bait to use, for my lack of success so far. But today, using squid as bait as I have been doing all along, almost as soon as I cast my line I was feeling bites and landed my first Peruvian fish!

In all I cast my line 8 times, and 6 times pulled in a small fish, and also managed to snare a coloured sack, which at first I thought was a monster colourful fish! All in all a very enjoyable session.

Catfish - Bagre

I have always enjoyed fishing – and this is rather at odds with my strong hatred of casual hunting. Hunting for food is OK in my books, but the mindless mass slaughter (shoot anything that moves) that most hunters practice is odious. Many feel that fishing is barbaric, but I suppose I justify it, to myself at least, by believing that as I cannot see the fish, and am not deliberately targeting it, that makes it different! I cannot explain this – I wouldn't shoot an animal or a bird, but am happy to drag a fish out of the water on a hook. Today, at least, I did carefully remove the hook and returned the fish back into the sea.

The passing of the Iron Lady

April 2013

I am not a particularly political person – as in all things I do not have extreme views one way or the other, and am prepared to weigh up the pros and cons of a policy, irrespective of whether it originates from the right or the left or the centre (whatever that all means!), or any other political standpoint. I am sure that even extremist political parties can have sensible policy ideas that really would benefit everyone, and so are worth giving serious consideration. However, I digress a little.

In 1978 it was General Election year, I was recently returned to England and it was the first time I could legally vote in an election – having lived abroad since before turning 18 – so I followed the campaigning quite closely, determined to try and make an educated opinion about which party to support. I even sat up on election night and followed the results coming in until a decision was reached. Victory to the Conservatives and the first female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher!

There was much excitement about this landmark, and much sexist speculation about how badly she would fare, but she proved the sceptics wrong and was, in my opinion, a very strong leader, who stood by her principles, but who also, unlike many of her successors and predecessors, actually did the job because she wanted to make a difference, and not for any power trip. Men are, by nature, very competitive, so having the top job, Prime Minister, is a huge ego boost – and I am sure that many aim for that position because of the kudos it carries with it, not because they feel that from that position they can do most good for their country. I truly believe that Margaret Thatcher was trying to do her best for Great Britain, and not just trying to appease everyone to stay in the top job.

I am not going to get too heavily into politics here, I am no expert in that field, and whatever I think politically is irrelevant to this post. Margaret Thatcher was Conservative, so anything she stood for the other parties would object to, even though subsequently many of the old Tory policies of those days have crept into the mainstream Labour and LibDem manifestos! What is important is that she was prepared to lead the party into making much needed tough decisions, decisions that have had a profound effect (and I think for the good) on how Great Britain is today, decisions that were divisive, and which many of her contemporaries would have not had the courage to push through, but which she knew were necessary at the time.

She earned international respect, both for herself and for Great Britain, and also across the political divide. People may have hated her politics, but they could not help but admire the lady behind them, who had the courage of her convictions, and her determination for Great Britain to once more become a force to be reckoned with.

I have never quite understood why the Conservatives ousted her in the manner they did, after all she had done for the party, and since her departure I think that they (in fact all political parties!) have struggled to find a replacement anywhere near as good as she was, and have lost their way politically. We need strong leaders, in all the parties, but we also need people who believe in what they are doing, and believe in the country first – they should choose to serve the country, not themselves.

So it is with great sadness that we mourn the passing of a great leader, who, to coin a cliché, did put the “Great” back into Britain, changed the face of British politics, and the way of life in Britain forever. May she rest in peace.

Danger in beautiful places 3

March 8, 2013

Wow! On Monday – 4 days ago – there was an armed robbery here, in the main street in a building that back onto my apartment block! Lunchtime diners were tucking into their food when two armed men burst in demanding money, watches, jewellery, cameras and anything else they could get their hands on. They ripped items off anyone they felt were too slow in responding and ran off up the road.

What is alarming, as well as the fact it was in broad daylight in a busy high street, was that it is a restaurant we regularly use for weekly volunteer lunches as it is cheap and cheerful. In fact most of the clientèle favour it because it is cheap, so the robbery was probably not that profitable. General opinion is that the robbers were not local, well not from our town, but more likely from the large city (almost a million inhabitants) some 10 kms distant, which used to have a lawless reputation, but had cleaned up its act recently.

Another small cloud hanging over my stay here, but not yet enough to completely dampen my spirits.

Update: March 15.

It turns out the story was not quite as dramatic as we were told - a case of it being "enhanced" to make a better story. Apparently a female customer had placed her purse on the edge of the table, and an opportunist thief (singular!) grabbed it and tried to make off with it. He was stopped by other diners and the purse returned, but managed to break loose and make good his escape!

Danger in beautiful places 2

February 2013

Peru has had a few years of relative political stability, and with that has also come a period where they have to some extent managed to crack-down on crime, making the country a safer place. There are still hotspots, particularly in remote border areas where they are fighting drug trafficking, (apparently things are getting tougher in some neighbouring countries so they are looking at Peru as a softer option!) and tourists are always being told to be vigilant in South America. Any large city the world over has an element of danger, as there is always a vast difference between the haves and have-not, poverty is extreme and life is cheap – there is no organised welfare system like many developed countries, so if you are unemployed you are often homeless and food-less, and robbery and mugging is often a result of desperation.

The recent rape near Trujillo, in broad daylight, was a worrying incident, but one alone doesn't necessarily indicate a trend back into lawlessness. However this week we had the following story about car robberies in Lima taking place in broad daylight in heavy traffic. Taxi drivers are increasingly becoming a target for attacks as the criminals believe that people travelling by taxi must be wealthy and have something of value worth stealing, and the drivers are also carrying money themselves from their fares.

As appears to be the case so often in South America “the police know who is responsible” but seem unable to actually catch them! There are always rumours going round that the police are being paid to turn a blind eye, or that they are not prepared to risk their lives chasing desperate criminals, but it is more probable that lack of funding means they are over-stretched and do not have sufficient resources. I really hope that these are isolated incidents, as I do like Peru – the people are very friendly, the cost of living is reasonable (by Western standards!), and the way of life suits me at this time in my life.

Practical joke

I am not by nature a prankster – I never try and fool anyone on April 1st, and though I enjoy a clever prank, rather than a slapstick one (I used to like Jeremy Beadle’s well-planned and executed tricks, but “Just for Laughs” leaves me cold), have never been much for playing them myself. I think it because I am intrinsically too honest, and do not like lying to, or deceiving, others.

However many years ago, while living in Mozambique on the banks of the Zambezi, I succumbed to temptation. Back in those wonderful carefree days many of us teenagers (16+) owned 50cc motorbikes – of the non-restricted variety, so they were capable of 50-60 mph flat out – and though there were no tarmac roads then all the bikes were road-going versions, so not really suited for the terrain! Mostly we owned 2-stroke Suzuki’s, but that was primarily because the Sugar Estate used them extensively, so could get them cheaply, but Pete had a 4-stroke Honda, which had a distinctive engine noise that everyone recognised. Most of us had learnt to ride on an old BSA, called Flash, that now had a 50cc Suzuki engine in it, the old one having died many years before, and this now belonged to Pete as well (his father ran the engineering workshop that maintained all the company vehicles).

Anyway, on that particular day Pete had taken his Honda in to be serviced so was riding Flash. The Zambezi was prone to flooding so they had constructed dykes along the riverbank, and another set inside to protect the village, and we often used to ride up on to these – or rather try and ride up on to them as in most places they were too steep for the little engines, especially with a 50-60 foot drop into the Zambezi just behind!  This day we had got on top further along and were riding along the footpath on top of the dyke when we came across a group of younger boys, probably 10-13 years old, who we vaguely knew. As 2 English boys we were recognisable to everyone! One of the boys asked where the Honda was – we all aspired to ride the 4-stroke as it sounded so much more macho than a 2-stroke engine – and Pete started to respond. Fortunately his Portuguese was not that good so I jumped in and the deception started!

I told them that earlier in the day we had been riding up on to the dyke and Pete had over-cooked it and ridden straight into the river! Bearing in mind that the Zambezi at this juncture is over a mile wide, and has a peak flow of some 300,000 cubic feet per second, so is some river. I continued that Pete had to abandon the bike and so it was probably at the bottom of the river. That was going to be the end of it, but one of them asked if we were going to fish it out, and, if not, could they try. I am sorry, but I could not resist this! I told them to help themselves if they wanted to, never believing that they really would, and we went on our way.

Four hours later, the Honda newly serviced, we passed by the same way, and noticed that there was quite a commotion by the water’s edge. There were two boys, plus an African domestic, tethered by ropes wading around in the water, and another 4 boys on the bank shouting encouragement. They saw us and called up asking if they were in the right spot, so I said they were about 10 yards too far down the river, but maybe the bike had been washed down by the current. All the time Pete was sitting on the Honda revving the engine, and suddenly the penny dropped! One of them noticed the deep 4-stroke engine noise – there was stunned silence before they came running up the dyke to where we were. Pete could hardly contain himself, but I compounded their misery by saying that Pete’s Dad had sent a team of men there to fish it out just after we left earlier – while they were gathering ropes and more help!

They just calmly accepted this, and wandered off, soaking wet and possibly having caught something nasty in the dirty river – I never owned up, and I guess they never knew the truth.

Danger in beautiful places

February 2013

Last week, around 8 miles from where I am now living, 2 young Finnish girls on holiday were robbed at gunpoint by 5 armed men, two wearing masks. Not content with taking their money, cameras and phones, one of the attackers then decided to rape one of the girls. This happened in broad daylight, at around 1.00pm, about a mile from the archaeological site they had just visited, and one which is visited by thousands of tourists every year.

The girls were accompanied by two local boys, but had ignored the cardinal rule when travelling in South America – do not stray away from the main routes. After leaving the ruins, for some reason they did not take a taxi (very cheap out here) or bus back to the city, but decided to walk some of the way – and ended up in a notoriously dangerous area where they fell victim to this horrific crime. Apparently the police have already arrested 7 suspects, and claimed that they knew there was a gang operating in the area. Local people are up in arms about these, and other, gangs terrorising the area, with the police seemingly unwilling to do much about it.

As I am volunteering at a local charity, along with about 20 other young people from all over the world, the reports concerned me greatly, but trying to find more information about it was difficult in the extreme. Searching international media on the internet revealed nothing, and only two local newspapers seemed to be running the story, and in very little detail (one even claiming initially the girls were German), so I began wondering if there had been a deliberate news blackout to protect the extremely lucrative tourism industry here. I guess that I will never know, but what is abundantly clear is that South America, while beautiful and extremely inviting to travellers from all over the world, can be, and is, also a very dangerous place.

The big 6-0, or as I prefer fifty-ten

February 14 2013

Valentine’s Day arrived, and with it my 60th birthday. My Dad was terrible remembering birthdays, anniversaries and any special dates (despite numerous reminders from other members of the family), and his excuse for Valentine’s Day was that he had already given my Mum the best gift ever – me! Fortunately she agreed on that point.

Anyway, I had been dreading the day for some time now – somehow 30, 40 and 50 didn't phase me at all, but 60 … now that was scary! As a 50-something it all felt good, but suddenly, approaching 60 was filling me with all sorts of foreboding. I think a major part of it was that my Dad passed away at 67 (from cancer) so my subconscious was telling me I might only have 7 years left, though my conscious was telling me that my Mum lived till she was 86, and that is a much happier thought!

The world didn't end on February 14, and I am still the same person I was the day before – and I still feel and think the same way I have for the past 25 years (at least, if not for longer). The body may have a few more aches and pains on a bad day, but nothing incapacitating, I still have most of my teeth, and, though slightly receding, all of my hair, even if it is now “salt and pepper” coloured. I have just ordered a mountain bike online – not for riding up mountains, but just to get me to remote fishing beaches here. I would walk for the exercise, but the 30 minutes each way to get there and back would reduce my fishing time by a similar amount as I cannot spend too much time out in the sun (fair Northern skin!), and it will also save me the bus fare when going to the charity I will be volunteering at.

So I am embracing 60 (fifty-ten) not trying to avoid it any more, not least because I am now a sexagenarian – rather like the sound of that!

Baggage fun at the airport

February 2013.

Before planning my trip to Peru I checked on the airline baggage allowance, especially as I was going for 6 months and wanted to take some fishing tackle along. 2 bags of 20 kilos each – so quite generous, but I still knew I would probably be heavy! Sure enough my 2 cases weighed in at 48 kilos – but then I was in for a shock! The check-in clerk told me that as my final destination was at a minor airport in Peru my allowance was the standard one suitcase weighing 23 kilos – meaning I had 25 kilos excess baggage to pay! She said I had to pay the excess on the whole journey, despite my protestations that surely it should just be on the final leg of the flight, as I was allowed 2 x 20 kilos from Brazil, to the capital of Peru, Lima. She went off to consult a supervisor.

I was a bit miffed as I could have opted for a bus from Lima to Trujillo, which would have meant the 40 kilo limit was right, but as that meant making my way from the airport to the bus terminal late at night, and a long wait (longer than the 7 hours I would have at the airport) for the next bus, I decided to take the easy way out!

The clerk returned and confirmed that I had to pay the excess for the whole flight and gave me a hand-written note to take to the airline desk, where there was quite a queue.  Half an hour later, and £250 poorer I was back at check-in (they had kept my baggage there), where I saw a different clerk, who had a supervisor with her. After a little consultation the supervisor got on the phone to someone else, and they decided that because my final destination was still in Peru, then the 40 kilo rule did, in fact, apply – so I only had to pay 8 kilos excess baggage! So it was back to the airline desk, another brief wait – caused mainly by the fact that, although there were 2 cashiers operating, it appeared that they did not have a cash drawer at the desk, but had to go into the back room to make change for every customer! I did get a refund and ended up paying around £80 for the excess baggage, but my cases were, this time, going through to Lima, and I didn't have to collect them, and check them in again, in Sao Paulo. (The last time I went the baggage tab showed Lima so I assumed they were going straight through, but no-one told me I had to collect them in Sao Paulo, so I went to check in without them and was sent off to look for them. As it was now a couple of hours after the plane had landed they had been removed from the carousel, and so I had an adventure finding them!)

Lima airport customs has a unique system for checking arriving baggage – rather than the red and green lanes (goods to declare, and nothing to declare), they have a single lane, and when it is your turn you press a button, and seemingly randomly there is a red or green light. Green means proceed, but red (which I got this time!) means you have to subject all your baggage, including hand baggage which was checked in Sao Paulo (and in my case also in Salvador) to an x-ray check. If the operator doesn't like what he sees then you are subjected to a full baggage search, which fortunately I avoided.

I still arrived in Trujillo pretty shattered, though, as it was 7.00am, after a 7 hour layover in Lima, and with the time-zone difference it meant I had been awake for 28 hours by the time I got to my hotel in Huanchaco!