Northern Peru Adventure - Part 9 - the journey back to Huanchaco

After the wonderful day in Cabo Blanco I decided to have a quiet day round Mancora before heading back South the following day - I had had a great time this trip, just as I had the previous one, but wasn't really looking forwards to the bum-numbing ride home! Oli, the bike, handles the miles extremely well, the engine feels strong and reliable, but the seat leaves a lot to be desired, and the now well-worn knobbly tyres transmit quite a lot of vibration to the handlebars, and contribute a lot to the noise you always get when riding a bike.

Baja Beetle - not something you see every day

Three up and no helmets - on the Panamerican Highway through Mancora with their dog following behind!

Not too clear but a small child standing holding the handlebars on a scooter

Mobile Garden Centre

Juice bar

Hot drinks - many of these are herbal remedies

Another unsafe child on a bike on the highway

School run

I want one of those!

It amazed me how many parents were risking their children like this

This minibus had seen better days

Child sitting on the tank holding on to a mirror

Or maybe I would prefer one of these!

Baby squashed between parents on a bike

Same family as before coming back the other way

These are common in Peru as light commercial vehicles not requiring a car driving licence - with a payload of around half a ton. The engines are generally 200-300 cc

Road to the beach in Mancora

I love the Peruvian scaffolding poles

One thing I really enjoy about travelling is seeing how things are done in other countries - we (in the developed world) are so safety conscious these days, but in may places they simply cannot afford to be, despite the fact that they do not have any social security if things go wrong, nor insurance cover as back-up!

Blue-footed Booby on Mancora beach

Flat calm sea - well, Pacific Ocean!

In the UK we have donkey rides on the beach - here it is horses

Egret on the rocks

I hadn't managed to get in my fishing trip - the nearest I got was one man in a small agency calling a captain who promised to get back to me, and never did - and when I went back to the agency it was blamed on the weather (which had been terrific the whole of my trip!). That would now have to wait for another adventure!

Scenic route from Piura to Rancho Santana

Even miles from anywhere you find rubbish dumped at the side of the road

Oli all loaded up - looking a little dirty at this stage!

Retracing my route back to Piura was straightforward and much easier to find the same hotel despite the roadworks still in place.

Ovalo Bolognesi near my hotel

I have just found out that they have now completed a bypass of Piura, so my "convenient" hotel (where I have now stayed 4 nights) is miles out of the way, so I will have to find an alternative next time I venture North.
You may recall I had parking problems last time as I got parked in and had trouble raising the owner who was between me and the gate - so this time I spoke to reception about it and they suggested I didn't park my bike till late evening after everyone else would be in. So after dinner, around 20.00, I did just that - and next morning again I was parked in! It didn't take quite so long this time to get the driver to move for me - he could have parked further back as I had left space, but instead parked in front where it was too narrow for me to pass!
I was heading out on a different route this time from Piura back to Rancho Santana - avoiding the boring, mind-numbing Panamerican Highway through the Sechura Desert. This route was taking me inland some distance, then alongside a range of hills and looked more promising, and was almost the same distance as the "faster" highway, but was unknown territory for me, and I was uncertain ow good the road would be. As it turned out the road was in good condition, traffic almost non-existent, and it was a good decision to make this detour!

Much nicer scenery than the Sechura Desert

Looks like I have the road to myself 

Great road with gentle sweeping corners

... and stunning scenery

These mountains flanked my route

Steep and forbidding in places

Panoramic view

Came across this overturned truck on a fairly straight stretch of road - a reminder to stay vigilant

At one point the road passed over the mountain range - through a series of hairpins

Peru does have some magnificent scenery

In the small town of Naupe there is a protection centre for the White-winged Guan

One of the very few townships I passed through on this route

Travelling alone can be daunting for some, but driving through spectacular scenery like this on good road surfaces makes it a pleasure - I was in my element!

Andes foothills

Oli, cooling down!

My route was taking me down into the valley below, before turning Southwards towards Pacora and Rancho Santana

... but even here miles from the nearest town loads of rubbish has just been dumped at the side of the road

The road from here on to Pacora is relatively flat 

Although I had now joined a major route over the Andes traffic was still very light - and here consists mainly of speeding minibuses!

I was now looking forwards to renewing my acquaintance with Andrea and her family at Rancho Santana not that far away from here. I have been fortunate to find some lovely places to stay at on my travels, thanks to Booking.com.

One of Rancho Santana's cats on my roof

Some of their chickens

Hornero - a type of ovenbird

My tyres were showing signs of wear - some of the knobbles were worn down, making vibrations and road noise worse. Front tyre.

Rear tyre

Cow at Rancho Santana

Hornero

Vermilion Flycatcher

The cat finally came off the roof and wandered off

Let sleeping dogs lie ... 

... hard life being a farm dog!

I renewed my acquaintance with this cat, too, but she didn't look happy at having her picture taken - as I had stopped stroking her!

Another of the cats trying Oli out for size - I still have the claw marks in the seat!

After a leisurely breakfast with Andrea and two volunteers she had staying I set out on the relatively short leg back to Huanchaco, with no further mishaps along the way. Around another 1600 kms (1000 miles) added to my travels round Peru, and some wonderful memories along the way.