Back to Arequipa

Saturday May 11th

This is our last day on the bikes. We thought it was a short day but it did not turn out that way. We got out of Moquegua at about 9am and headed west out of Saturday May 11toward the Pacific Ocean.

The first few miles were through some of the ugliest country. There were just dry hills completely barren of any growth. There was a lot of trash along side of the road and the road was straight with only some curves. 

As we got closer to the ocean we were still at around 4500 feet elevation and we dropped off a bluff with some really nice curves and switchbacks. It dropped into a pretty valley with crops and small villages. We were down to sea level. 

This coast line is one of the driest deserts in the world. Every few miles however a river comes off the west side of the Andes and there are fertile areas where crops can grow. Then it is back to desert. We stopped outside one of the villages for lunch. Jan and I shared a meal. We took a group photo with our bikes.

We then continued north along the water with nice curves between small towns. Before turning inland toward Arequipa we went through one last town and then started west.

We were at sea level and Arequipa is at over 7000 feet. We had a great road for about 20 miles winding up into the mountains. It was a real dangerous road with traffic of cars, trucks and buses. We were riding fast passing everyone. On the top it leveled out again.

It felt good when we regrouped at the top.

Coming down into Arequipa we had another nice stretch of tight curves as we approached the city. Arequipa is surrounded by 3 huge volcanoes. I hope to get a photo of them Sunday. It was nice to get back to the hotel where it all started.

That night we met for the last time and went out to dinner. It was a great steak restaurant. Jan and I split a 1 pound steak. Our leader told us that he was proud of us. We had only one small mishap. He said he had had injury accidents on his last four tours. He was glad to get us all back in one piece. Our group had several minor tipovers but no real problems.

It was a good trip. He thought we did great as the only couple riding double and we were able to keep up with his fast pace the whole trip. The BMW F800GS was a great bike. We put on 2000 hard miles. The tires look worn without a trace of a chicken strip front or back.

Sunday Jan and I are going shopping and relaxing. Our plane does not leave until 10pm.