Please send feedback to eva@world.std.com
Stone sign built on sand (33k)
![[Snapshot of our car stuck in the sand in the middle of nowhere]](stuck.jpg)
Stuck! (25k)
We had an adventure on our last day in Peru. We had a lame duck period before our plane left for home so the 4 of us rented a little sedan at the Lima airport after flying in from Cuzco and proceeded directly, luggage and all, north on the Pan American Highway to about km 105 where we intended to visit the "Lomas of Lachay," a nature reserve. Another drawing card was something we'd read about the Least Seedsnipe "popping up" all around km marker 100 on the Pan American. That did not happen. The Least Seedsnipe remains on our wanted list. The habitat around km 100 was most unpromising. I heard they keep re-surveying the roads in Peru so km markers are not dependable landmarks. The Lomas, though, had a substantial sign, and that refueled our hopes even though the roadless tire tracks leading eastward across the utterly barren desert didn't look worthy of the sign. As far as the eye could see there was no life at all. I'm talking about sandbox deep sand, and NO plants. We drove fast for 15 minutes, ever hopeful of seeing the Lomas (An oasis? "fog vegetation"? We were curious.) loom up.
Instead we got stuck in the sand up to the chassis of the car! We had visions of hiking back to the Pan American. Fortunately I had travellers checks left. In two weeks we had never found a gas station --"grifo" in Peruvian Spanish--that would accept a credit card, even in the heart of Lima. But it did not come to that. Our first line of defense was to try to dig ourselves out with our hands. Before we gave up that approach, mirabile dictu, another car appeared like a mirage! The four Peruvian men within jumped out & helped push our car backwards. We finally got it turned around & we were out of there! So the Lomas remain a mystery.
Considering how our group "lost it" during lesser crises on this trip, I am very proud of how practical we all were during a real emergency. We were so busy digging we did not dwell on the possibility of enduring thirst or missing our plane.
Last revised: May 5, 1998
Return to Eva's Home Page