South West Ecuador flooded

27th Feb

Roly still ill with stomach problems which has been going on for about 4 weeks now, still may mean I will lose some weight! Walk around town, along pier and generally chill out. Try to buy some Alen keys but no luck.

Meet 6 people from USA who are here surfing and a couple also live in San Diego.

I repack the bike and mange to get rid of the Gul dry bag. I enjoy a day sitting on the beach and swimming. I receive an e-mail from James about the terrible weather in southern Ecuador and that the roads are flooded, bridges are swept away and one main border may be closed. I draw up my travel plans options for Ecuador in light of this new information.

28th Feb.

Head north though lots more dessert and piles of rubbish along the sides of the roads. It appears the desert is the local rubbish dump and it smells terrible. Drive though Chiclayo annd Piura, buy some engine oil and then spend over two and a half hours trying to find my way out of town. It is hot today but overcast so no shadows for navigation. The main river bridges are closed to all traffic, in the end in frustration I use my compass to head north and take a track into open scrub land. I head north west and think it will meet the main road north but after another two hours I have to give up and go back to town. ( one of Dad´s short cuts!) I see a lizard about 800 mm long that crosses the road in front of me. I keep asking the way to the north but so many different answers, but finally I make it towards Sullana and up again into the mountains.



It is getting dark and is going to rain behind me. I make it to Los Lomos just in time before the heavens open. The town is small with a couple of small hostals, but the streets are full of ruts and holes. The local industry is coal and gold mining. I meet a guy who speaks English who shows me around town and helps me buy some tools ( can´t get Alen keys though). I manage to get a pressure gauge, 8mm spanner and a philips screw driver. It continues to rain heavily all night and my new freind tells me South West Ecuador is unpassable. Some of the sides of the bridges were missing having been washed away by the heavy rains. There are also rice paddy fields and lots of vultures ( may be condors). I am only 50 kms for the border now. The forecast is for three more days of heavy rain