Soon, the Dakar experience was
over for us and we headed inland. The
mountains, for us, are Peru's best and
most enticing feature. The first night
we spent away from sea level was at a
bunkhouse at about 4000m with a mu-
seum about Vicunas. They are beau-
tiful animals, smaller than Llamas,
with stunningly dark eyes. One took
a real shine to me and wouldn't leave
me alone. It kept nipping my trousers
and trying to jump on me, which was
a source of entertainment for Kelvin,
Michnus and Elsebie. We then discov-
ered Maracuya (passion fruit) Pisco in
the tiny little shack-like shop across
the road. Mmm mmm mmm!!!! Sad-
ly, alcohol and altitude don't go well
but we made a good effort. Needless
to say, we didn't sleep well and it felt
like we had Vicuna's sat on our chest
all night long.
It was time to go our separate ways
and we said farewell to our South Af-
rican friends and headed in the direc-
tion of Cusco to pick up my new GPS.
TRAVERSE 40