More Africa Twin foolishness...

Well Friends, made it back from the Peru adventure; (3rd in 3 years.)

Had the pleasure of a riding mate joining in for the MC part of the trip, so got to ride with my son and a good riding buddy.  No sidecar related pics, since we rented a couple of bikes and my son had his (my old) Africa Twin.  Sidecar related in that I missed having the 3rd wheel a few times on some greasy wet roads, but such is life.

We decided to basically repeat the Lima-Tarma-Oxapampa-Pozuzo trip that we did the first year.  This time we decided to spend an extra day in Pozuzo, and ride around that area a little more, out in the jungle.

First a nice dinner, downtown Lima, before heading out in the morning:

Of course, getting everybody's Cardo synched and working was entertaining, later.

Important road supplies...

And finally, we were off.  One Honda Africa Twin, a Honda NX500 and a Honda CB500X.

Up and outta the smog:

And, of course we had to stop for the obligatory photo at Ticlio Pass; the highest altitude railroad in the world.  Sea level to 16k ft. elevation in about 4 hours will make your head explode, without generous use of the aforementioned supplies.

Los Portales Hotel in Tarma; of course serves special tea to help adjust to their 10,000 ft elevation, coming down from the pass at 16,000 ft.

C't'd.

c't'd

Off to Oxapampa, the next day; no shortage of trucks on the highway, each dead set on passing anything they could pass on whichever side was most convenient:

Break by a nice waterfall:

In Oxapampa, my son found us accommodations at a splendid guest house, the Carolina Egg.  It turns out that Carolina is the sister of Maria Egg, grand daughter of the founder of Pozuzo, and owner of the guest house we had stayed in and liked a lot, in Pozuzo on the prior trip.  This one was also very nice; essentially cabins set in a botanical garden of flowers and fruit trees.

Papaya

Kiwi

Avocado

And of course, coffee!

c't'd

c't'd

Next morning, a few tire pressure checks, and we were off, after a tasty breakfast, of course.

On our way out of town, we stopped by El Tiroles to sample and load a few kg of local coffee and chocolate into saddle bags.  It was most delicious.

As the "early bird" customers (i.e. only ones) we were treated to a special dance show by the staff; combination of German/Peruvian culture.

Then we enjoyed a hundred km or so of fantastic, lightly trafficked twisty pavement/dirt up to Pozuzo on the 5N highway, following a river that was ultimately heading to the Atlantic side of the continent. 

c't'd

c't'd

Stop to donn some rain gear for those not already clad in Gortex.  Heading down in elevation to about 2,000 ft, into a National Park area.

Skies cleared up a little as we arrived in Pozuzo, at the Maria Egg Guest House.

Took a stroll around downtown, and sighted a few interesting birds, most hard to get photos of, including a Toucan and an Andean Cock-of-the-rock.

Statue honoring the Cock-of-the-Rock:

Cocoa harvesting (with permission) a ripe pod, since Granddaughter had requested one to make Chocolate from:

Pleasant evening sitting around the pool watching the bats work:

Next day was a lot of rain, so we hiked a trail over a suspension bridge to a mountain top.  More bird sightings and a little exercise:

Owl of some sort, not interested in flying in the rain.

Trail was a little sketchy in the rain, but doable if you had really good hiking boots, like mine:

Peruvian Condor

Views at the almost top, were nice.  

c't'd

c't'd

Rain let up, so afternoon lunch/siesta time, then break out the bikes to explore the country-side a little:

Not many pics of this part of the ride; rain came back while we were pretty far up a dirt road to the north.  Road turned to mud, so we decided to ride south a ways.  Rain followed us, so decided that dinner might be a good idea.

We hit up the same German restaurant that we had been frequenting from prior trips; probably our 4th visit to it.  Food is that good.  That is a big pile of braised pork loin with plantains in front of me; their Spatzel and Weinerschnitzel were also amazing.

Next day we took off early, since the road back was being closed and opened intermittently.  We got the G2 that if we made a check point before 7am, we would likely get through without waiting until Noon.  We were planning to make it all the way back to Tarma on this leg, so didn't really want to ride in the dark, later that day.  Maria kindly got up a little early and made us coffee before we left (how sweet is that?)

Made the check point in time, even with a little light rain on the slick dirt road.  The gravel in the middle gets a little interesting when it gets wet.  I had the stock Dunlop 80/20 factory tires on the almost new NX500.  They did not like the wet, much.  Fortunately, the other rental had some decent 50/50 Pirellis and my son had Mitas EnduroTrails.

Got to Oxapampa about breakfast time, so stopped in El Colono for a very tasty breakfast and coffee.

Got to Tarma, before dark, where we stayed the night at Los Portales and did a little light maintenance on the bikes,

Bikes were secured by the Hotel guard cat, while we had a tasty dinner and watched a FIFA game.  No chicken strips on any of those tires!

Later in the evening, we had a game of pool on Satan's own pool table: it was not flat, level, nor regulation anything.  Much like putting some felt on a funhouse mirror and using pockets that a pool ball could go in if pushed directly in.  No worries about scratching, though, so there was that!

Ride next morning was a high speed blitz from Tarma back to Lima for rental return.  Lots of mining trucks, police and crazy people.  We fit right in, and somehow managed to survive.

Later that evening, after catching much flack about the quality of my 30+year old foot wear, as the other sole started flap in the breeze, I donated them to the needy of Peru.  Yeah, they were gone in the morning.

All and all it was another spectacular Peru adventure over the Andes and down into the Amazon basin.  Great company and no real mechanical failures.  No one died, so we called it a win.

Dane, thank you for sharing your great adventures in Peru, and for donating your 30 year olde boots to the Peruvian Society of the Shoeless.

Very cool!  Thanks for living to share the most excellent adventure. 🍻 

Yep most excellent to see you out enjoying magnificent parts of the globe most of us will only ever see through your eyes.