Going Bananas

We left Chiclayo in the morning and headed for Mancora, another popular surf town.

Along the way, Grif dodged lizards laying in the middle of the road. They were soaking up some of the Peruvian sun. Most were quite small, but there was one that was over two feet long! We couldn't believe how many there were and all in a stretch of road that lasted a few kilometres.

We had some problems with the toll road pay police. Motorcycles don't have to pay, but the Peruvians, especially in the North, don't want the motorcycles to ride through on the pavement. We would pull up, as normal, on the extreme right side of where the toll booths are, where there is a lane with no barrier, but then the employee or police would stand in front of us so we couldn't get by. They would then tell us to turn around, in a very narrow area, and go around.... Going around meant, a deep sandy road, completely off the highway, and riding back half a kilometre.. when there is perfectly fine pavement ahead?! It's absolutely ridiculous and didn't make any sense. At one point we told them that we would pay the toll to ride through on the pavement but they wouldn't let us. So, after arguing in broken Spanish and choice English words we ended up riding in the oncoming traffic lane to get through. Thankfully, there wasn't any traffic at the time. They want to make it difficult for motorcyclists, I'm guessing. The next couple of toll booths had a lane on the right side, as usual, with a sign that actually said 'motocicletas'. Good grief!

In Mancora, we found a quaint cabin on the beach. We went out to eat and got some great photos of the sunset. We fell asleep to the sound of crashing waves.

In the morning we left Mancora after having breakfast. We passed many beachside resorts on the way to the Ecuador border. Exiting Peru took about 5 minutes, but the Ecuadorian border crossing was not very conveniently located. We drove around, and then found out we had to go into a small town to get our entrance stamps. Then had to drive another four km to get to the Aduana for the bike papers. It took about an hour.

We rode to Guayaquil and enjoyed our first rain shower! It was nice and refreshing after the heat of the coast. Banana plantations lined the highway for over 100 km. Now I know where Canadians get their bananas!

Banana trees