James & Rob's Blog

Introduction

12 December 2007

© 180 Degrees Pole to Pole

Dear Friends and Supporters of 180 degrees,

We have had a productive couple of weeks covering around a thousand miles through Peru. It is a country of extreme contrasts, with stretches of harsh lifeless desert, some of the worlds highest mountains and a sizeable portion of the largest rainforest on earth. Unfortunately, on our tight schedule we've had to hug the Pacific coast on the Panamerican highway, and although this has kept us away from the tropical forest and the heights of the Andes, this contrast has been no less visible.

We have often cycled dozens of miles through flat plains and towering dunes of sand, being blasted by a chilled wind, torrents of sand flowing across the road only to abruptly find ourselves in an intensely cultivated valley brimming with rice fields. It often seems that the point of change has been carefully drawn with a ruler it is so apparent. Lima was similarly abrupt, although the greenery having been replaced with concrete.

Not far before our arrival in Lima we were pedalling on an obscenely beautiful stretch of road, winding along, clinging high up on steep sandunes plummeting into huge waves beneath. The views along the coast were mesmerising and yet before we could quite comprehend it Lima was upon us. This City has expanded rapidly from a few hundred thousand shortly after the start of the 20^th Century, to 4 million by 1970 and the official figure now stands at 8 million inhabitants. It sprawls for almost 25 miles in every direction from its attractive centre. Shanty towns adorn the surrounding hills exploiting every inch of land with a gradient less than vertical. As we got deeper into the urban jungle the driver's became noticeably more frantic and dangerous and the fumes at times were choking.

Central Lima however, is very pleasant. We were lucky enough to stay not far from the bustling Miraflores district which has wide well kept boulevards, a great commercial district and a beautiful sea front set on hefty cliffs over looking a surprisingly active surf scene far below. As ever, struggling to find hours in the day, we weren't able to enjoy this to the extent we'd have liked, being swamped by an overwhelming list of tasks to complete during our short stop.

Thanks to the British Embassy and Manuel Quesquen we had a full schedule of talks to Peruvian schools and universities last Friday as well as a Press Conference with the Ambassador and a few media appearances, making us feel our time there was very worthwhile.

It was tough to pull ourselves onwards once more and we have now cycled for two days continuing towards the Chilean border and back to the increasing monotony of Desert. Tonight we are staying in a City called Ica, flattened by an earthquake of 7.9 Magnitude on 15^th September earlier this year. There has been evidence of the devastation throughout the day, the road side littered with piles of bricks and earth, and some of the larger buildings sporting tell tale floor to roof cracks. We met a retired teacher, whose house had been levelled, living in a small tent provided by the Red Cross. The earthquake destroyed his home and his livelihood and yet he soldiers on with a smile, saving what translates as $10 a day towards rebuilding his house, and being visibly grateful that all his family are safe and well. A truly inspirational character.

We have a new team member travelling with us, a 31 year old Brit called John Dwyer. Shortly after we crossed into Peru we were staying a night at a small beach town called Mancora. John, who has spent the last three months travelling throughout South America, had been staying here for a few nights enjoying some surfing. We actually met at first bobbing around waiting for a wave. We cheekily slipped the question if he'd like to join us and no less than 12 hours later he found himself heading back to Tierra del Fuego! Having spent the last 5 years teaching Geography at Twynham school in Bournemouth, he is a fantastic part of the team and keen to create educational content for the website.

From here we hope to cross the border into Chile in about a week, in the mean time focussing our energies on raising money for the final Southern Ocean stage. The loan note we need to start raising funds is almost complete and we can begin asking for support. We have an uphill slog ahead, with big mileages and requiring a sustained and concerted effort to pull this together. We could not have a better team around us though and for that we are extremely thankful to you all.

With Best Wishes and Grateful Thanks,

James and Rob