Decker Trip - Panamerican Highway 1966

Nov 15. After a delicous breakfast, we packed up, took down the dry clothes and left.
[truck with "batman" across front.
De Dios la suerte y de la Virgen la Bendicion
Es un Ford
Los Valientes andan solos
Un palo gordo endulzando a todo el Oriente
Mi dulce amor]
The desert extends until the outskirts of Sullana where gradually it shoots up bits of green vegetation that condenses into sugarcane fields and coconut groves as you near the town. Not far out of Talara on a fork off the PanAm highway lie the Brea tar pits, similar to those in California. Though we were tempted to dig for sabertooth tiger bones, we squelched the urge by thinking about sticky, tarred feet and hands and no means to get clean.
After Sullana, the area becomes more desert again. The region is dotted with trees very similar to mango trees. In fact, we couldn't convince ourselves that they weren't really mango trees until Ken stopped to let Gordie pick a "mango." It turned out to be a fuzzy-skinned desert fruit of some kind. Completely inedible. At least we were satisfied.
(We ate lunch in Piura, in front of the market. Bought some delicious potato empanadas and ice cream which we finished off with cheese sandwiches in the car).
Arrived in Chiclayo at evening--hungry. I mentioned wanting a good fish dinner, so Ken took me up on it and drove in to a little restaurant. To say we were disappointed would be an understatement. The dinner consisted of dry rice topped with half a small fish (head and tail included) plus a slice of tomato and cold pea puree. That was almost the poorest cooking we've eaten along the way. Oh well, I appreciated Ken's effort to please me.
We parked just past the restaurant along the road and provided the usual free show for the neighborhood as we set up camp.