The Canyons of Peru
FIRST impressions of Peru were not pleasant. The roadsides were strewn with garbage, and the long, straight tarmac roads made for relatively uninspiring driving. Some towns looked so dodgy I drove straight through and camped up in the desert, well away from people, just to be safe.
After a few days of the desert coast road, my co-pilot Errol Wright and I decided to take a sharp left turn inland to the Cordillera Central. The mountains loomed ahead of us and we were apprehensive, as the road – the Canon del Pato – is notoriously steep and considered one of the world’s most dangerous routes, climbing 4000 m in one day, through 50 single-track tunnels.
The week before I had repaired the horn, damaged in the crash in Colombia, as it was the critical signalling system for entering the tunnels. They are so low that trucks travel with guys on the roof to guide the driver away from the outcrops.
As we climb, we are careful to keep my 110’s 300Tdi engine in its sweet spot – 2500 rpm and about 0.5 bar boost – and watch the exhaust gas temperature, keeping it under 600 C. Climbing 4 km in a day into oxygen-depleted air
