Along the Panamericana, southwards

One thing is for sure: the Panamericana is not one continous highway from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, although it looks like this when you travel on it from Lima to the South. What you really have to expect is a multi-lane highway with toll stations, helping to finance the extension and preservation of the Panamericana.

What you also can see along the road is the dry and barren but still beautiful landscape: the sand and stone deserts between the cold Humboldt current near the coast and the Cordilleras.

There are also lots of villages, some of them unfinished or in poor conditions, where the Panamericana passes through and people try to earn some money from their street sales.

You can also see some oases along the road now and then where a river found its way to the Pacific.

One of my favourits was the stopover in Paracas with a trip to the Islas Ballestas and it will be one for you, too. So, don't miss it!

You should also not miss the chance to have a ride in a beach buggy over the dunes of the oasis Huacachina near Ica.