In my mission work here in the south of Peru, I sometimes help some short-term teams that come from the US Eddie and his team from Florida. They were driving from Pausa and were supposed to meet me on the plateau, about an hour before Oyolo, as they were going to use the “new road” we had learned when we were there a few months before. It was supposed to connect between Tactanga (there is a good road between Pausa and Tactanga) and Oyolo, saving a 4-5 hour walk. On Monday afternoon, I waited for Eddie and his crew for a while at the designated meeting place, but that didn’t last long because I’m not a very good “waiter.” So I decided to drive as far as possible on the new road to find them. I drove down the road for a few minutes until I came to a steep incline and stopped to check it out. I was afraid if I went down there I wouldn’t have the power to go back up since my car doesn’t have a “low 4×4” range and the road was kind of soft. No problem as this path seemed to be just a short cut if you wanted to go to Oyolo. The main road seemed to be about six miles to Cotahuasi, so I backtracked there.
There were recent truck tracks on the road, with double wheels, so I figured if a big truck could get through, the road wouldn’t be too bad. However, about 10 minutes down the road, the truck tracks turned around, but there was still a set of tracks continuing down a hill. Those turned around a few minutes later and the trail disappeared! He could see the path leading out of a ravine on the other side and he could also see which way it went towards Oyolo. But there was at least a mile of rocks and a deep ravine between me and there. Walking down I followed a faint trail through some sand to what looked like a swampy area; luckily it was now dry. I lost track but was able to climb to the top of a hill where I could see the trail less than ΒΌ mile below me but there was no trail and no tracks just more rocks and ravines. After waiting for about an hour, I decided to continue on to Oyolo and see if there were any messages there.
In Oyolo I called Pomacocha on the public radio (the last town they passed through with a radio) and found out that they had left there around 3:00 pm, but the operator said they were on the trail. I started walking down the path, asking everyone I met if they had seen the gringos. Finally at about 6:00 pm I met a man who said that they had started the road in Tactanga at 3:00 pm and were definitely trying to go by truck through the altiplano. We had been told it was only three hours from Tactanga to Oyolo, so I hurried back to Oyolo, expecting them to be there when I got there at 7:00 p.m. There was no sign of them, so I started walking down the road, hoping to find them. After an hour I gave up and got back to Oyolo around 9pm Now I didn’t know what to do I knew they had to be somewhere in the highlands I couldn’t drive or walk there so I finally went to bed , praying that they were alright.
Tuesday morning I got up early and drove two hours back up the highway to where I had waited the previous afternoon. Still no sign of them. I went down to the road below and then up the road on the other side to a ridge about an hour away. They should have been there by then. I should have been able to see their dust if they were in the way. Any. I walked back to my car, clearing the road of rocks and filling holes to make it passable as it hadn’t been driven in months, since the rainy season. I cleared the rocks to make a path up the hill I was parked on, so I could drive down. I was able to drive up to the road without too much trouble, up the road further than I had walked, probably about 10 miles total. Finally I came to another steep hill, descending to a flat plain, where I could no longer see the road. No truck, no dust. I finally decided that they must have turned around and gone back for some reason.
I went back to Oyolo where there was a message to radio them immediately on Pause, it was urgent! Turns out they got lost there on Monday night, spent a cold and restless night at 15,000+ feet with little sleep in the truck, and returned to Pause on Tuesday to get more fuel and a guide. Eddie said they’d try again on Wednesday, so I got up early and went back to meet them. I waited at the top of the hill, on his way because he had only just returned the day before. After waiting what seemed like forever, I saw their powder and they finally showed up. It took them five hours, not three, because the road was very bad. A few days later, when they returned to Pausa, I rode with Eddie to learn the way. I then walked back to Oyolo to pick up my car and head back to Cotahuasi. On a future trip they plan to fly to Arequipa and drive through Cotahuasi to get to Oyolo, rather than take that road again.