The Lima Peru LDS Temple Mission: Road Trip to Chimbote Peru

We took a two day road trip along the coast north of Lima. Our destination is somewhat well known among missionaries I know, at least those who have served in this backwater and marine fishery center known as Chimbote. There is a very distinct odor of sardines being processed here though we stayed in the newer southern part of the city with a lessened aroma in the air.

The PanAmerican Highway stretching north from Lima

We traveled the Pan American Highway some 260 miles from Lima to our destination at the Buenos Aires Stake Center in southern Chimbote. The PanAmerican Highway, though impressive in scope of more than 29,000 miles from Prudhoe Bay Alaska to the tip of South America leaves much to be desired. The pavement is far from smooth or maybe the Nissan SUV we were riding in just really had terrible suspension. Portions of the highway are dangerous due to the narc and coca culture in the jungles of Peru, Ecuador, and Columbia. In Peru the road is dangerous for a number of other reasons. More than a few drivers turn off their lights at night to save their headlamps and it was reported to us that trucks or busses, which do breakdown with regularity along with cars, are left where they died, no attempt being made to remove them to the roadside. The highway is also shared with the ubiquitous moto taxis that thrive in the smaller cities along the way and in the poorer areas of Lima. More than a few slower moving trucks had tree branches fastened to the backs of them. We were told this was to prevent the bandits from jumping on board the trucks and removing the cargo as the trucks slowed, and they were very slow, going up the hills along the highway. The tree branches possess very long and numerous thorns sufficiently able to discourage highway robberies.

Thorn branches tied to a flatbed to discourage highway thefts.

Leaving Lima we looked for the signs leading us to Ancon on the PanAmerican Highway. Ancon was once an upper scale beach retreat and resort area near Lima. No longer is it a mecca for the wealthy and mobile as they seem to have abandoned it for the playas or beaches south of the city. Ancon occupies it own place in history as it was the original and oldest source of Pima cotton in the western hemisphere. Who can say whether Egyptian cotton predated the “Pima” cotton of Peru? The name Pima is not Peruvian but comes from an effort in honoring the Pima Indians of Arizona who worked with the USDA in growing cotton there. Cotton fabrics and balls have been found in the Ancon region as early as 4,000 BC. Some accounts place cotton farming as early as 6,000 BC. So fine is this Ancon/Pima cotton it was woven with silk throughout history. I would like to find an XXL Pima/Ancon cotton shirt here in Lima before we leave.

Houses along the way fashioned from woven bamboo panels, sides and top.

Chimbote was our destination as our neighbors and friends upstairs, (first counselor in the temple presidency,) were invited to speak in the Buenos Aires Stake of Chimbote. Forty some years ago the first branch was organized. Claim is made by Elder Gregory Larson of Centerville and his companion for this honor. To date there are now three stakes and fifteen wards there. The growth of the church follows that of the region. It has been very robust. Earthquakes, floods, and declining anchovy, sardine, and mackerel populations have caused economic challenges and turmoil through the last decades from the highs of the 1970's. Catholic diocese in the US raised significant sums of money for out of work fisherman and factory workers in Chimbote during the lowest of those cycles. In other regions Peru continues to export its natural resources and is rich in mineral deposits being bought up by the Chinese. The balance of trade is presently very good and survives in spite of the mismanagement of and the credit the national government takes. In addition to a number of other firsts for Peru it is the world's leading supplier of organic coffee ahead of both Jamaica and Hawaii. The arid and desolate coastline and lower elevations we traveled through are broken up with very rich and productive agricultural regions where we saw trees heavily laden with mangoes awaiting harvest. These orchards and fields rely on irrigation water carried from the few rivers that make their way from the snow of the Andes to the Pacific. The height of summer here is in fact the rainy season so farmers are blessed with adequate water thus far.

Rich and fertile areas get the water from irrigation channels
from the few rivers that traverse the area on their way to the ocean.

Traveling up the coast it is a mystery to me is why there is such desolation here. I am used to the California coastline with its lush vegetation and redwood forests, a stark contrast to that here. Lima is a desert and except for El Niño, when weather patterns change, it never rains enough to wet the concrete. The driest desert in all of the world is the Atacama of Chile on the leeward side of the Andes. The ancient lines in the sand at Nazca have survived a millennia because the region is so arid. The answer to the amount of desert along the Pacific side of South America is to be found in the ocean current known as the Humboldt Current. It is one of the major upwelling marine currents in all of the world and also explains the very rich marine environment for fishing off the Peruvian Coast. Nearly 20% of the world's supply of fish comes from this upwelling of the Humboldt marine environment. Chimbote is Peru's capitol for the fishing industry. Overfishing has compromised the region's productivity and steps have been taken by both the governments of Chile and Peru to limit the fishing and allow it to rebuild itself naturally.

We love the mangoes here and the trees were loaded with them

The ocean waters being as cold as they are cool the air above which blows on shore cooling the landmass and keeping most us here somewhat content without AC in the summer. This cooled air from the Humboldt Current is not able to pick up sufficient water vapor to be deposited as rain on the parched coastline. That is my layman's explanation and understanding for the arid coastline. The most we get is a fog and a mist through the winter months here and very seldom a light rain.

One of three stake centers in Chimbote. Note the bars on the 2nd story windows

We enjoyed our trip and seeing more of Peru and meeting more of the people here. We spoke with the stake president following the meeting and he reminded me we had met earlier in the temple and remembered that I had told him I enjoyed and appreciated cebiche, written about previously. The Saints in Chimbote are excited a temple is coming closer to them up the PanAmerican Highway in Trujillo. A bus ride to the temple in Lima is a good 10 hours and a ride to Trujillo will only be a couple hours. We continue to be impressed with and the beauty of this land in which we live. A sad note though – on our way home as we neared the urban area of Lima it was evident a pedestrian had been killed in the opposite lane of the PanAmerican Highway. The body was covered with pieces of cardboard from shredded boxes, the police having no blankets or a body bag. From the small arm protruding from under the pile of cardboard it was likely a female or a younger male. Life is not always easy on the PanAmerican Highway or here in Peru in spite of the current economic climate. There is no way to offer condolences or express support to the family who lost someone yesterday. We are reminded life can be a slender thread in Lima Peru or Centerville Utah. We are grateful for all that we and ours are blessed with while we are here serving en el Templo de Lima.