There’s Diamox to help with the altitude going into Bolivia, over 3500m. We have Pepto-bismol, anti-diarrhea pills and two courses of Cipro in case of bad stomach trouble, plus the usual vitamins and tylenol. To get into Bolivia, you need proof of a yellow fever vaccination. I had one over 40 years ago, but my proof of vaccination is in a file box in the US, so we went to the Barranca Hospital at 11:45 am to see whether they had any doses left after treating children, who are the first priority. Usually, children are only vaccinated for yellow fever if they are going to the Amazon and Barranca gets 10 doses on Fridays. In fact, it took longer to get the certificate than the shot, and it was a remarkably short wait considering the bustling corridors of the hospital.

Planning a two-month circuit of central South America takes a lot of planning and the closer we get to leaving, the more we find to do. Part of the reason we decided to visit some of the places we haven’t been is because we own a 4 x 4 vehicle–why not take advantage of it to travel?

Great idea, but now the list of things to check:

Tires, 2 new. Belts replaced, fluids replaced, spare fluids (oil, radiator, brakes)
Jack, safety triangles (required in Peru and possibly countries), special nut lock needed to remove tires; we also have a bumper jack that we hope never to use.
Wiper blades, new windshield squirters (the others squirted all over but not on the windows).
Get the rear window fixed so it will go up and down. Get the running board fixed from being badly bent during a blowout on the highway (Scary).
Car insurance for the countries to be visited. Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Peru require proof of ownership, insurance and inspection to cross borders. A copy of the Peruvian “revision tecnica” from the annual required inspection, should do it. At the border you stand in line and get a paper stamped five times and you’re good to go.

There are some humorous and sometimes not so humorous stories of crossing the various borders. http://www.drivetheamericas.com/wiki/additional-peru-border-crossing-information