The First of Two Road Trips (West)

Sunday 05 July 2026

It has been over a week now but since touching down I have been flat out and this is my first moment actually sit down and post something.

Our flight over was without incident – our stopover in Sydney was used for a quick excursion to Bunnings and buy me some replacement work boots which I noticed failed just the night before. Then a white-knuckle grand prix ride in a taxi from Cusco to Curahuasi - the driver continuously overtaking in the most unsafe places e.g. leading into blind corners, with no margin for error with oncoming cars at ridiculous speeds into the night. But that is Peru.

The next day we were welcomed with open arms by Doris (Centro de Medios manager), David (broadcast technician) and the production team at the Diospi broadcast centre. David gave me a thorough overview of the transmission status showing me what equipment has and has not worked over recent time. Nothing beats actually seeing the equipment and asking questions. Despite my limited Spanish, David and I get along very well. He is very intelligent with a background in IT, curiosity and a keenness to learn. Klaus dropped in to catch up – see photo. 

Chris, Klaus and Solomon in the Centro de Medios

Later we got into the satellite work whilst Solomon explored Curahuasi and did some studies. I found there were some things not done quite right with the main satellite antenna in the November changeover and once this was corrected, we got the telemetry system master uplink operational again – ready for the 11 remote sites. 

Adjusting the Centro de Medios main satellite antenna with Intelsat.

On the Sunday we caught up with our American missionary friends in Curahuasi and host groups from the US for 4 months of the year back to back, where they go into the Quechua villages to help in numerous capacities. We accompanied them with a group hike to the top of the Curahuasi hill – Capitan Rumi (altitude 3,000 metres). It has an amazing knife edge with a 1.6 km drop to the Apurimac River below. Rumi is said to have been a brave Inca warrior who fought against the Spanish invaders. During a fierce battle, he chose to throw himself into the canyon's abyss rather than be captured.

Solomon and me with our good friends the Heaths.

Solomon and me at the peak of Capitan Rumi.

This week Solomon attended his old school and there were a number of his Peruvian classmates who remembered him. Solomon was 8 when we left for Australia.

My first trip was to our FM sites that cover: Abancay (pop. 89,000), Andahuaylas (pop. 69,000), Chincheros/Uripa (pop. 50,000) and Ayacucho (pop. 230,000 and a regional pop. of over 670,000). The return distance by road was approximately 1,150 km taking some 30 hours with all the countless speed bumps, hairpin bends and the daily events on the Los Andes Panamericana highway. 

Typical delays encountered on the Panamericana Highway.

With an all-Peruvian team bar me, I got to dine some of the local cuisine. One lunch on the way to Andahuaylas at a small rural town (Huancarama) was chicken soup – sounded good right? Until I noticed on my spoon some ingredients whereby I lost my appetite – see photo. 

Chicken soup finding first a foot then a leg!

 The good news is that the telemetry system worked. This was despite the manufacturer believing it would not work without needing an increase to satellite resources (either would be expensive for Diospi). But I was sure from my calculations and previous experience with these that it would and this seems to be proven correct.

 

Me with a restored telemetry system in Andahuaylas.

David took along his drone to capture some great bird’s eye perspectives of each site – see video example of our Casabamba tower showing how it is prominently located on a hill overlooking the cities of Uripa and Chincheros in the valley below.

Whilst in Chincheros which is a very well-kept city in Peruvian terms, we stayed at the exceptionally nice Hotel Chaska. It is run by the Peruvian daughter of missionaries. Although a quiet sleep in was not an option for me on this occasion where the dump truck came by at 5:20 am with the Peruvian customary music blaring so people could bring out their rubbish 😊.

We were missing some parts for the Abancay site which were subsequently located back in Curahuasi but they could not get these to us in time before our return to Curahuasi. But this site is less than an hour’s drive from Curahuasi and so I hope to squeeze this one in before our return to Australia.

Finally, the 10^th Anniversary of Diospi Suyana Radio went well today. It was a perfect day in Curahuasi and was held in the back yard of the casa la hacienda which was our home here for 2 ½ years, and now the home of Doris - manager of the Media Center. It was well attended and of course, lots of photos! 😊 

The Diospi Suyana Radio 10th anniversary party on Sunday 5 July.

Tomorrow, we head off on the 2,200 km 2-week trip east to the remaining 7 FM sites. Onward we go – this time with Solomon. And I still hope to get all 12 sites operational.

Thank you for those praying for this work to go well, Chris.