After living in mile-high Guatemala City, the Dodges take off for Chile so that they can live by the seashore. After getting sidetracked in Panama, they land in Arequipa, Peru—altitude, 7,500 feet. They visit many of the surrounding attractions, including Macchu Pichu, Cuzco, Lima. David and Elva also get stranded in La Paz, Bolivia at the exact time that a revolution is breaking out in Arequipa, where they have left Kendal, and have to smuggle themselves back into Peru. While living in Arequipa, Dodge writes an article for a U.S. magazine extolling the virtues (primarily economic) of living in the city. After being deluged with mail from people all around the world wanting to move to Arequipa, the Dodges decide they better leave town, fast. Chile is, once again, their destination. (The “glasspecker” of the title is a small bird that looks “something like Harpo Marx with wings” and spends each day, from dawn till dusk, trying to peck its way through the windows of the Dodge house in Arequipa.)