To the Coast

Angel wanted "un giro de 180 grados" to the trip, in English, "a 180 degree turn". So we decided to increase our carbon footprint and skip most of Peru in search of warm water, waves and a relaxing time. A taxi, two plane flights, a bus and a mototaxi and we arrived in Mancora, Peru´s prime coastal destination. We expected palm trees, hot humid weather and cocktails. To be honest we were slightly dissapointed as the coastline was dry, a little dull and the Trans-American highway ran through the village high street. However, we may have been slightly dissapointed but we were very happy to be on the beach. Arriving on our first evening, dropping the bags off in the hostel and running into the warm Pacific was like being born again. Anyone with an affinity with the sea may understand this. Things got better as I borrowed a surfboard and caught a few rides as the sun went down over the Pacific horizon. Also, I experienced something that had never happened to me in the water. Thousands of small fish were in the water and they would climb all over me as I paddled my board. Some even went for the ocsaional bite. This was a strange feeling which I got used to over the next few days.

We treated ourselves well in Mancora. The next day we upgraded to La Ola hotel with a patio right in front of the left hand point break. The location was great but shame about the owner, who we called el ogre (the ogre) because he crashed about and shouted every morning at 5am. On a positive note he got me up early to surf and to make the most of the empty waves. In the same hotel we met Eric (half Cuban-American) and Kashan (half Venezuelan-American) who would become part of our latin crew for our stay.

For the few days we spent in Mancora life was easy. Surf, surf, eat, drink and sleep. I couldn´t have asked for much more, especially since I was surfing in warm water. A quick note to all the surfers: I have never seen such a crazy-line up. Absolutely no rules whatsoever. Snakeing, drop-ins on every wave. I have no idea how there were no serious injuries. However, among all the madness I managed to squeeze a few waves, even some nice sized ones.

We had a good time but the vibe in and out of the water was heavily on the surfer cool side. Not really my scene and a few of the surfers kept a low profile and let their surfing do the talking.

Bye to Angel....for the whole trip
Eric and Kashan had a week left before they had to travel back to Miami and wanted to visit Montañitas in Ecuador. So it was decided that I would continue travelling with the boys whilst Angel took a side trip to see an ex-girlfriend in Brazil. We planned to meet up after a few days and spent Christmas together and carry on travelling. After three days Angel e-mailed me to tell me that he had re-fallen in love with his girlfriend and was going back with her to Spain for xmas. So there ended my travelling with Angel.

Montañitas
Ah, Montañitas. What was supposed to be a five day stay turned into three or so weeks. I dont really know how it happened but I just kept enjoying myself. Every day we had waves, although it did get desperate on some days, the water was warmer and the atmosphere was fantastic.

Montañitas is best described as a small, relaxed surfing town, with a hippy touch and with the ability to throw the occasional wild party. In contrast to Mancora the local surfers were really friendly and the vibe in the water was relaxed with people hooting each other into waves, laughing, encouraging and whistling in the way only the locals knew how to. The standard was pretty high and the local boys and girls flew in even the small waves.

I made good friends with Stefen, a Dutch surfer who loved to ride his longboard and sip a nightly Pislner beer. I also made friends with Eric and Rachel, a couple from the States; Anne and Andreas from Norway and a whole bunch of Brazilians. A few characters worth mentioning are:
Rogeiro- all round nice guy, Christian surfer, who designs his own boards and then rips the waves apart in such a smooth style
Ricardo-half Peruvian/half Brazilian shaper living in Rio de Janeiro, shapes the odd balsa board. Great personality, keen scammer of airline tickets and carried with him at least twenty Brazilian bikins (read, very small trianlges) to give away
Richard-local ceviche (seafood salad comprising of oysters, shell fish, white fish, peppers,onions lime and chilly.Delicious) man who would collect oysters to sell in his ceviche and would also spear fish.
Sandra - Ozzy traveller who came to Montañitas for one month, is now six weeks over and plans to stay for a few more.
Christian-15 year old kid from Guayaquil who ran away from home and lives in a hotel in Montañitas. Earns a living through odd jobs.
Bruce - very good aussie surfer. Loved his surf, beer and women.
The local surfer- mainly about five foot two. Dark skinned with beautiful long hair. Walked around topless, looking cool and whislting to everybody. Really friendly and introduced me to a great new handshake. They could also fit into the vulture category i.e many local guys hanging out around the foreign girls in an effort to impress. Very funny and quite effective.

New Years
Was one of the best New Years....ever. A new South swell arrived and the point began to fire. I surfed all New Years Eve and as the sun dropped, big and orange over the horizon I could hear trance music being pumped out from the speakers on the beach. On New Years Eve we were invited by the family with whom we were staying to participate in the burning of the doll. A papier mache doll which is burnt at New Years to rid off the bad experiences of the past year. With Jorge (one of the twelve children of the family) we ran into the sea and caught the first waves of the year. Stefen took out fireworks which we let off from his board whilst sipping from a bottle of local cane rum. Afterwards we had dinner with the family and we all felt so grateful to have been invited. We later drunk and dance salsa till 4am. The Latins putting on a show for the corpse like Westerners. We then wandered into town until the sun came up.

For the next three days the surf pumped and I surfed the beach every morning and evening. Up to head and a half, offshore with barrells, oh and few people in the water. By the first Monday of the New Year the waves had died and it was time to move on.