22 Máncora

Pictures
Route
1 Arriving in Lima
2 S. American Explorers
3 On to Paracas
4 Paracas
5 Getting to Nazca
6 The Nazca Lines
7 Arriving in Arequipa
8 To the Colca Canyon
9 Colca Canyon
10 Back in Arequipa
11 Final day in Arequipa
12 Stranded in Arequipa
13 En route to Cuzco
14 Cuzco
15 Cuzco
16 Machu Picchu
17 Back to Lima
18 Lima
19 Lima to Trujillo
20 Trujillo ruins
21 Máncora
22 Máncora
23 Máncora
24 Last day in Máncora

Peru

Máncora

Sunday 10 July 2005 (day 49)

Yep, chilled sums it up

We have both totally chilled. We got caught out by the combination of sun and wind yesterday and have a few tender patches so we have opted for a day in the shade of our balcony. In a few days we will have left Perú and will be in Ecuador but other than that we have no plans of what we will do or where we want to go. The only thing I know is that the central valley is above 2,500m so if we go there I want to be prepared in advance so that I do not get altitude sickness again (or at least do not suffer from the effects of it).

I spent the morning reading the Ecuador book. Stef spent it snoozing in the hammock! By lunchtime we had a broad plan but we still need to look into the options for jungle lodges and trips to the Galapagos. Neither of these options are cheap so it looks set to be an expensive couple of weeks.

At reception we asked for information about buses to Ecuador. We know there is an international "tourist style" bus but we do not know the times. The lady at reception asked if we had much luggage. We said "no" but probably our big packs are a "yes". Her advice is to take a combi (usually a little bus) to the border town of Aguas Verdes, a colectivo (a mini van) across the border and then a short walk to the bus station on the Ecuadorian side. Here we should be able to get a bus to Loja or Zamora. Lonely Planet only seems to send people to Machala for an overnight stop but we do not want to go there.

Exhausted by the effort of reading, eating lunch, watching the world go by we had a little siesta and in the late afternoon headed out for a walk along the beach. There are still some empty plots of land ripe for development. Most of the strip though is small hotels and a few private beach houses, all with al alquiler, (for rent) signs outside.

It is not a bad spot to have a beach house. The beach itself is not wide but it is wide enough. There are rocks just by the waterline and the tide seems to have a strong undercurrent. What we thought yesterday were baby crabs buried in the sand are not, they seem to be small shells. I dug one up on my sunglasses to have a look. The shells are still soft and pliable, almost translucent, and there is definitely something alive inside that crawls about slightly when not covered by sand or water. Our Spanish will not be up to trying to find out what they are, not because we could not ask the questions, more that we would not have the vocabulary to understand the answers.

It's just another perfect Pacific sunset...

There seems to be a bit of an international flavour here and we had a brief taste of home passing one place with a St Andrew's flag flying ("two pints of heavy please" was our reaction). A Swedish contingent are also in town. We did not make it round the point to Máncora village as the light was fading and the tide has cut off the beach path. We will probably go there tomorrow.

Back at our hotel we sat on the beach to watch the sunset. Its slightly hazy today and the sun is much more of an orange colour. As I watched I saw a spray of water in the distance but could not work out what it was. It happened again but this time was followed by the graceful curve and flippers of a whale diving back into the sea. "It's a whale, it's a whale" I shouted to Stef, very excited. We saw whales years ago off the coast of California and hope to see then in Canada in a few weeks time but I had not expected to see them here. I was like a kid with a new toy watching it and waiting for it to appear again. I am not a great nature lover and do not normally go out of my way to see wildlife in their natural habitat but seeing things like this gives me a real kick.

As with yesterday, we had a quick dip in the pool and then headed up for showers. I desperately needed to catch up with my diary on the web as its a week since I've updated our Perú pages but I simply could not bring myself to do it today. We are so chilled that we are staying for another day rather than moving on tomorrow so perhaps I will catch up tomorrow night!!

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