Mancora

---

Mancora, Peru. Beach. The first beach I´d seen since Australia really.....first beach that had all the neccessary factors for a proper beach experience. I´d forgotton how much I love the beach & was sorry that I didn´t get there earlier. Trekking is so over-rated!!

Mancora is a small town where you´ll hear the blow of the passing buses at regular intervals as they steam through on the main Panamerican highway. The sun was shining with not too many tourists littering the beach & with handfuls of people jumping, flipping & spinning as they kite-surfed their way out to sea. It was a nice introduction to the beach lifestyle again....with my hostel just across the road from the beach so that getting dressed was simply throwing on a bikini. Lining the streets are loads of restaurants....some of them selling dinner for next to nothing....all of them offering really lovely fresh fish. It was here that I had my first taste of ceviche & was disappointed that I hadn´t tried it earlier because it was delicious. It´s made with cold fish....cooked as far as I know.....& soaked in really acidic lemon juice & herds with deep-fried wafer-thin slices of banana on the side. Delish!! I tried it again in Ecuador but they put a herb in it there that isn´t to my liking so I decided to stick with the burgers......the less healthy option but exactly what you need after a busy day on the beach.

There was a volleyball net beside the beach so a game or 2 was had. However it is a much smaller beach than Montañita so it was harder to round up people & the locals didn´t take the sport as seriously so the skills weren´t as impressive as in Montañita. When I arrived it was still dark.....normally I hang around in the terminal until light graces the day but here, there wasn´t one. So a tuc-tuc whisked me off into the dark still night to a place that was a little better than that offered by the open air & night sky. He was meant to bring me somewhere else but he obviously had his own agenda & at night when you´re tired, it´s sometimes easier to go with the flow. A few hours was more than enough though in this particular hostel so after some sleep to recharge the battery, I went hunting for somewhere a little more comfortable......with running water at least. I could handle cold water but when nothing comes out of the tap & you´re standing all soaped up ready to wash, well it´s incovenient & annoying to say the least. I got somewhere that had 4 sealed walls.....I´m not a big fan of bungalows because the potential for a wildlife extravaganza in your bedroom is pretty much gauranteed. You quickly learn. Cheap though!

I spent 3 nights there in the end. It´s a nice enough place.....just a bit too small......with far too many grios. Grios are massive locusts or grass-hopper style insects that come to life at night & are literally everywhere. They are like flying cockroaches except they are much easier to kill....they aren´t so quick to dodge a stomping foot....& yes, I killed as many as I could but it was by no means enough. At night in the internet cafes was the worst. I couldn´t relax. Jumping around.....bashing into your head at times.....yuk!! Because they were attracted by the light indoors, the place was plagued with them. And I seemed to be the only one who took a distinct dislike to them.....so with every squeal, of which there were many, I got a lot of looks from all around......but thankfully the fella working there was kind enough to come & dispose of the offending grio. I can´t stress how much they repulse me....I can handle most insects....but anything that resembles a cockroach should be exterminated.....feck evolution. Each night I did a thorough sweep of the room before bed but even at that they managed to get in......despite the net I put at the bottom of the door to seal gaps. I slept with my sandal beside me at night; to mash them if they dared to enter my domain. And they did come in......you can hear them......so because I was battle-ready most of the time, they weren´t endless hours of undisturbed sleep....but not to worry....hours of lying on the beach will more than make up for the lost hours at night.

Needless to say I was happy enough to be leaving the grios of Mancora behind. From there I arrived in Guayaquil, a little dazed from a night of fractured sleep caused by border crossings & customs officials. So I was in perfect form for the rumble & tumbles in the spewing city of Guayaquil.

---