Mancora - not so sunny for Braeden.

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Sunny Mancora is not the place you want to get sick, just ask Braeden. He has unfortunately been sick for almost the entire time we have been here and has been trapped in the room for days. We believe he got a bacterial infection from the bloody hamburger he ate (he knew better but decided to try it anyway) as he has been sick since that meal 5 days ago. Even his prescribed dose of Cipro wasn´t strong enough to cure it so today I went on a mission to find something that would work. Unfortunately, there are no English-speaking doctors in Mancora but I did manage to find a Spanish-speaking Scottish man who acted as my translator at the medical center and pharmacy. We now have 2 different types of pills that he is on and hopefully they work. Lesson to be learned...don´t eat the hamburguesas in Mancora! (Even the locals say they are bad - information that would have been good to know in advance). I definitely owe that Scottsman a beer!

So Braeden only made it out surfing once on our second day here. I have been spending time on the beach and wondering around town. I am happy that Matt is still here and we have now been joined by a couple girls we met in Montañita (apparently word got out that this is the sunny place to be as we have come across several familiar faces). Every day is pretty relaxed - beach during the day, drinks at night. There are some pretty good bars here and most of the people running them speak English as well as Spanish so makes for good conversation. We spend most of our time at ¨Woo Hoo Bar¨ and ¨Surf Bar¨.

There are some incredible kite surfers here. Unfortunately for our buddy Matt, he was not one of them on his first attempt following a couple hours lesson. Within 10 minutes of being in the water, his kite crashed and was destroyed by the waves. The Canadian guy running the kite surfing shop told me he has never seen a kite destroyed beyond repair like that (good job Matt!). The most unfortunate part for Matt is that he was not told of the ¨break it and buy it¨policy so he had to pay $530 USD for the replacement kite. I am kind of surprised they got the money out of him because prior to renting him the equipment, they never asked for a passport, credit card or deposit of any sort nor did they get him to sign a waiver in case anything would happen. I guess they are lucky he is a decent, honest guy. I think most people would be on the next bus out of town.

Tonight will be our final farewell as Matt is heading to the Galapagos Islands tomorrow (lucky bastard!) and - depending on Braeden´s stomach - we may be catching the over-night bus to Lima. I will be sad to say good-bye to the beach but am excited to start exploring new cities and possibly the jungle. If we aren´t able to make it out of town tomorrow, I´m sure it will be the next day - positive thinking :)

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