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Published: October 12th 2008
She feeds, cleanses, challenges, trains, stimulates, and blisses us out. For New Zealanders she insulates and isolates us, making our country the place that it is.
She is the Pacific, and after much anticipation (like two kids at 5am Christmas morning), we have finally been re-united.
Camana is a small city just off Peru's Southern stretch of South America's massive Pacific Coast. While nothing pretty, it is the summer getaway of many recreating locals who flock to enjoy typical beach fare - fish, ice cream, sun, and bikini clad women. More well-to-do folk even go to the effort of constructing a concrete beachside house - until a combo of earthquakes and tsunamis cleansed the long low-lying foreshore.
So we arrived to find an industrial looking waterfront in La Punta, Camana's seaside retreat. Semi complete concrete, with reinforcing steel rods sticking out ready for the next phase of development everywhere. Our (un)trustworthy tourist guidebook recommended a hostel, but 30mins in a taxi, and one phone call later, it appeared a number of businesses have gone caput since publishing.
After finding a random (and VERY average) hostel to crash in, a sunset walk was all on to savour the thick
Reunited
First deep draught of salt laden beach air. Beautiful! soupey oxygen of sea level, and the smell of salt spray. The extent of the damage was still very apparent, with a few buildings still sagging after the onslaught of the shakes. The combined assault of winter, and this place is severely dead. Buildings boarded up and deserted. A canine sentry was good enough to sound the alarm with our passage, and 5 dogs immediately responded to fan out and bear down on Benj, leaving Arlene quietly alone. Favouritism...
Fortunately for our stomachs, one restaurant was still going and open for our custom. We joined the owner and his family at the restaurant table they were at (under the only light bulb), and proceeded to be watched and spoken to with every mouthful of delicious fish and chicken we savoured. It is so nice to have more Spanish at our disposal and our hosts were incredibly amiable. So amiable that we dropped in for a late breakfast the next morning, but their food supplies were not up to it. Not to be defeated however, we all piled into the owners car, and drove 6kms to the markets in town, returning triumphant with supplies for the kitchen and a massive
Smash
Many of the buildings are still testament to the tidal waves that smashed in about 7 years ago. Insurance, what insurance? feed ensued.
Camana has been one of those unlikely places for tourists to stop, which for us, made it really special. Just like Ohope beach in winter, but the air temperature was beautiful, it didn't rain a drop, and the water was chilly but throughly do-able (yes- Benj had to test it out).
Gracias Camana para tres dias excelente.
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