Blogs from Huanchaco, La Libertad, Peru, South America - page 3

All the buses north of Lima were overnighters so we ended up on an 8 hour overnight bus to Trujillo from where we skipped straight through to Huanchaco, a beach town 12km from Trujillo on the Pacific Coast. It's famous for totora (reed) fishing boats called little horses which fishermen surf back to the beach with their catch. We loved being by the sea and even though it's winter the days would start off overcast but warm and by lunchtime there would be blue skies and it would be hot! We sorted ourselves out pretty quickly then decided to take a trip to Chan Chan which was accordingly to LP 'the largest pre-Columbian city in the Americas and the largest adobe city in the world.' It contained 10,000 structures, including 9 royal compounds, one of which ... read more

Ok guys so this is the first blog since arriving back into South America. It was cool to see everybody for three weeks, just wish it could have been in different circumstances. To tell you the truth was a mixture of hideousness (if thats a word?!) and waiting, not good combinations. Just too much time thinking etc. Also arriving back into where the trip all started kind of brought some weird emotions with it. So you can imagine how pleased I was when I left Lima and travelled north to Huanchaco to meet Chris. Especially as it is a beautiful drive. Sand dunes on either side and hills rising out of the desert like giants. I have never been so pleased to see the little guy! (Im half an inch taller people...it matters.) Huanchaco is a ... read more

Well, I am really digging my time here in Huanchaco. It is a really great surfing town that has nice beaches....a lot of tourist....and a lot of really awesome local Peruvians. The vibe is very chillaxin' which is totally what I was seeking. The night we arrived, we checked into a hostel that was listed in the "Gringo Bible" (this is what the locals call the Lonely Planet....laugh my ass off!!). We got the very last room in the entire place....2 beds....for 3 of us. Nicole and I were going to share a single bed (not the first time....we have done this more than once in order to spend less) but then they showed up with a foam mattress. Sweet! So the 3 of us squished into the room quite cozily really and it has turned ... read more

Nous allons vous parler un peu du fonctionnement de notre bénévolat. Il y a 3-4 ans, un couple d'hollandais a décidé d'emménager à Huanchaco et a lancé le restaurant Otra Cosa, qui se démarque par sa bouffe végétarienne plutôt rare au Pérou. Peu à peu, ils ont tissé des liens dans la communauté et de là est née leur agence de volontariat, qui relie des bénévoles aux différentes associations déjà présentes dans le milieu. Le restaurant, où Mélanie est serveuse, est un peu le centre où se rencontrent les volontaires, où se vendent les produits de différentes associations de la région. 50% des pourboires vont aux projets de la communauté. Dans notre cas, nous allons à Mundo de niños (Monde d'enfants), un centre qui "recrute" des enfants qui vivent dans la rue ou en voie de ... read more

Current Location: Still in Huanchaco, Peru. And getting harder to leave every day. I´m now here until new years day, at which point I will be forced to make the dash for Ecuador. I´ve been doing a lot of reading the past few weeks. The selection is limited, but constantly changes as travelers bring in new books and take out the old. Mostly the books have been painfully-dull, forgettable mystery novels, seemingly favored by the majority of travelers in South America. (A strange phenomenon, echoed in every book exchange I have been to) That is until I read Marching Powder, by Rusty Young, a strangely awesome narrative about the authors time in the infamous San Pedro prison. Significantly different from any other prison in the Americas, San Pedro is almost completely run by the prisoners. Due ... read more