Desert Olas

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Crossing over the boarder into Peru turned out to be quite straight forward. We were both a little apprehensive crossing a border by bus, but apart from one slight panic when we thought the bus had driven off without us, it was ok. I also nearly took my head off on some barbed wire, placed conviniently at head height just outside the toilets at border control. I was looking down trying to button up my flys and walked straight into it. There were a few people around that saw, so i was doing my best to try and act as if nothing had happened. I managed to casually stroll back to where pete was stood in the queue before i had to give the old noggin a bit of a rub to check all was good. I ended up with a bit of a scratch, but it was covered up by my barnet, so i wouldnt have to explain how i got it to anyone. And mum... before you send me an e - mail. Yes i have had my tetanus:-)

We immediately bumped into Simon when we got to Mancora. He was walking down the street with Ghizlane (Aussie girl we met in Canoa). We got the inside info on the best places to stay in town, which turned out to be a place called Sol y Mar. We had cable tv, toilet, shower and were once again right on the beach for $5 a night. Mancora is surrounded by dessert, so the sun is blazing all day. The beach is sandy and full of travelers, who have come from different directions across Peru. It is a very popular spot on the gringo trail. After our week spent living on our own in Ayampe, it was nice to be able to hook up with some other people.

Simon and Jislane had met up with a crew that contained a few Brits, Aussies and Canadians, so we joined up with them on the beach to play some beach volleyball and enjoy the late evening sun. Pete settled down with a beer to chat to everyone. i had started to take anti biotics for my foot as it had become infected, so i took a vow to stay off the pop. i managed untill about 8pm before i had to get involved with a beer. we headed up onto the Pan American highway to hang out in a few bars on the main strip.

A night on the Pan Am is quite an experience. Threre are motor taxis everywhere, and large lorries driving through blasting there horns to the people in the bars. We enjoy the atmosphere and get stuck into a few beers with a crew of aussie boys from Perth. The banter from the aussies is good fun and as the waves are flat they are on it fairly hard. What a great time to bump into a group of intoxicated Australians? Right after England have had their pants pulled down and arses spanked for the second time in the ashes!! We quickly get the topic onto anything other than Cricket and share a few drinks and stories.

When i wake the next morning, the effects of alcohol and anti biotics hit me with avengance. I am feeling slighly under the weather so spend a very lazy morning in bed watching surfing on cable tv. When i meet up with the crew on the beach there is a small waist high wave coming through. Mancora is a left that breaks off a small rock reef. I enjoy the gentle waves on my fish with a few other people out. You can tell that on a bigger swell it would be a really fun wave, but for the couple of days we were there we only surfed that once.

After two more nights in Mancora, spent in a much more civilised fashion than the first, we organise to head south to a spot called Lobitos. There is an increasing south swell, so we have time to get there for the swell to kick in. Myself, Pete, Simon, Alex (British lad from Oxford), 2 israelies and Jimmy (Aussie from perth) organise to get a lift off a local surfer in his van. Lobitos is in the middle of the desert. There is nothing there so we stock up on supplys of food and load up the van. Jimmy is officially the worlds only surfing giraff. At 6ft9" he comes in handy when we have to strap 11 boards to the roof of the van. It was a fairly sketchy journey for the 1.5hr trip south to Lobitos, but we got there in one piece with all 11 boards still attached to the roof.

Lobitos isnt pretty. There isnt much there that isnt derelict or owned by the military. There is an oil station at one end of the beach and oil platforms out to sea. There is only one place to stay in town. It is very basic, as it is only surfers there. It is however overlooking the break. Lobitos is a really fast barrelling left hand point that breaks over a massive sandbar. It races along for about 350m to a pier at the far end of the beach. There is also a second break about a 5 minute walk away called Piscinas. It is less crowded than Lobitos and offers a 100m walley left with a close out shore break at the end. On wider sets there is also a small right hander that appears. We have the perfect selection of waves in our new playground.

All there is to do in Lobitos is surf. The sun is hot, but there is always a cold southerly wind making the water very cold and wetsuits necessary. i try to surf 3 times a day. A dawn patrol at 6am at Lobitos, followed by a breakfast of banana smoothy and chocolate. Then it would be back out at Piscinas 10am till 12 noon. In the afternoon the wind would pick up and blow the surf out. Sometimes it would drop off at 5pm and allow a late evening surf before dinner and bed.

We went crazy on the 10th December in honor of Jeffrey Bell Pieros birthday back home. We cracked open a cheap bottle of rum we had brought and shared it with everyone at the hostal. By the time i went to bed Simon had climed a 30ft bamboo pole in the middle of the main room and myself and Pete had demonstrated our break dancing skills on the concrete floor. We had also exhausted the only english cd in the stereo. Bob Marleys greatest hits. Happy birthday Jeff!!!!

Lobitos would get really crowded by 10am with all the locals. For two days the waves went off and we enjoyed surfing the best waves of the trip so far. The lineup at Lobitos would get very competetive. There was only one main take off and some of the drop ins were ridiculous. i would have to sit slightly wide, wait for the bigger sets to come through and hope someone would fall or get too deep so i could go. There would be long waits and lots of paddling against the rip for position, but when you got a wave it would be so long and fast. It was the first time on the trip that i was constantly surfing my shortboard, which i was starting to get used to. I was also loving having the chance to improve my backhand on such long waves.

The best surfs we had were at Piscinas. There would only ever be myself, simon, Pete and Jimmy there and we would have so much fun trading wave for wave with each other. No drop ins or snaking for position, just friends having fun on a perfect little wave. The first time we surfed there i was riding one of petes boards. I managed to ding the tail riding the shore break. Simon also cracked the nose off his board when it hit his head in the same close out section. Two board repairs gave me plenty to keep me busy between surfs. It also earned me a free meal and a few beers off Simon. I thought about trying to claim the same off Pete, but as it was my fault the board needed fixing, i figured his response wouldnt be favourable. Thanks Izzy for teaching me my board repair skills in Croyde.

I managed 5 days in Lobitos before cabin fever well and truely set in. There were never any buses coming through lobitos and i was starting to think we would all get stuck there. Jimmy the aussie giant would slowly go mad like something out of the shining and stab us all to death with his surfboards. Luckily a collectiva turned up and gave us a lift to the nearest town, Talara where we could catch a bus.

We all had different buses to catch in Talara. Pete had injured his shoulder in the surf and was heading inland to spend some time out of the water in the mountains. Simon was heading south to Huanchaco and myself, Jimmy and Alex would head back north to Mancora to surf a northerly swell that was on its way. Pete, Simon and myself would meet up in Huanchaco in a week in time for xmas. Heading back to Mancora meant i would at last be able to get some nice food and surf in my board shorts for one more week before it would be wetsuits all the way. I would also be able to get back in touch with the world via the internet.

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Photos

Lobitos
Lobitos Barrels

Lobitos
Break dancing

Lobitos
Crazy Aussie

Lobitos
Jeff´s Birthday Celebrations

Lobitos
Mad Max Thunderdome

Lobitos
Jimmy & Big Mamma

Lobitos
Lobitos Boys