Blogs from Tumbes, Peru, South America - page 2

In Tumbes and presumably most of Peru, car ownership is unusual if not rare in most cases. If its too far or you´re too lazy to walk, you catch a taxi or a mototaxi. Taxis seem to be any car that can still move. Most are adequate, some are good and a few are almost dangerously bad. To take a trip from Victoria´s house (a suburb refered to as poyango but actually named andres araujo moran) to tumbes takes maybe 10 minutes and costs 1 sol per passenger (about 40c each). To take special trips, longer distances or late at night, it gets more expensive. It might cost 10 to 20 sol for the 1/2 hr trip to peurto pìzarro or 10 sol to get home after a night out for example. Mototaxis (motos) are purpose ... read more

The family and I piled into a taxi and drove quite a distance to a completely obscure and well concealed restraunt. The food was good and surprisingly cheap, even for Peru. 7 adults food plus drinks and beer for 65 soles total, maybe 28 dollars Australian. Apparently the Tumbes provincial president (kind of like a state premier I think) was there as well, but I didn´t know until later. There is a rather cool cactus hedge along one side of the place. Made me wonder how long it takes to grow something like that, cactus is not famous for its lightning growth rates. We visited this place again just recently with 18 people. The bill came to 130 soles this time... wow. After the second visit we went to a swimming hole in the river, very ... read more

Our visit happened to coincide with the graduation of Victoria´s old university class, so we went along for a look and a chinwag (Victoria´s, not mine) at the graduation party. It was all good fun, dinner and dancing and lots of people speaking a language I don´t understand (thoroughly used to that by now though) ... read more

Taking a break from Tumbes, we caught a minibus down to Mancora for two nights and three days. Mancora is a popular beach holiday town with a huge number of resorts and hostels and a large tourist turnover. Arriving, we caught a mototaxi towards our nominal destination, but the driver convinced us there were better places to go, as the one we had selected was too far removed from the beach. After checking out a couple of resorts that charged way too much, we arrived at El Refugio (the refuge) where the rate was more reasonable due to off season discounting, though still expensive by general Peru rates. So, for US$80 per day we got a bungalow next to the pool and beach, including breakfast and lunch. Best of all though, because we were here during ... read more

Victoria´s family and I took a trip to Peurto Pizarro, a small town at the mouth of the Tumbes river. This is apparently the spot that the spanish conqueror Pizarro landed on his way to kick Inca butt. We organised a tour boat once we got there and had a look at bird island and the crocodile farm in the mangrove forest. Bird island is a mangrove island with an absolute cloud of frigate birds on and around it. This species of bird is endemic all around the world and has a very distinctive and aerodynamic shape. The crocodile farm is a breeding and protection program for endangered american crocodiles. A little wimpy by australian saltwater croc standards, but interesting anyway. Near the dock there is a whole pile of little stalls selling primarily shell related ... read more