Friday 15 April 2011

Mancora, Peru - my first surf


Peru has so much to offer - the jungle, the coast, the mountains, the dessert...

Our first stop was at a small town called Mancora. Nice clean beach with killer body surfers, crazy waves and the best ceviche (tuna) in the world!

We took an hour of surf lesson and headed out to do our first surfs. Surfing looks so easy but it's bloody hard work! The paddling out with waves slamming directly at your face already took up most of my energy! I was glad that I stood up once and did a proper surf but the whole experience was rather scary!

Surfers were everywhere and I had seen at least 2 close calls where beginners were paddling out while another surfer just managed to surf above his head! And when you fall in the middle of a wave, you have no idea how long or deep the wave would drag you and whether you would be hit by someone's surf board. You just have to close you eyes and pray.

Having said that, I'm glad I did it but when we went back on the next day and the waves were crazier and we saw 3 broken surf boards, we decided we should practice more at a beginners beach later in our trip.

If you are there, you have to have their ceviche! So fresh and chunky and mouth watering, the best ceviche we have had so far and rather cheap! Only USD 3 for a huge bowl of fresh marinated tuna. It's healthy and tasty.

We felt like total athletes when we were in Mancora!