Backpacking South America

We have finally left the mountains and descended several thousand feet and made it to the beach. We have come upon my heaven on earth…the Beach. After Huaraz, we took an overnight bus and arrived around 7am in Huanchaco on the northern Pacific coastline of Peru. With nothing else to do at 7am, except sleep, we hit the beach! To our surprise, the beach was a great place to people watch – from dramatically posed photographs, old men getting their pictures with young ladies and a lot of experienced and beginning surfers.

Huanchaco is a beach town, of course, and has great seafood (the ceviche’s pretty tasty), but it also has great waves to surf or learn to surf. They are just big enough to get a good ride, yet small enough to not be overly intimidating for a new surfer. Despite our second chance to learn the trade of surfing, we decided to simply sit on the beach and sip our beer and be onlookers. But, we did take in some beautiful sunsets!

Aside from vacationers, Huanchaco is a big fishing village and is famous for its narrow pointed fishing boats, known as caballitos, made of totora reeds.

Prior to Christmas, we decided to get away and relax beachside in La Paloma, Uruguay.  A 3.5 hour bus ride from Montevideo, it was the perfect getaway.  With nice beaches, laid-back beach culture and good weather, it was hard not to be relaxed.

The first day was a bit cloudy, so we decided to take a leisurely walk along the beach, which was across the street and over the dune (less than 50 meters).  As we rounded the point by the lighthouse, we noticed an older man crawling up over a rock.  It looked like he was struggling to get up from a fall.  I assumed everything was alright – he wasn’t bleeding – but Carra, being a bit more compassionate, decided to check to make sure everything was alright.  Her simple ‘Todo bien? Necesita ayudar?’ started a half hour conversation in Spanish, which we successfully navigated.  We gather he was actually hunting for mussels.

That evening the clouds finally broke and we were treated to a spectacular sunset.  Unfortunately we still only had a disposable camera, which I’m sure annoyed the couple somewhat nearby.  After every shot, we had to go through the wind and click action.