03/07/2019 – Day 1 of Laguna Surf Camp, Mancora, Peru

We got up and had breakfast in our home stay. Our host Virginia used to be a chef so it is very good food! She said we can visit this week and have dinner there which should be nice. My stomach felt fairly settled this morning, so I managed to eat a nearly normal amount. We had a bowl of fresh fruit followed by scrambled eggs and fresh bread, fresh juice and coffee (still too soon for me, but Josh scored two!) We slowly packed up our things and our mototaxi (little motorised tuc tuc) that Virginia had organised for us arrived at 11:30. We hopped in with all our stuff, and for 4 Sol (£1) went down the road to our new lodgings at Laguna. It is only one block back from the beach. This is where Josh organised a surf camp retreat for my birthday present! So exciting, and so glad to be feeling better just on time!

Laguna Surf Camp.

We bumped into our old host Virginia who was there having just been to a yoga class, so we laughed and said our proper farewells! She already knew of our plans to come here so it wasn’t awkward, and she is friends with the owner of Laguna, a lady called Pilar. It is beautiful and serene here, there is a little pool, 6 bedrooms, and a very small bar and seating area. The rooms are little en suite bamboo huts with thatched palm roofs and private terraces with shaded hammocks, the absolute epitome of chill! We got unpacked again and chilled next to the pool in the sun for half an hour taking the surroundings in and getting nervous and excited for our first surf lesson. At 13:00 we were greeted by Pilar who is the owner of Laguna and our surf instructor.

Inside Laguna.

It is difficult to say how old she is but you can tell she loves to surf! She told us she rides on her motorbike to the surfing point otherwise the two huge dogs that live here will follow her, so Josh and I strolled together and met her along the beach near the surfing spot of the town. She was awaiting our arrival at the beach bar we had spent the previous two days relaxing in. She introduced us to a local surfer called Jorje, who was to be Josh’s instructor. We put on wetsuit tops and got given our boards, mine was 9 foot long and Josh’s 10 feet long. We had at least two minutes of teaching and practice in the sand and then went into the sea. Pilar and Jorje wore wetsuits and fins and basically spent the hour holding the back of our boards, propelling us forwards when the waves approached and stabilising us enough so we could stand up and then letting us go. It was so much fun! We had a good hour, maybe more in the sea and sunshine. Considering I had barely been able to walk 100m without needing to sit down for the last few days, I managed o.k. but was completely knackered by the end and didn’t have the strength to push myself up to standing. It was a bit frustrating but hopefully I will feel better tomorrow! Josh was really good and even caught a couple of waves on his own! In definite need of some rest we went in and put our boards away and thanked our instructors. We walked along the beach back to Laguna to dry off and collect our money and then went into town for some lunch. We found some chicken and rice and filled our boots whilst debriefing about how much fun we had had, and buzzing off the excitement. Then we went back to Laguna and sat out in the sun with a coffee (my first in a good 5 days, I was very pleased with myself!) Pilar was taking another guest out for a lesson, so unable to resist, Josh and I decided to have a play around too. We walked back down the beach and got set up and into the water. We played around on the boards in the sea into sunset. It was a beautiful golden orb sunset that reflected copper onto the low clouds above us. It was so picturesque! The beach shacks on the shoreline were cast with the low golden light, there were fishing boats lined up along the coast, the copper clouds above us, the rolling ocean ahead of us with flying fish jumping about everywhere, and Josh and I sat amongst a small group of about 20 surfers catching the last of the days waves. Josh even saw a couple of turtles swimming amongst us! Wish we had a waterproof camera!

As it got dark we turned our boards in and walked along the beach back to Laguna. We had showers and Josh edited some pictures before we headed out for some food. We ended up in a pasta place. The town was lively and busy as it was Peru vs Chile in a big South American football tournament. Peru won 3-0 and the town came alive at the end of the match! The tuc tucs and taxis and quad bikes did a rally with whistles and horns and cheering, they kept turning round and driving back down the one main road through the town, it was a great atmosphere and fun to be a part of in some small way! We walked back home after dinner and finished the diary off and chilled for the evening.