04/07/2019 – Day 2 of Laguna, Mancora, Peru

We got up slowly and went for some breakfast in the outdoor seating area of Laguna. We had granola with fruit and yoghurt and coffee. It was really windy and so Pilar said it was not a good day for surfing, so we cancelled todays lesson with a plan to keep an eye on the weather throughout the day. Josh and I used the overcast but mild morning to sit in the deckchairs on our rooms terrace and enjoy the peace. I caught up with the diary over the last week and Josh read his book and fiddled with the camera and some photos. We were told by one of the staff that a chameleon lives in the tree in front of our terrace, and Josh managed to find him, his tail was long and completely camouflaged to the trunk of the palm tree.

Our little green tree friend.

Other wildlife in Laguna.

At lunchtime we strolled along the beach to a café that does a menu of the day offer, and ate a falafel lunch. We then walked around the town to try and find the way up to the lighthouse. Eventually we found the path behind the main street and climbed up the steep makeshift steps up to the lighthouse, which had a satisfying panoramic view. The water was choppy and there were lots of kitesurfers out to sea, making the most of the wind.

Lighthouse on the hill.

After having a breather and taking the view in, we slowly walked back to our base at Laguna and put some suncream on as the sun had burnt through the clouds. While we waited for the suncream to sink in we had a coffee on our terrace and got our bits together. We walked down onto the beach and found a spot of shelter from the wind, lay down my scarf to sit on and sat back to back with our books in the sun. Josh lasted all of 10 minutes in the sand and then wriggled around uncomfortably before taking himself back to Laguna. I stayed on the beach and read my book (still I am Malala but I am very excited to be nearly finished and onto something a bit more riveting!) At 18:00 when the sun was setting Josh came back and met me on the beach, he said he had needed a snack so had spent the last 45 minutes eating some nuts and chocolate in the room and now felt better. He needs regular feeding that is for sure! We watched the sunset then went back to our room for a shower.

At the beach for the unset.

The tap in the shower keeps giving us electric shocks, and runs fairly cold, but is a thing you kind of get used to over here! The laptop also sometimes gives shocks when charging at the wall. Think there is funky electrics going on! We went out for a chicken burger in the town before wandering back home. It was quite a starry night so Josh took his camera and tripod out to try some long exposure shots.

Milky Way in Southern hemisphere.