I had yet another stroke of good luck on the first morning waking up at El Cantil. As I was preparing for my 45 minute beach trek, loaded with gear, two fishermen rowed in to sell the morning catch. As we filmed them gutting and cleaning the fish right on the beach, I learned that one of the fishermen, Jhonjairo, lives in Termales and was going there next, his work day already done from being out on the water for many hours. He offered to row me in his handcarved, solid wood fishing canoe. I made it to Termales much sooner than I thought and I got to watch the coast glide by and chat with Jhonjairo about the area and artisinal fishing.
Once in Termales, I found Nestor on his porch shaving. He was preparing for the day and had a few things to do, so I explored the area by myself until he was available to do an interview and talk about the surf club a bit.
Termales is basically one stretch of road right along the coast with houses on either side. It didn't take long to see the whole town and soon Nestor was ready to show me around. He clearly is loved by all the kids in town, who kept running up to him to say hello or just walk with him for a while. He was reminding everyone that class was at 4pm and that they should be ready to surf!
Before class, Nestor and some older members of the club inspected and repaired boards and talked over the lesson plan for the day. Meanwhile, the kids either cleaned the clubhouse, practiced their balance on a tightrope outside, or joined in a big game of beach volleyball. Once class began, the kids hit the beach and were split into groups based on their level of experience. Some of the kids can really rip, even at 9 or 10 years old! We got some killer GoPro POV shots, and I included a screengrab in this post. I also swam out in the water with a GoPro strapped to my head to get some closeups. The class was still going as the sun was setting and we hopped on a boat back to El Cantil.
