Lomo saltado anyone? I feel like I haven’t written a blog in
a minute…guess I have been too distracted eating all the amazing Peruvian food!
Sophia left off in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Which was great, all of Ecuador really
was, from there, it was a relatively short ride to Mancora, Peru. Mancora in
its own right has a lot to offer, especially to those who enjoy ocean.
Although, we knowing little of the area, landed there to visit with Mario
Ganoza, Sr. Father of my very good friend, Mario Ganoza in LA. We had never met
and I wasn’t even sure if he would speak any English. We both have been very
excited about entering Peru in general, I had felt a connection to the area due
to the continual praise I heard from Mario on a regular basis…I can say, that
he was almost surprisingly accurate. Peru is an amazing country with so much to
offer. We arrived in Mancora about 4hrs later than expected and around 9:30p we
found a phone and called Mario Sr. Luckily for me, his English, although not
perfect is certainly better than my Spanish. 10 minutes later he was picking us
up and we were headed off for our first amazing Peruvian meal. Food is a very
large part of their culture here and it shows. The food we have had has been
definitely the best of any country we’ve visited. I’m sure it’s partially due
to having locals to order for us, but not completely. The Ganoza’s really took amazing care of us
during our visit, after dinner, we were headed to the neighboring town of Los
Organos, were we had a room at the Takaynamo hotel (owned by Mario’s uncle,
Manuel, or QT as everyone calls him.) The hotel is amazing, right on a quiet,
surfing beach. The hotel is run
primarily by his 2 daughters, one who handles the hotel and other the
restaurant. Los Organos is a beautiful town with a more laid back atmosphere
than the more popular neighbor of Mancora. Both have amazing waves, surf
instructors, rentals and the sport of kite surfing is really taking off. On our
last day in town the wind really picked up and we saw probably a dozen people out
catching some really big air with their kite surfing set ups. Speaking of surf,
after crashing out at the Takaynamo, Mario Sr. arrived bright and early to take
us surfing. The waves were a bit small in front the hotel so we headed to
Mancora. We rented a couple long boards and we were off. I guess after all that
time in Central America, we had gotten pretty used to the 80 degree Caribbean,
so this took a minute to adjust. Sophia’s first attempt at a wave left her not
so stoked about the rocks she found under the water…apparently we entered the
water where the people who actually know what there doing go…lol. So she took a
break while I went and paddled my life away. After many desperate attempts, I
caught a few waves and was absolutely loving the rush of riding them in. 
Even
so, Mario could tell that our skills were not up to snuff and recruited a
friend of his to take us out for a lesson and man, what a difference. With her
help, I was catching every wave I went for…it was awesome! But my arms and
shoulders couldn’t take much more paddling so I caught my last wave in and
traded out with Sophia, next thing I know, there she is catching waves, riding
like a pro! 
We eventually all tuckered out and headed back to the hotel for nap
time. About 5pm, Mario was back to take
us out to see the area south of Los Organos. Tourism in the area is growing
south down the coastline and Mario has secured, don’t want to throw his
business out there, but let’s just say, a large stretch of beach front property
between Organos and a town called Cabo Blanco. 
Cabo Blanco was, up until 20
some years ago, one of the sport fishing capitals of the world, we're talking
marlin and tuna weighing over 1000lbs! Apparently is was also one of Ernest
Hemingways favorite places to relax and write. As well as Marilyn Monroe was
known to visit a local hotel from time to time. We watched the sunset and then headed back to
town for dinner with the family.
I could go on and on about this area, but there’s so much
more to talk about. A big highlight for me though was renting a 450cc dirt bike
(cost over $14K) and 4-wheeler for Sophia. She had never ridden before and
really had fun. 
We cruised up and down
the beach for a couple hours, it was great. If you see this, thanks again to Mario and
everyone at Takaynamo hotel, the place is amazing, you guys are doing a great
job!
Our next stop was in Mario jr’s home town of Huanchaco. A
beach, surfer town just outside of Trujillo. What an awesome time. Mario’s
family has a house there in Huanchaco, that no one has been using for a minute
and they were incredibly kind to let us stay there. For the first time over
4months, we slept in a house…so nice. Plus, it kinda made me feel like a local,
or at least not as much of a tourist as everyone else staying in hostals. It
also so happens that Mario’s uncle (the guys with the hotel in Los Organos)
live in another beach town, next to Huanchaco. QT was great to us as well, we
met up the morning after arriving and he took us all over Trujillo. First we
visited his farm…of course I’ve been around farming (growing up in G-town), but
I don’t think I ever knew anyone who actually had their own big farm. He is
growing sugar cane and organic avocados mostly. With a little bit of other
stuff here and there. From there we were off to see some Incan ruins, the
Temple’s of the sun & the moon. The only excavation has been done of the
moon temple. A pretty incredible pyramid like temple. Built with seven levels,
1 level per every hundred years. Done completely with adobe bricks. You see,
most of northern and probably central peru, at least near the pacific coast is
desert. Like crazy, never would have expected desert. So, the indigenous people
made these bricks out the sand. Because when they would build a new level of the
temple, they would bury the previous level, even the paint used on the walls
has been preserved. 
For close to 2,000 years! There are adobe ruins all over
this part of Peru, but these were the only we saw.
From there, QT took us to the country club that his Uncle
founded. Very cool spot and not that expensive. I don’t what dues cost, but a
caddy for 18holes is $4. And these caddy’s are like pro-level players. A 3
course lunch for $6, and of course all the amenities you would expect from a country
club. Peru is quite nice in that way…like Giovanni (mario’s cousin) put it, you
don’t have to rich to have rich person luxuries in Peru. It’s common to have
things like a live in maid. From what I understand, new home construction will
run you around $100/ sq meter (9 sq. ft. if my math is right), a fraction of
what it costs in the states. And while I’m on the subject, from what I’ve heard
Peru is seeing economic growth of close to 10% year right now. Not bad.
So, this blog is getting bit long for my taste, so I’m gonna
wrap it up. But QT, if you see this, thanks for everything…we really had a blast.
Our 3 nights in Huanchaco were nice…I do kinda regret not doing more surfing
there, but what can you do.
So, there you have Northern Peru. Next up from Sophia…Lima,
Cuzco and ……………..Machu Picchu!
Adios!
