Peru - Mancora

We grabbed a minibus from Tumbes to Mancora first thing, excited to get to the beach! Nearly lost a bag off the roof en route. The baggage all gets tied on to the roof rack and about and hour and a half into trip I noticed a bag sliding off the roof - my bag! A couple of raps on the window and shouting of Señor señor and the minibus pulled over with the bag dangling down the side and the rest of the passengers expressing their dismay at the driver. Everything was tied back up and on we carried. At one drop off about 6 palm trees were unloaded off the roof rack.

We reached Mancora where Was, myself and another passenger tried to follow the first guy out but weren't quick enough as the driver pulled off with side door wide open and Warren one foot on the pavement and one foot still in the minibus. Queue more frantic shouting from the passengers! Finally off, with all our stuff, in Mancora.

Mancora is a great little surfing beach town. Buildings are single skin brickwork with palm tree fans as roofs. It has a group of restaurants right on the beach and a definite surfer town vibe.

We could see our accommodation on top of the hill overlooking the town. A tuk tuk driver informed us if we rang the owner they would pick us up. She arrived in a battered up little Volkswagen beetle that made it up the steep, sandy, self built road to the bungalows up top. The accommodation was basic but with lots of character and a great view.

Headed down to the beach for the afternoon. Was had been contemplating a surf but the waves were hardly waves and the one break was packed with people learning.

The ceviche was amazing! For 8 soles (£2) you could get a ceviche starter, mixed seafood paella main and a fresh fruit juice. After lunch took a wonder through town and the market and found our South American travel wedding rings, having left the real ones back in London.

We had some chilled sundowners back up at Kontiki in the evening, headed down to town which was pretty chilled for a Friday night. Some of the beach bars were competing to see who could play their music loudest but no one was in them. Maybe we were too early?

Next day we spent on the beach and hired some paddle boards (like a long surfboard, you stand perpendicular to the board and use a 1 1/2 meter paddle) as there were no waves again. Apparently the waves can get up to 3m but we saw no proof of this. The paddle boarding was fun and quite a work out. Once we got confident we thought we'd try catch a foamy not realising how rocky and shallow it was under the break until we wiped off the boards. Came out with a couple of scratches but not too bad all things considering.

After a nice leisurely seafood lunch it was time to head for a shower, grab our stuff and hop on the overnight bus to Lima. A great start to Peru! And would recommend Koniki Bungalows as a chilled spot to stay.