Beaches!

One part about this trip that I have loved and am sure to miss is the ocean. Going to the beach has been one of my favorite activities.

The beaches in Lima aren't the best for relaxing days at the beach. There isn't a lot of sand; it's mostly rocks. To get to nice sandy beaches we have to go a little ways down south of Lima. This is usually a simple task of walking to the freeway and getting on a bus to take us there. In fact, one time a Peruvian friend of ours flagged down an empty city bus and we paid it off to take the whole group to a beach. This was illegal but evidently is not that uncommon. I've gotten familiar with the ride to a few different beeches such as Puerto Fiel, Punta Roca, and Punta Hermosa.

The bus we paid off.

Once we get to the beach we do a variety of things like swimming in the waves, lounging about taking in the sun, or volleyball. We've also had some nice games of ultimate frisbee in the sand. On three separate occasions we started a little campfire with both Peruvian and American friends. We just spent all night making smores and talking. When we got tired we just laid under the stars and slept right there with the ocean coming up and down less than fifty yards away. Even though we would wake up sandy and sore, these were some of my best times here in Perú. I really enjoyed getting to know everyone else in the group.

The sunsets are great.

I have gotten a couple of opportunities to try my hand at surfing. The waves here are fantastic, and Lima is ranked in the top ten places to surf in the world. There are little places that rent surfboards and wet suits less than half an our from my home. It's a pretty sweet gig. I just pay them about 8 dollars and they let me use their gear until I'm tired. Which is about two hours. Paddling over waves and keeping balance on a board is tough work. I have gotten my butt kicked a few times by some waves. Every once in a while a big one came along and swallowed me up. When you get taken under by a wave, you get tossed around and don't know which way is up. My strategy was to just hold my breath, close my eyes and kick. Once the wave passed I had to hurry up and get on my board before the next one came. I am by no means an expert surfer now, but I can get waves to pick me up on my board. Starting on my stomach, this feels a lot like sledding back home. The waves get going pretty fast. I have only successfully stood up once, but I plan on going one more time before I leave, so hopefully the third time I will do better.

Toño and I in our wetsuits for surfing.

 

Jose not quite thinking throug the whole hand stand thing.

 
The ocean has been one of the best parts of the trip. The sand, waves, and sunsets have been beautiful. I know that I will miss it when I get back to Nebraska.

With a little imagination (well, lots of imagination) you can see the word "Peru."