Mancora, Peru - R&R and that damn little Muchacha!!

We made it to the coastal meca of Mancora early last Wednesday after 17 hours of relative ease on Cruz del Sur bus lines. The place is definitely 3rd world we realized as we made our way from the bus stop to our place which we had booked at the Lima aeropuerto, Kimba´s Bungalows. The roads we dusty and shanties lined the main drag, hwy 1, selling lots of shells, food and alcohol. Little motobike chariots were zipping by as were giant semi trucks and buses nonstop.

Patterned after Balinese hidaways, Kimba´s was an oasis for us. A cute upstairs bungalow, hammock and chairs with agorgeous little pool and lots of palm trees. Kimba even had a pet parrot squaking periodically! We spent 5 nights in Mancora soaking in warmth and sun. We ate cheap and just relaxed. Walks on the OK beach away from the swarms of local vacationers were nice in the evenings. We slept in until 930 each day and snuck in for our breakfast just before 10 todos los dias. Our angel from SF and Lima, Carlos arrived the second day we were there and had the room directly underneath us. Too funny! He was a really nice guy and was also here in Peru to relax and get away from the hustle and bustle of Americana for a while.

I mentioned earlier we ate cheap. Evening number 2 found us walking ht ebeach and then up a main dirt road mocked with potholes and puddles of standing water from the recent rain. We saw the board and the little chica advertising 2 courses and a jugo for 5 soles each(1 dollar = 3.2 soles, you do the math!). Andy Bergdahl was IN! And so was the Mrs. We ate tasy ceviche and ric dishes, ordered 2 beers and got out o there for 5 bucks. Crazy. The next night we ended up at the same place with the same cute little muchacha. Only this time, stacy´s stomach was growling back before we left the table. Again, 5 dollars, but th ebonus of this experience was the cheapness of the NEXT day as we we unable to eat much of anything. Stacy´s Montazuma´s Revenge hit early and was copnsiderable. I on the ther hand thought I´d gotten away clear. When Stacy grunted her question to me in the middle of hte night, ¨how are YOU feeling?¨I said my stomach was tight but I think its from the run and stretching I did earlier that evening.

Uh no. Sure enough before daybreak I was bent over the basin ridding my body of the little muchacha´s poison. We both slept until 1pm this day and louned around the pool like slugs toopained to do anything. We both agreed it was nothing near the worst such experience we´d had in our lives but our affirmations about ¨Being Healthy throughut America del Sur¨quickly had to be re-written. Ugg.

We slowly got back to OKsville and by the next day we were eating and I was back exercising. Stacy was not 100 percent bt doing better. To say that we began paying more for food goes without saying. Andy, there are some things that you cannot chince on is hte lesson I learned.

We also met 2 Brazilian sisters, Kate and...(damn we can´t recall). We had lots of convos with Kate and enjoyed 2 dinners with her. She has the traveling bug too! Not that bug, but the good one thta keeps us on the move! Are we going to Brazil she asked and Stacy and I looked at each other...¨Maybe? Is that an invitation?¨ We had a nce group of amigos and amigas going here and happened to meet some Argentinians as well. Pablo helped me with espanol one day in the pool and his sister and friend welcomed us into their Yerba Mate tea circle. We wer thinking of heading north to Ecuador and now we are being invited South to the big countries down there. We´ll see.

On Monday we took yet another overnight bus trip. This one on CIFA, going to Ecuador. We had heard about sketchy night buses and not to go with CIFA. What did we do?? Oh well. It was fine actully. Despite having to get on and off hte bus thrice for various immigation and policia checks we drove through th eheavy rains, into Guayquil. This town is Ecuador´s largest city, but not its capital. that is Quito. We were dropped right on time at 6am at the largest and most impressive bus depot EVER!! It was like a massive socol indoor mall with 3 levels, directories to help and people all over, even at this early hour. Stacy spotted stall number 26 and we were buying our ticket to Puerto Lopez. You know, Puerto Lopez! Ha! Its the closest mainland city to the galapagos and it has Ecuador´s only coastal National Park and we are read for hiking and diving!!!! We were rushed up stairs (escalators actually) and onto the 615 bus. 4 hours for 4 bucks. The rain was pouring, but the angst we had been worried about yesterday had passed. We made teh 2nd bus.

Next Stop, Puerto Lopez!!!