Saturday, February 8, 2014

Camana, Peru

Amber:  Tim and I decided it was time for the beach after our week in Arequipa and climbing Mt Misti.  We were excited for waves, sand, sun, and most importantly, an elevation of sea level.  I had run my first marathon last August, and climbing Mt Misti was by far more tiring.  Tim and I both agreed that the climb was possibly the most exhausting thing we have done our adult life.  Fighting for each breath can be exceptionally tiring!!  Our lungs actually didn't hurt after our climb, and aside from some tired feet, my body wasn't too sore considering we had summited a 19,100' tall volcano.

The small town of Camana is about five kilometers from 'the beach'.  We arrived by bus and took about an hour to find a hotel.  We changed into shorts and our swim wear and headed out in search of lunch and the 'combie' to the beach.  Our lunch consisted of ceviche.  Lots of ceviche.  Ceviche is small pieces of fish (or seafood) that has been 'cooked' in lime juice.  It is quite good, and coastal Peru is famous for it.  We had tried it in Arequipa, but at a local market and I wanted to try it again.  I ordered an 'individual' order of ceviche, while Tim got a mixed plate of both fried fish, calamari, and octopus.  His, as it turns out, also came with ceviche, so we had mountains of it. We easily could have shared one of the dishes we had ordered. The first several bites were good, but by the time we finished, I don't think either of us wanted to see any more ceviche for a very long time.

Our bellies full of lime soaked raw fish, we boarded the 'combie'.  The combie is a small, worn out bus that takes you to the beach, once every seat is full, and basically, all the standing room, too.  It was 1 sole each for us to ride the five miles to the beach, so about 0.27 USD.  We arrived at the beach and walked along the sandy shore, ever so happy to be on the ocean.

Peru is a giant desert to the all to the west of the Andes.  The whole bus ride from Arequipa to Camana, I kept  thinking about how we would die if our bus broke down.  It is so dry!  And hot!  At Camana, the sun baked sand dunes dump into the ocean.  The tawny brown hills turn a dark gray as the ocean touches it, so the beach wasn't exactly post card pretty, but it was surprisingly clean.  About 2,000 Peruvians lined the beach under umbrellas.  We walked about a mile along the shore.  The ocean is extremely cold!  The locals loved playing in the surf, but for us, even being from Alaska, it was a little chilly with a bit too much of a strong under tow.  We got our toes wet, then found an umbrella and decided to relax with a cold beer.

The next day we returned to the beach for more relaxation.  Tim went for a 5 mile run while I relaxed and read my book.  Theft is supposed to be pretty bad at Camana, so I volunteered to say and watch our things while Tim was healthy.  The beach goes on for miles, so he had a great run before returning and jumping into the ocean.  I was a little to confident in my tanning ability, and absolutely cooked myself while I happily stretched out and read my book.

After the beach, we were happy to board our air coned bus and sleep a little on the seven hour bus ride to Nazca.  We were able to book our flight over the Nazca lines the evening we arrived at our guest house.

We didn't get any pictures of the beach, sorry!

No comments:

Post a Comment