September 17, a friend and I boarded a 7:15 am Cuenca bus headed for the Southern Ecuadorian Coast. We then caught a CIFA bus in Hauquillas to Mancora, on the Northern Coast of Peru. From there we caught an EPPO bus to Los Organos, a nearby resort town popular with Lima residents.
I learned about the beach at Los Organos from a blog I've enjoyed, and the post is at http://travelsabbatical.blogspot.com/2012/06/week-8-los-organos-peru-far-away-beach.html
Above I'm seen on a whale watching cruise. Below is the bus we caught in Cuenca, which took us through Ecuador and left us off in Peru, after we went through immigration.
Immigration was a little tedious, but it was no big deal, as I learned from reading another blog, http://southamericabackpacker.com/the-long-haul-overland-from-cuenca-ecuador-to-mancora-peru/
After we got our passports stamped that we were leaving Ecuador, we were given a 90 day visa to stay in Peru. My friend had a little issue, in that the Ecuadorian immigration official forgot to stamp her out of the country until she went back to see him again, and the Peruvian official handed her a Peruvian visa with my name on it (bet those immigration officials get tired of their jobs by the time they've processed travelers all day) instead of hers! This glitch did not prove problematic, however.
We finally arrived at Mancora about 6 pm. We then changed $40 into about 120 Peruvian Nuevo Soles (the rate is actually 3.15 Soles per Dollar). We took the Eppo bus to Los Organos for 2 soles. My advanced Spanish skills definitely helped us out in negotiating our arrival in Peru. Most of the people we came into contact with do not speak English.
All beach towns in Northern Peru look dry and unappealing until arriving at the beach of one's destination. There Paradise Awaits! You'll see.
We paid the young man above 2 soles to take us to our hostel, the
Muelle Viejo, where we spent an entire week of happiness. There are now just 5 bungalows (2 new bungalows are under construction) at the
Muelle Viejo, and the other visitors were all from Lima, with the exception of a young Swiss couple that arrived at the end of our stay.
Muelle Viejo is named after the old port, of which the remnants (3 posts with pelicans sitting on top) can be seen below.
The peaceful environment of the
Muelle Viejo made up for the small size of our room (we paid $50 night for the room), and we were outside all of the time anyway. At the end of the week we were moved to a prettier (and larger) room, which pleased us immensely. We loved Coco, Julia (a native of Chile who met Coco 10 years ago while on a Peruvian Surf vacation) and their baby. We felt as though we were part of their family by the end of our week's stay.
Coco (Jorge) is an accomplished Surfer, and Surfing Instructor. We saw many impressive photos of him surfing on the
Muelle Viejo FB page. During our stay we met a young Swiss woman who was learning to surf from him. She showed real talent! She said she and her boyfriend knew about Coco and his surfing school from a surfing website they read in their home country of Switzerland.
Luis took such good care of the living environment, and Rosa helped us throughout the day too.
Coco and Julia's dogs Aleta, and Bianca (and their cat, Moises) were all a big hit with us.
Did I say the environment was soothing, private and spectacular?
Below are photos of Julia and Jorge (Coco) with their 5 month old son, Gaspar.
Rosana, below, prepared our breakfast of juice, hot rolls with real butter, and scrambled eggs most mornings. My only complaint was that the breakfast did not include brewed coffee, only instant coffee, but that would be a typical concern for a person from the US.
Rosana loves spending time with Gaspar!
Below is Luis, but his face is in the shade. He has such a beautiful presence, and worked hard to keep the environment impeccable. He also cleaned our rooms every day and made sure we had fresh towels. I wish I'd taken a better photo of him.
Below is Coco playing with Aleta, their 2 year old adopted shepherd mix.
We enjoyed watching the exploits of Moises, a one- year -old cat who held her own with the dogs. Below she's seen climbing a ladder, placed under a roof while some construction was taking place.
Bianca, a 7 year old bull terrier, was a great companion yet never was a bother.
Below are some of the beautiful sunsets I enjoyed. I went on walks every morning after sunrise, and took long swims in the late afternoons every day. I was in heaven! The beach was very clean, and the waves were low, and even. There weren't that many people on the beach, either.
The photo above was taken from our bedroom window, and below is a photo of our room:
We went into town for lunch at
Jimmy's (which was OK, and good for people watching) one day. Los Organos is a poor desert town, yet wealthy people from Lima have discovered its beautiful beaches. I found it a town of contrasts. Some of the restaurants are extremely over-priced (costing 40 Nuevo Soles per person). By the end of the week we found a few places we really liked that were affordable (15-22 Nuevo Soles, or about $8). We only ate out once a day.
We enjoyed another restaurant in the town of Los Organos, named the
Willow, and ate there twice.
Eva and I walked out to the end of the nearby pier one day, and viewed a blue footed booby (!), large tortoises, and many pelicans.
We went to one fancy restaurant that was way over -priced, named
Bambu. We only went there once. I enjoyed my pisco sour and ceviche. Eva's fish was really dry. We also went to another over-priced restaurant (OK, I admit it) named
Venezia, located nearby the
Muelle Viejo, and it was better.
I decided to take a whale watching tour, even though I thought the price was too pricey. I paid 120 Nuevo Soles or about $40 for the 3 1/2 hour trip. We saw a lot of dolphins and whales, and I enjoyed myself. I learned that the whales along the Peruvian coast are swimming toward Antarctica, not toward the Arctic, where the whales I've seen previously in California and Alaska are headed. I don't know why I didn't realize that but now I know.
Below are photos of the tour company and our trip. Our tour included mostly visitors from Lima, although one couple from the Netherlands was aboard (they spoke fluent Spanish). Our guides were all from Chile and the tour was given in Spanish. I understood almost everything that we were told.
Below whales are diving.
Sea lions and seals are resting on the unused oil derrick below:
Meanwhile back at the Yuppie whale museum and touring company. Did I say that Los Organos was a town of contrasts?
Our favorite restaurant in Los Organos was recommended to us by Julia, and Eva and I ate there several times:
We loved the beautiful Malena, proprietor of the restaurant, and a splendid cook!
The day we left the
Muelle Viejo, Coco and Julia came out with their baby to say "Good-bye"! We were so touched to see them one last time.
We took the Eppo Bus (fare was 15 Soles or about $5) to Piura, and arrived in Piura about 3:30 pm. We stayed at a hostel recommended by our cabbie, the
Hispaniola, which was 50 soles per night less than the hostel we had reserved and included air conditioning. We paid $15 night for our room.
The above photo was taken en route to Piura. Much of the trip is desert and not thrilling, but the irrigated fields that are farmed are quite beautiful. Below are photos of Piura's Central Park and Cathedral.
As always for longer trips, we bought our CIFA (return to Ecuador) bus tickets a day ahead of time. Our tickets cost $15 each and scheduled us to leave Piura the following day at 10:30 am.
We spent a wonderful morning at the Universidad Nacional de Piura.
Below is a whale's skeleton and next are two murals in the University's Administration building.
Next we were invited by the University's Supervisor of Security to tour
the University with him, and we were grateful for the opportunity to
learn more about the university. Too bad I didn't get a photo of this very kindly gentleman! We toured the university's extensive
agricultural program, and learned that the Universidad Nacional de Piura is known throughout South America for its vet school and its animal husbandry program.
After our tour of the University, we returned to the Plaza de Armas in Piura and went to lunch. We were lucky to eat at one of the city's most regarded eateries on a Friday afternoon.
We enjoyed the lovely salad and grilled fish (mero) served at this popular Piura eatery. Below is our lovely waitress, waving "good-bye" to us on our departure.
We walked over the bridge below, and took a combi (a van) to the town of Catacaos. We'd been told that this town was an important destination to view hand- made crafts. I didn't see much of interest once we arrived, yet I really enjoyed our ride there. Our trip only cost one and a half Soles each!
So we left Piura in the morning on Saturday and took the CIFA bus to immigration. We were stamped out of Peru and stamped into Ecuador. Yay! Everything was easy. We went almost all the way to Machala, but then got off the CIFA bus and caught a Pullman Sucre Bus to Cuenca. There were other passengers who changed buses outside of Machala. The bus driver knew exactly where to drop us off. We crossed the street as a group and caught the Pullman Sucre Bus headed for Cuenca.
We paid just $3.50 for our fare because of being over 65. The trip went well. The only hard part was being on the bus for 11 hours that day. When we reached Yunguilla Valley and Santa Isabel we knew we were within 2 hours of arrival.
Finally we arrived in Cuenca about 10 pm Saturday night, September 27! I was happy to stumble off of the bus at the terminal and catch a taxi to the Hostal La Posada, where I received a warm welcome. I'll be here for the next week until I start my next house sitting job on October 3.
October 14 plan to head for Loja and stay there for at least a week. I am wondering whether I might like to live there. In the meantime, thank you for taking the time to read my blog update and look at my latest photos. Have to admit that while I was in Peru I just wanted to keep going south, and probably next year that's exactly what I'll do. What a thrill it was to get away for 9 days! My whole trip cost about $350, which is pretty good for a 9 day getaway!
Will post in about four weeks all about my next house sit (I'll be caring for 2 Siamese cats) and my visit in Loja. So glad for a week's stay at the beach and the opportunity to finally visit Piura, Peru. I loved that town, and it was terrific to visit a place where there were no other American expats, at least none that we came into contact with. And of course, everyone in Piura was so helpful and friendly.
We'll see what October brings! In the meantime, all the best to you, and may you enjoy the weeks ahead. Wishing you the very best for good health and happiness.
