Costeño Beach Surf Camp

A friend of Jimmy's had recommended staying at Costeño Beach Surf Camp and as we had decided that it was too hot for us to do the Lost City Trek, we had a spare four days up our sleeve. Relaxing by a beach sounded like a perfect way to use up those four days, especially since it was to be our last few days in South America. 

Arriving at the camp in the darkness we couldn't really get a good picture of what the place was like, but when we were shown to our beach hut, Jimmy announced it was his kind of place. Our beach hut was situated next to the communal area and closest to the beach with just a curtain and mosquito net between us and the sound of the crashing waves on the beach. We were close enough to the beach that the sea spray wafted its way back to our hut, giving everything the feeling of being slightly damp. 

As the camp is located in the middle of nowhere, breakfast, lunch and dinner have to all be purchased on site and we were pleasantly surprised at how good our first meal was which was served up not long after our arrival. The place definitely has a school camp feel to it with a gong being sounded at meal times, everyone lining up to get their food and all sitting around big communal tables. Plus no wifi!

The next few days were spent doing not a whole lot apart from walks on the beach, beers, reading and early nights. We did have one outing however, with a visit to Palomino which is about a 40 minute bus ride further north east, to go tubing with our Australian mate Charlie and his friend Nina. In order to go tubing we had to hire the tubes and then jump on a mototaxi whilst carrying our tubes and then be taken about 15 minutes up a dirt track. From there we had been told we walked for "20 minutes" to the river. About 45 minutes later we were starting to doubt our chosen route and then a farmer with a donkey happened to come by and tell us we had another 15 mins to the river. We trudged on, sweating ourselves silly and finally reached the river. 

The hike up was worth it though. For about 2.5 hours we cruised down the river in our tyre tubes, soaking up the sun and all the sights the jungle had to offer us whilst drinking beers we had brought along with us. The jungle had some great sights too. We got to see toucans, wild ones! And cows, horses, pigs, teeny tiny hummingbirds, vultures and a lot of other unknown birds. It was an awesome way to spend an afternoon and to top if off we managed to get straight on a bus to Costeño after we finished so a good end to a great day.

Back at Costeño the next day held more of the same for us. Although Jimmy's day was punctuated with mastering the slack line that they have up at the camp. Not surprisingly, my monkey husband managed to master it pretty quickly, bring able to walk across it forwards then back across backwards. What a guy! And I finished off my time here with an hour long massage from one of the local ladies. It was so amazing being lulled into relaxation by the waves, her singing to me and being massaged all at once. All for 40,000 soles (about $25). Another great end to another great day. Our last full day on the carribean coast though so a tad bittersweet. But I'm pretty damn excited to get to New York and see my big bro and good friend Brookie too so I can't be too sad.