mancora and good-bye peru!

there is something about the beach that turns time into molasses.  we spent four wonderfully chill days in mancora, which is a little surf town in northern peru (about an hour or so from the border).  mancora is known for the best beaches in peru but is also known as a bit of a party town.  as i said before we hadn't intended to stop here, but with a few days to spare we decided the beach would be a great place to spend our last days in peru.

we found this little place at the far end of the beach....away from the beach bars and party scene (todd has already been offered cocaine several times despite our efforts to stay away from all the crazy!).  it was a very chill place with nice rooms and hammocks.....and just steps from the beach so the waves lulled us to sleep every night

a simple breakfast was provided in the mornings...

the owners also had a puppy....one of those weird hairless dogs! they feel so bizarre!

....being in a surf town we did rent a couple boards and the kids spent an afternoon learning how to surf.

 todd hardly surfed himself he just mostly helped push the kids on the boards.....for hours (what a good dad!).

lucy managed to ride several waves in on her knees...

riley stood up a couple times for just a few seconds.....but it counts as standing!

they all had so much fun and were also pretty darn sore the next day from all the paddling and boarding!

we also spent a couple afternoons just playing in the waves sans boards, which was really fun.  the water was just warm enough that you could get in all the way sans wetsuits and the weather was hot enough that it felt great!

we enjoyed our last night in peru on the beach watching a gorgeous sunset!

we left peru yesterday morning.....a long eleven hour bus day.   it seems ironic that we spent our last four days in peru on the beach because peru has been mountains mountains mountains for us.  i always feel a little sad leaving a country and we had such a wonderful adventure in peru.  machu picchu the highlight of course but so many other unexpected gems as well including the amazing cordillera blanca mountains and even mancora.  we had a fantastic volunteer stay at arcadio's farm and another at the casa lena school (it all seems forever ago!)  riley is already missing his all-time favorite street food papas rellanas and todd is already missing the ceviche.  we will remember it all fondly!

but alas we have crossed the border!

we are now in vilcabamba in southern ecuador at a resort that caters to backpackers.  we plan to be here for a few days before heading north to cuenca.
hasta luego!