Lobitos: Desert Waves, Oil Rigs and Sunsets... Surfers Paradise

Hot sun, isolation, everyone in boardies and flip flops and awesome waves this is my type of place! Where can I find such paradise? In the desert of course, to be more precise the northern regions of Peru! Famed for its barren landscape and many flourishing fishing cities this part of Peru boasts some of the best waves found in Sth America with Chicalmayas being the longest left-heander in the WORLD! So it wasnt hard to twist my arm and get me to go on a desert mission to find some waves and leave the miserable weather of Lima behind!!!

So there are many really cool regions in the Nth Peru good for waves, chilling out from big city life, getting a tan, cool desert parties or just finding a place to stay warm, in fact there are too many! We got some advice from our new mate Manuel of the local bodyboarding shop (HIghTide) in Lima and decided that Mancora and Lobitos were the places where we would find our desert paradise.

 It was an 18 hour bus ride packed to the brim and rather cramped and uncomfortable (you would think that after nearly 5mths travelling on buses we would learn to pay a bit extra for a good bus but nooo)!! Now almost all peruvian girls are fairly small in size but I lucked out on the bus and got... it was a tight bus ride and I was glad when it was over and even more stoked to step out into the sun (that i hadnt seen in nearly a week) and a nice 27 degrees!!! We were in Mancora but the hype was short lived when we discovered that there would be no good waves here for at least a week but tomorrow it would be firing in the remote desert town Lobitos! So we were all keen as mustard and wanted to get there and fast! But in an ill-guided attempt to think rationally we hastely paid a collectivo 65 soles to drive us 2 hours! Short of a mental breakdown this was an awfully stupid decision but considering  the lack of sleep or the fact that half a person was sleeping and farting on me for nearly 18 hrs it made sense (at the time)! What we should have done was caught a bus back to Talara (5soles) then got a collectivo from Talara to Lobitos for 2soles, though a longer option a far cheaper alternative.

Rolling into Lobitos I was actually a little shocked and a taken back by how isolated it actually seemed! This was once a flourishing township occupied by many british and american oil workers and was once so popular it had three fully functional casinos in the main street. Today these buildings are run-down and stripped of anything of value and much of the region is now a ghost town but short of life this is a really fascinating area and when we arrived at the beach I saw my fist ever oil rigs just chilling motionlessly in the ocean! Now I thought I would hate them but they are so freakin big I was amazed and it was actually awe-inspiring to see these giant foriegn objects mesh with big barrelling point breaks, it was cool! So yeah the waves were already good when we arrived and after securing some sick rooms aloft a point that overlooked the entire bay and had views of at least 5 different breaks.

We were in the water getting some fun, long waves and it was only going to get better the next day, so it was off to bed early for some killer kegs the next day!

Unfortunately it was the weekend and everyone from Mancora and Talara made the trip to Lobitos and the town came too life but the crowd only got bigger in the water! Luckily being a booger we could surf a more steeper barrelling wave called Elwacko that the sticks chose not to ride for fear of hitting the rocks or breaking their boards so we lucked out and i spent much of my day in the green room getting kegged, YEAWWWT it was a blast! The following two days there was plenty of swell but it was hit and miss with the winds but we would always 2-3 sessions in a day with an awesome late evening session capped off by a brillant desert sunset with the sillouettes of the oil rigs drifting off into the dark, I always looked forward for the sunsets!

After four days the swell disappeared and it was flat so there was nothing to do but do nothing! To curb our boredom from no waves we watched the entire DVD collection, relaxed on the beach, walked the deserted casinos and went to a christian mission that were helping to build a pre-school! It was run by Christian Surfers who were trying to set up a christian surf hostel that would provide funds for local kids in need! They were really cool dudes (and dudettes) and not some bible bashing know it alls but surfers like us who had a passion to help others less fortunate.

They actually came to the hostel and preformed a few short skits and shared some stories of their lifes which were awesome. But unfortunately God didnt see it in his good graces to give us anymore waves while in Lobitos, nevertheless it was a good time had by all. Now a word of warning if spending some time in Lobitos do some food shopping in Talara or Mancora beforehand not many shops in Lobitos and the ones selling stuff dont have a great range but the restuarants (when they are open) have delicious fresh fish and food that is really cheap! As it is a desert environment there is not much water so be prepared to run down to the ocean for a quick skinny dip and soapy wash and using the outdoors on occassion as a restroom!!!  

So the Boys Brady Bunch have split again with Corey and myself heading back to Lima to meet a friend while Duggers, Mark and Jim are heading to the warmer regions of Ecuador and Colombia (im so jealous) but there are waves in Lima so the smile is still on my face!´I hope all is good wherever you are in the world, peace!!