Peru was all about surfing again. The country off the endless left hand pointbreaks. The quest started in Lobitos. A small, relaxed town with an old military base and hundreds of oil rigs. Also home to Franzi and Ibar, new friends we recently met surfing in Engabao ( Southern Ecuador). For us it was yet time again to slow down the pace of travelling and just stay at a few special places rather then rushing thru all of them. Fortunately for us the seasons in Peru were all mixed up and waves who would only work later in the year already were in full swing. Unfortunately that also attracted many many locals and we faced one of the not so nice sides of surfing since a long time. While trying to to sneak some off the inside waves we met Nico, kind of the swiss version of german Nico. Old skater buddies and both totally hooked by that surfing thing. Basically, there are two kinds of surfing people. The truly addicted who can barely talk and think about anything else and those who desperately need to make fun of the first kind. And for the latter Simon was happy to have met Ursina ;) Nico´s girlfriend.
It was great to have travel companians for the next month as we made our way south towards Lima. Always looking for the next swell and hoping to get that one magical day. Days were driven by long walks to far away point breaks, playing kids cardgames while waiting for half decent food, long drives through the North Peruvian deserts and being sad how much waste one country can burry in open nature.
After one month of surfing together swiss Nico and Ursitubes had a break from the coastlines and went hiking in the Cusco area.
For us it was time to pick up Cleo and Andi from the airport in Lima. And also time for the the whole Corona thing. We also made jokes about that the weeks before, probably like everyone else, but as soon as they both landed it wasn´t a joke anymore. The south american goverments reacted quite a bit faster than the ones at home. Nico and Andi just left Lima to Huacachina when the bad news arrived. They had 24 hours to return to Lima before the lockdown was active.
We now were all stuck in our apartments for a uncertain time. Thanks to the swiss embassy Simon and Cleo were able to escape the quarantine after just 10 days and are now enjoying a beautiful spring in Switzerland.
Due to the bigger amount of german travellers it took Nico and Andi couple days longer to get out of Peru which was fortunate in that unlucky situation. After endless phonecalls and email interactions we were able to find a safe spot to park the Princess. Nico sorted things out just two days before his flight and we are extremly happy to know that our reliable home on wheels will be parked safe untill we´ll be able to come back and finish our trip. In whatever way and style that will be!
Nico is now also happy at home, catching up with old friends, …. He´s now gonna be fitfat. Corona style. While being spoiled alldaylongeveryday by the best food on earth ( courtesy of Renate, Nicos Mum) he´s also lovehatting the daily crossfit workouts and occasional bike rides in the local woods!
Until then: Stay save, healthy and spread love!