Living' in a surfa's paradise

 

With only a few days left in our South American adventures, Colin and I heard back from a hostal/restaurant that we had contacted though helpx.com. La Casona de Lobitos. We were told that they could use some help in exchange for a room and one meal a day. We got on a bus from Cuzco and headed north to the tiny beach town of Lobitos. 

At the Casona we had lots of work to do. We cleaned, we made art, we cooked for the restaurant. While there were definitely some challenge, it ended up being one of our favorite place to be. 

The house was once the home of an oil barren. It is a beautiful mansion that has fallen into disrepair. The plumbing does not work well and we had a very limited supply of water. Once every day or every other day we would fill up big blue barrels next to each toilet and sink. This would be our supply until the next time we got water. We used this water to flush toilets, clean dishes, cook, and shower with. And when this water ran out, it was out. This made bathrooms treacherous.

Parts of this house were some of the dirtier places we had been in South America. It is run by some wonderful people, but they live a few hours away and are only there for a couple days a week. The responsibility for the upkeep and cleanliness, as well as seeing to guests and cooking the food, falls on one person and any volunteers that happen to be there.

Showering consisted of some cold water and this watering can. Kinda fun, actually.

This place is located near a number of surf breaks. World class surfers can be seen throughout the year in the tiny town. As a matter of fact, surfing is really the only thing that is done at the beach. The wind makes the beach a pretty inhospitable place. It really is a surfer's paradise.

The owners of the place are also wonderful cooks.

Everyday we would have a "family dinner" with all the volunteers and any employees.

Sometimes the electricity goes out. This calls for candlelight dinners with the new family.

And, hey, so what if the place is a little dirty and there is no running water? We can deal with pretty much anything as long as the company is good. And here, it was 5 star.

That guy....the one at the bottom of the picture. That's Kala. He is the one employee of the place. He was our boss while we were there. Originally from Argentina, he has traveled the world. He spent a number of years in Hawaii and is fluent in English. This guy is always ready for fun. Always smiling. Always laughing. He plans to be at the Casona for a while and is in the process of setting up a tatto parlor. For me, Kalla is the perfect surf bum. And that is meant as nothing but a compliment!

This couple in next picture is Jeanie and Cesar from Brazil. They were renting a room while we were there, but were definitely part of the Casona family. Jeanie is a chef and photographer and graphic designer. She was so sweet and the two of us had lots of fun trying to speak Spanish together as her native language is Portuguese.

Cesar is one of the coolest. A professional surfer. Also a chef. And a DJ. He lived in New York for a while and his English is very good. We was amazing to watch surf! And while we was incredible at the sport, we was very encouraging and kind to the beginners in the water with him. Cesar is also very talented on the guitar and it was fun to watch him jam with Colin on the ukelele.

This is Bill. A fellow Californian. Bill was renting a room as well and was there for the surfing. Bill was a good person to spend time and have conversations with. We had a great time talking books, science, religion, education, etc, etc, with Bill. He had traveled up from Chile and is heading back to school in the fall to become California's coolest high school chemistry teacher!

Tim. The other volunteer with Colin and me. Oh, Tim. This is one of my favorite people we have met on our whole trip. Tim is from Germany and is traveling for the next few months. La Casona was his first stop. He is 19 years old with a great sense of humor and the gift of fast, cheeky comebacks! He lived on the east coast the United States for a year during high school. Loves music and is always excited to share a band or song with you. Tim was another person that we had great conversations with. Whether is was about movies, religion, or the surfing that morning, it was truly a joy to talk with him. We look forward to visiting him on Germany someday.

The other people that were there really made this experience wonderful.....but there is more.

This dog is the coolest dog in South America. This is Roco.

And if the people and animals don't make the experience, maybe the bread man will!

Everyday the bread man, the cookie man, the pastry man, and the ice cream man would come to the house. They each carried bicycle horns and we would hear them coming from far away. The bread man came around 8:45am. He was the wake up call for many.

While Colin and I were technically working for our stay, there was lots and lots of down time to surf, read, play music, talk and basically live the surf bum life.

Not all people could have stayed there long. There is a lot of work to do on the house. The lack of running water and the occasional lack of electricity made it difficult at times, but the people made it a treasured time for us. The conversations. The music. The time spent sitting on couches on the frontporch watching the surfers. This was the last spot in South America that we spent a significant amount of time. It was the right place to be.

Machu Picchu!

Colin, myself, Erika (mentioned in my last post), and Hayden all went to Machu Picchu. It is by far one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. And the journey to get there is almost as unforgettable....


We start in Cusco. We hop on a van that is an hour and a half late. There is a heated discussion between the driver and another man we cant understand as the 4 of us finally get on the van. They were supposed to pick us up at our hostel. We had one of our awesome hostel hosts call the van company when the van failed to show. They claimed that they had already picked us up. Hmmm.

Once in the van and on our way, we were treated to some beautiful sights.

At times we were literally inches from a very significant fall off a cliff. At one point our bus crossed a bridge that was literally made out of a few old boards. The back left wheel didn't even make it on the bridge

Seven hours later we arrived at a set of railroad tracks. From this point we could pay for a ticket to the base town of Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes. The other option is to walk along the tracks. We went that route. We ended up walking into the night, but it only added to the fun and charm of the expience. 

Side note: one sure way to make a train conductor laugh is to race the train as is slowly starts and gains momentum. Colin and I got quite the looks and a couple of cheers from the train goers.

Once in Aguas Calientes, we grabbed a quick dinner then went straight to bed. We had to get up the next morning around 4am to ensure we got on the first bus leaving for the 30 ride up the  mountain.

Once there, the four of us were the first people into the site. We got through the gate, started running, and got to a spectacular point to view the ancient city just as the sun rose.

Of course champagne and oranges are a must for such auspicious circumstances.

We spent the rest of the morning exploring the city and imagining what life must have been like here in its prime. What a great group of people to explore with! 

We took a trail back down to Aguas Calientes instead of paying the fee for the bus. Good time to have good conversations with new friends.

There, we found some great cheap street food, played a couple of games of Jenga, and met a hairless dog with a toupee. 

All in all, a day that we feel very blessed to have experienced together.