Sorry I haven't blogged more recently guys. I'm sure you'll get over it though.
For the weekend of Semana Santa (April 5th through the 8th) I spent a lovely weekend with my cousin Chris and his family at his mother-in-law's beach house in Punta Negra. It is normally only a 45 minute drive south of Lima, but with all the holiday traffic it took a bit longer than that.
We arrived to a small town right on the coast with dirt roads and a smattering of little parks with monuments and various flora. Broken glass was cemented on top of the walls that surrounded houses, just to dissuade any would-be robbers. Dogs wandered the streets, but other than that, there was little traffic, quite the change from bustling and noisy Lima. The only sound to be heard was the crashing waves of the ocean, which I could see from the roof of the beach house. This may have been my favorite part of Punta Negra: the constant rhythm of the huge waves breathing in and out along the endless coast. I think I could taste the salt in the air.
We spent days on the beach; I hid in the shade for the most part, not wanting to mess with this powerful Peruvian sun. Since the waves were so big, it was too dangerous to really swim in the ocean. I'd go in up to my waist or so and could already feel the incredibly powerful under toe luring me out. The pelicans and other water fowl seemed to love it, and I enjoyed watching them swoop down and come up munching on some poor fish. Chris took me to the club where I tried calamari and ceviche. Both were delicious but I was a little weirded out by the tentacles and suckers visible on the calamari. The beer tasted even more delicious after a hot day in the sun. In the evening, Chris got out his guitar and he and I jammed a couple of tunes for the family and some other guests. We did House of the Rising Sun, which was a favorite of Chris's mother-in-law, Magnolia, Dust in the Wind, and a traditional Mexican song called La Llorona. I also played some of my bluegrass, which everyone seemed to enjoy.
This coming Friday, I will be heading to Iquitos with Grace, Kelsey and Mike. We are going on an Amazon river tour that will last three days. We'll get to see monkeys and pink river dolphins, fish for piranhas, and go bird watching and hiking. I'll be sure to blog about that when I get back, so keep an eye out for amazing tales from the Amazon!
Until then,
Abby
