Cabeleros and Playa Negra, Punta Hermosa.

Spring cedes to summer and the beach no longer is inhabited exclusively by surfers and walkers, it takes on that slightly more festive feel. The bikini´s come out and everyone is that much happier because they do. That was Punta Hermosa today. It´s about a 30 minute drive south from Lima and a wave rich area.

My camera isn´t really meant to shoot from the distances required at low tide so the images don´t really do it justice, but there were some good tubes going on out at Cabeleros today which although it looked disorganised had some great waves.

However my Chiro said I "could surf in 2 weeks when December begins..." that´s nearly a month, but nice of him to break it gently. So with not much else to do, towel down, speedos on, beer for lunch and Ceviche and Chicharron (raw and fried fish) brought down to the beach by the kind man all for the bargain price of just over twenty dollars. Its easy to remember it´s a private beach and the real Lima is not lying on the beach, feasting on raw fish and bikini´s.

Lunch was followed by a heated discussion with Financial Times Correspondent and flat mate Naomi Mapstone on world issues such as American health care, the state of Islam, and of course the environment. Now the Penwith massive of Cornwall have instilled in me high environmental morals that I have at times found rather hard to follow. For instance in Penzance when I have seen people litter, I have taken the litter back to them and explain they must have "dropped it by accident" , if you took that approach here.....it just wouldn´t come off. So anyway I couldn´t help but have a chuckle at the new Eco Toilet that has been erected.

Pico Alto had a few rather large bombs coming through with no takers, Senoritas doesn´t seem to have had a decent wave since the end of last summer. I´ll be interested to see if Cabeleros losses or gains ( I never worked that bit out) sand and deteriorates whilst Senoritas improves through the summer. So I went to see how Scarface was getting on over at Playa Negra. It looked much better than it actually was and though there was size, it was pretty closey. As I straddled a crumbling wall on a sandy cliff, I couldn´t help but notice a left on the otherside of the bay that was big,bulky, beautiful and completely unridden, I´m sure it has a name and people ride it but for now I remain in the dark. Anyway Scarface was out there of Inkawaves.blogspot.com fame and it was a beautiful session for them as the sun shone till the death of the day.

Peruvians are not the first people to back down, anyone who has driven in Lima will know what I mean...so it was with great interest that I saw my first Localism fight today. Interesting tactics were used, rather than a good old fashion put your dukes up situation or even a less respectable kick, these boys taught me Peruano styly. So kicks and punches are out, gotta watch the looks etc, instead lots of grabbing and rolly pollys and then when one tires of the farce the winner then drowns the guy in the shorebreak, holding him under.....I´ve never seen it done before and may be never again, but that´s what went down.

The last picture made me remember a conversation I had with Claire Whiley aged 9 when we did a.... you show me yours and I´ll show mine. .... obviously someone has to go first.