From Piura we took an early morning bus to Máncora, a small beach town on the northern coast of Peru that reminded us of Newquay. We checked into a hostel on the beachfront and then made the arduous 15 yard trek to the beach where we bumped into the people we had met in Ecuador. The beach was incredible and the sea was really warm with some great surf as well so we spent plenty of time swimming in the 4 days we were there. Another highlight was finding a restaurant that served a 2 course meal for 5 soles (about £1.25!) - we ate there a few times! The only downside was that we were eaten alive by mosquitoes on the first night to which Tim had some really bad reactions.

As we came out of the sea one evening there was a pelican walking slowly along the beach who didn´t seem the slightest bit worried about people. It was an amazing bird and much bigger than we had realised from seeing them flying over the sea. We got some incredible photos of ourselves stood near it (not too close - it´s got quite a reach with that beak!) and of the sunset behind the bird. We think it may have had an injured wing but not being certified vets we could be talking bo***cks (not unusual in Tim´s case).

Máncora has definately been the highlight of the trip for us so far, we would have stayed longer if we didn´t have such a rush on to get to Cusco for the Inca Trail.