Chicama

After months spent in the chill of the Arctic, my recent travels (belated honey moon) took me to the oxygen deprived heights of the South American mountain peaks (those who follow me on Instagram would know). All of this has been amazingly beautiful, @-disconnected, very challenging at times, and mostly quite cold.

Now, time for more oxygen, more water, more heat, & more waves ! I will be travelling from break to break from the North Coast of Peru, down to the the mid-coast of Chile, with a little escape to the Galapagos Islands in the middle of this (yes !). I’ll take you with me on this journey from now on, before coming home to Australia late September, just before departing to Fiji again. Still some frequent flyer points to be gained…

The first wave to be featured is Chicama, claiming the longest left-hander in the World. Is it true? Is it not?…Well, I am not sure, but it’s pretty long. Your legs will give up long before the wave will die. We’ve been lucky with the timing of our arrival on-site. 3 to 5 foot with favorable winds. Perfect combo!

The problem with such a long wave is the paddle back to the point. 2 options:

– walking back past the point, and paddle back into position, but keep paddling again and again to try to stay into the same spot.

– or, you can hire the services of a Zodiac who will take you back to the point after every wave surfed.

I went for option number 1, as a matter of principle and environmental concern, but I was secretly envying the takers of option number 2 after 1 hour of hard paddling and spaghetti arms…

Crowds ?…Yes. There could be 50 people in the water. But on a wave as long as 2km, I reckon that’s very manageable.

This wave is a real wonder. Seeing it in magazines or in pictures doesn’t really give it justice.

Have a great day !

Franck