m a c h u p i c c h u

On sunday we took the train out of Cusco (picture 1) down into the "Sacred Valley" to check out the ancient city of Machu Picchu. It was absolutely incredible. Mind blowing. The way this civilization shaped and stacked rocks, with no mortar or cement and using only simple machines, is hard to imagine. They had a system of fresh water fountains, irregation, and sundials.

The city is much bigger than it looks from the pictures. It is about 1/2 of a mile long and 1/4 mile wide, and shaped to look like a Condor from above.

I am back in Chicama now and a big south swell is filling in! Going to shoot a lot of surfing the last two days of the trip.

Check out the band "Radical Face".

Paz!

p e r u : d a y ?

Where we are staying in Chicama is ridiculous. It may be the coolest hotel I've ever stayed at, no, it definitely is. You can sit in hot tub on the deck and watch the entire wave break down the point. The atmosphere, style, and people here are superb. I feel kind of out of place staying in such luxury in this dusty, small, middle of nowhere town.

I surfed for a few hours yesterday, this wave is fantastic! It needs a good size swell to break right, but was working well yesterday...today, not so much. And a good thing because I was in bed most of the day making frequent trips to el bano. Both ends. My theory of brushing my teeth with the local water to build up immunity just bit the dust. Actually, it is working. I bet I don't get this bug again while I am here. Best to get it out of the way early.

We will stay here for a couple more days before heading back south and to Machu Pichu.

Vaya con Dios!

p e r u : d a y t h r e e

My boards arrived at one o'clock on the second day and we went directly to the "best break in Lima", Herradora. It was overcast, cold, huge, and rocky. I didn't realize how big it actually was and paddled out on my 5'10. Not enough board for the macking double overhead plus sets that were pushing through. I was either not making it into the wave or trying to airdrop backside. I pulled off a couple drops for some super fun rides, but more often than not I ended up getting pummeled.

Today we headed south on the Pan American highway to a surf camp run by this rad dude, Oscar. Oscar gave us a ride to a left hand point known as Puerto Viejo (Old Point). Here I broke out the camera gear and filmed these big rollers filling the foggy sky.

p e r u : d a y o n e

The security line at the Orlando airport was horrendous. It made me despise Disney. Kids with Mickey Mouse ears getting yelled at by their parents on their way home from the "happiest place on earth". Yeah right.

I had the middle seat on my first flight. It has been awhile since I've had to sit in the middle but it wasn't so bad. I checked three bags and my surfboards did not make it. I have to pick them up tomorrow. The camera gear is all here safely though. If I had to pick one bag to get lost, it would have been my board bag. I just pray they make it here safely tomorrow. The swell is supposed to be pumping.

Jesus picked me up from the airport. That was pretty cool. He couldn't walk on water, but he could talk on two cell phones and navigate the Lima traffic simultaneously. That is pretty miraculous. It is late here but the Miraflores district of Lima is bustling. I'm off to bed, hoping to get up early and start capturing gold.

Adios!

s. america and other endevours

Hello friends. I am preparing to head south to the ancient Incan kingdom of Peru. It can be argued that the Peruvians are actually the founding fathers of surfing and not the ancient Polynesians. I will be starting work on a surf based documentary and surfing my brains out.

The documentary is going to explore the world's best waves through the eyes of the people who live on their shores and show how these local surfers revolve their lives around the wind and the tides. This will be the first trip of what may be a year and a half long project journeying through 25+ countries.

On this first trip down south we hope to score some heavers like this:

And find some endless points like this super long slider:


Gracias por leer! Vaya con Dios.