Huanchaco and Paita

I took a Linea bus to Trujillo at 8 am. It was a double-decked bus with a nice Lazy Boy seat on the lower level. But you could not see out the window due to the busses' paint scheme. I could barely see the last snow-capped mountain as I passed over the cordillera headed west. In Trujillo I took a taxi to Naylamp Hotel in Huanchaco and arrived about 2 pm. She tried to put me in an interior room but I saw the corner room available and she gave me the key. $16.50 a night with a window to the sea and the sound of the waves. The bed was as hard as a rock but I could deal with that. The weather was near perfect with highs around 75 and lows about 58. I immediately scoped the sea for birds and was amazed at the number of Peruvian boobies off shore. There must have been a large school of anchovies as they torpedoed into the sea for a meal. Huanchaco has a lot of restaurants and hostels and caters to the young traveler. I found good food and plenty of Cusqueña. I asked the desk to provide a taxi at 6:30 am for a trip to Lomas de Cerro Compana. It was only 10 miles away and would give me a few birds to add to my list. Of course, the driver lied, they almost all do, about knowing where it was I wanted to go. Being shrouded in sea fog didn't help. But I found a quebrada to walk and did see Oasis hummingbirds. He returned 3 hours later to retrieve me. That evening I found a beach bar and watched the sunset with cheap rum. They tend to wash wood floors with a gasoline mixture. I have 'smelled' this in a few places around Ecuador and Perú. I don't know what the fuck they are thinking, when they do think, but this floor was so wet I slipped. My shoes smelled of gas for a few days. The stupidity is confounding at times. I stopped at another bar for a hamburger off a Charbroil grill. And a Pisco. And, well, a few more rum-n-cokes. And damn, is that Campari on the shelf? All bright-eyed in the morning, I decided to head to Chan-Chan ruins. Not a cloud in the sky. A bus dropped me on the main road for a 1 mile walk to the entrance. Anytime you do something 'touristy' there is always a Peruvian near by to try to rip you off. An old man with a car showed me a map and told me there are three ruins all about 5 miles apart. I didn't even give him a chance to throw out his price. I walked to the ruins. The place is huge and only about a fourth of it is 'uncovered'. At the entrance there were no signs, no guide book and no employees. One lady asked in English if I wanted a guide for 40 Soles. Nope. I had to search to pay the 10 Soles fee. Then walked and walked. It was all built around 1400 AD. An amazing place right on the sea. The Chimu, they were called before the Incas came and disrupted everything. Ropes indicated the areas closed off, but that doesn't stop a Peruvian kid. They sit on the walls, climb over the ropes. They generally disrespect everything. There were no guards or employees to watch over tourists. I avoided all contact with people. After an hour of my tour I headed back to the main road and a bus back to my hotel. Bar, beer, rum, pisco.
In the morning I watched boobies torpedo the water and spotted about 150 great grebe off shore. Bingo! I took a walk along the beach where they grow reeds in holes and spotted the many-colored rushbird. What a beauty. After breakfast I caught a taxi to Trujillo and a bus back to Chiclayo. Intiotel, same room as before. I arranged to go to Túcume in the morning at 6 am and catch a taxi to Bosque de Pomac for the Peruvian plantcutter. I arrived around 7 am and found a dirt road along a canal alive with birds. The Moche built pyramids here at Sipan about 700 years earlier than the Chimu. Greenery in the desert. But no plantcutter. No sheartail either. But I was happy to be birding. It was hot. Of course I took a lot of water. I walked about 8 miles, I think. When I got back to the gate I had to keep walking to find a mototaxi. A few guys were butchering something along the side of the road. I asked for a ride. Blood everywhere. No. Then one dude changed his mind and he took me to the main road where I caught a collectivo back to Chiclayo. Went to a restaurant with great steak in a coffee sauce. Campari, beer, sleep. In the morning a Linea bus, again, but this one had clear windows. I almost wish it hadn't. Peruvians are the worst litter bugs. The amount of trash along the highways is staggering. They give a fuck. It is really sickening. They have no respect for environment. They pollute, wash floors with gas, and dump their shit directly in the rivers and ocean. I thought Ecuadorians were bad. My opinion of the people has diminished greatly because of their trash problem. They will never learn. They don't care. I couldn't look out the window anymore.
I got to Piura around 12:30 pm and took a tiny, shitty taxi to another bus which would take me to Paita. "How far to Paita?" An "hour and a half". I don't know why I ask questions. The answer is never true. In 45 minutes I arrived in Paita and went to the old Miramar hotel. It is an old mansion along the shore. They had an interior room with a window to the street. Nope. I walked with my bags around the corner and found Anamar Suites. She wanted 80 Soles but I offered cash for two nights and got her down to 60 Soles. A room overlooking the bay and a private balcony. Soft bed, sounds of the sea. I like it here. Found a nice bar on the water to watch Perú loose to Colombia in the Copa America semi-finals.
In the morning I took a walk to the Naval Station. I just felt like relaxing rather than look for birds. At evening I strolled the pier and streets and finally stopped at the bar on the bay. Shrimp rolls and beer.  A few seal lions came looking for scraps. The moon rose above the cliff and a lone great grebe tucked its beak in its wing and went to sleep on the water. A lesser nighthawk took to the sky at dusk and swept for insects. Small bats poured out of the old buildings and bounced in the air. It is Saturday night but there are no people in the streets. They are gearing up for a festival for fishermen. Everything is getting a new coat of paint. Coat number 48 from what I can tell.

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There was music on the beach, somewhere, all night. Until 3 am. But I got up at 6 am anyway to a great sunrise and the intention of going to Islilla and Isla Foca. No one was here to give me breakfast, or let me out the door. I had to sneak out the restaurant next door. Caught a mototaxi to a minivan which took me to Islilla. After walking around town with my binoculars, the taxi drivers have been calling me Juan Jhony. I Like it. It is only 25 minutes from here. The drive is through barren desert. Desert along a deep blue ocean. Isla Foca is white-washed in guano. A beautiful sight for a birder. First new bird was a red-legged cormorant. Saw about 24 of them. A little boy came up to me and started asking questions. I let him look through my binoculars. He pointed to a boat coming in with a load of squid and said that was his dad. My dad would have been 99 on the 15th and today is Fathers Day. He told me his dad would take me out to the island to see penguins. Maybe 50 Soles. His dad later told me 100 Soles and I would have to wait for the tide to come back in around 1pm. A three hour wait. I had a mototaxi take me to a restaurant. No menu, just squid and octopus. OK, I'll have a tortilla of squid and octopus. Not bad. The rice saved me. I took a walk along the beach and looked out to the channel. Humboldt penguin! Close to shore and preening his feathers. He was just bobbing  along and gave me great views. Then all the cormorants on the island decided to go for a flight. Guanay cormorants! I estimated more than 18,000! Within 2 hours I had the only 3 birds I came looking for. No need to spend $30 for a boat ride around the island. Why look at 20,000 birds sitting on cliffs shitting when they are much more exciting in flight. Between the cormorants, gulls and boobies there had to be more than 50,000 birds. And the sea lions were everywhere. A dead one floated by. The Pacific glittered blue. This is where the Humboldt Current drifts farther from shore and the cold and warm water come together. Bountiful. The fishermen were bringing in thousands of large squid with huge eyes. Some were 4 feet long. But this little village in the desert, along the sea, is isolated. Garbage everywhere. Human waste everywhere. This is the only place in South America where I have seen cats outnumber dogs. Kitty's everywhere. I had a great day. There are few birds left for me to look for in Perú. The penguin might just be my last, great new bird. Number 1,332. 578 for the year. 416 for Perú. Not bad considering transportation has been a problem. With a car I would have added 200 more, at least. But I am satisfied. Juan Jhony got his penguin. Off to Cabo Blano tomorrow. Cheers!

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