Mancora

Day 1:

After enduring a terrible, 3-hr taxi ride and arriving in the dark (around 9pm) the night before, Mancora and the Pashbells had some making up to do.

We took it slow the first day—enjoying the views from our deck and scrounging up some coffee.

Mancora: Our airbnb was in Las Pocitas, which is a 10-minute tuk tuk ride (picture a motorcycle with a carriage over the back wheel) from Mancora. The road is extremely rough, so instead of calling a tuk tuk, we decided to jog the 2.5 miles along the beach to Mancora—the main beach town with food, vendors, and surf schools. Once there, we ate at a delicious breakfast spot called “Green Eggs and Ham” and we took turns swimming. Contrary to the name… it wasn’t an English speaking place.

La Sirena d Juan: This is the best restaurant in Mancora—we ordered two kinds of ceviche, some ravioli with roasted goat (a traditional northern Peruvian cuisine). All of it was delicious and the restaurant vibe was delightful.

Las Pocitas: We braved the tuk tuk back to our airbnb and settled in for a Las Pocitas evening. We layed low and went to the beach near our place—it is much less crowded but the wind picked up so it was a bit too cold for round two of a swim. That evening we ordered delivery from a Mancora restaurant called Tao and chowed down while watching our new fav show—“Somebody Feed Phil”. Vacation bliss.

Day 2

Pacifico Adventures Whale Tour: We were up at 5:45am for a whale tour starting from a nearby port called Los Organos. Our marine biologist guide, Camilla, and the whole team were clearly passionate about their work and were just as exited (if not more??) when we found a humpback whale and her calf. After following them for a while and listening to their songs, we were about to head back when one of the other passengers spotted something in the water: a whale shark. This was an extremely rare sighting and the first one Camilla had seen in her 7 years in the field. (She shed some tears.) Whale sharks are an endangered species of shark—but they don’t have teeth and they feed on small creatures by opening their mouths wide and swimming near the top of the water. They have poor eyesight, which is why the whale shark swam right up to our boat several times. Whale sharks also have stunning, spotted skin that make them a sight to behold.

Las Pocitas: We spent the rest of the day at the beach near our airbnb—swimming, reading, napping. We found a beachside bar and ordered a few pina coladas.

Kichic: Mason found a vegetable-forward restaurant at a boutique hotel for dinner. We took a stroll down the beach at sunset (stunning!) and enjoyed a delicious meal. We miss vegetables a lot—so despite ourselves the beet carpaccio was a favorite.

Tequeños: These deserve their own entry. Tequeños are a Venezuelan appetizer served throughout Peru: they are made of fried wontons with cheese in the middle, dipped in guacamole. We ordered them 4 times, including at Kichic, and we will try to recreate them at home. (The best ones we had were in Olla at Bar ell@s—not a typo.)

Day 3:

Snorkel: We got up early and checked out of our airbnb at 7am for a final day snorkel trip. We really hate to complain—but this was a mistake: strong current, no visibility, cloudy, and very few fish to be seen. Fool us once. We had no place to go back to get cleaned up before a long travel night/day ahead of us.

Without accommodations, we tried to shower off at the snorkel HQ (No hot water! No soap! No towels!) Fool us twice. We did our best and then wandered around town until our taxi grabbed us at 5pm to begin the journey home. We went back to green eggs and ham, read, walked around the beach, and ate an early dinner at Tokuyo Cocina Asiática. Thanks to these food establishments trying to save the last day of our honeymoon!!

Fingers crossed to not be fooled a third time…

Thanks for following along 😊 — until next time!!

Mas and D