HUANCHACO - Easter, Beach and Diarrhea
Published on Anja Tags: PeruTrujilloHuanchacoStrand
Accommodation
We booked accommodation close to the beach via Airbnb. The "Chakana House" hostel cost 16 Euros for one night; we extended our time and paid less for the second night (since there were no Airbnb service fees involved). Jorge was nice and offered us breakfast, lunch and dinner of the highest quality for an extra charge. Since we were allowed early into the room and he provided us with tips for the area, we bought a dinner for 20 Soles incl. drink. The taste was okay, but definitely not a flavor explosion ;) The shower in the private bathroom was hot and since we had caught something, the private toilet was very advantageous ;)
Sights
Since we were not here for long and we were also sick, we have not seen so much and the planned surfing lesson has also "fallen in the water". Nonetheless, we were
- at the "Plaza de Armas"
- in the park "María del Socorro"
- on the "Playa Huancarute" beach
- on the "Playa Varadero" beach
- and finally by chance in the fish museum, which was even free.
On the way to Trujillo (we had to buy our bus ticket at the terminal) we also saw the ruins of Chan Chan. I believe that the city would have had a lot to offer in terms of sights, but well, unfortunately, it didn't work out :)
We actually liked the beach much less than we thought. We were here over Easter and everything was overcrowded and really littered. In addition, the "Caballitos de Totora", the local reed boats or reed ponies, are equipped with styrofoam. Historically, these boats have existed for over 2000 years and quite honestly: for me that's somehow fake. There shouldn't be any EPS rigid foam in there! After all, during the Moche culture, there wasn't any either. By the way, tourists can ride on the back as a passenger.
Transportation
In Huanchaco everything was within walking distance and we took a taxi from Huanchaco to Trujillo. By the way, thanks to Jorge (our host) we switched to the InDrive app, which is supposed to be cheaper than Uber.
Food and Drink
In Huanchaco we chose a very pretty restaurant called "Italian Summer", which belongs to the "Club Colonial" hotel. There we ordered half a pizza (= Mediana / Medium for 19 Soles) and chamomile tea (each 6 Soles). The atmosphere was really wonderful and the service was super nice. Highly recommended"!
Here is the link to the menu.
Cafes and restaurants
- Italian Summer or Club Colonial
- Chocolate Cafe
- Ricco Di (in Trujillo)
Plants and animals
On Huanchaco beach we saw a fisherman with a ray and two fish. What species they were, I can't say exactly. And I believe they were still alive…
Number of Germans in the city
No observed cases.
Contact with locals
With Jorge, our Airbnb host.
People met
While I was sitting on the beach with stomach ache and no mood, Nina ventured into the cold water. At some point I lost sight of her (my book was probably very captivating) and I spotted her a bit further away in the heart of a small group. As it turned out, she had probably been talked into staying ;)
Expenses
Apart from the laundry and our food, there were actually no expenses to report.
Standard stand offer
- Small pendants (with the reed ponies)
- Chains
- Shell stuff
- … and much more trinkets ;)
Laundry
We had our laundry washed at the Sunset-Laundry. In total, we paid 16.50 Sol.
Unsolved Mysteries
Why is this beach so littered?
Bus to Máncora
Actually, we wanted to go to Máncora with "Primavera"; after reading the many, many negative comments, we discarded the idea. Instead, we decided on "Ittsa" and stayed (since all departures were booked out for our desired day) one day longer. In retrospect, it was quite good, we honestly had to recover a little first. All buses leave from Trujillo and we decided on "Sofa-Cama" at 7:30 pm. For 100 Soles there was even a small care package on top. Our experience with this company was very good.
Post Scriptum
A few pictures can be found again under https://hoenisch.eu/photo/mo/sharing/VOy9M5ZqI