Huanchaco/Trujillo

I have been having the most exasperating time with computers and the internet since I got to the northern part of Peru.  In Chiclayo, I had to use internet cafes, which took me forever to find and were just terrible!  No hookups for my camera, crummy keyboards that would go out and I´d find words and parts of sentences missing, a mouse that lost its roller ball, keys that didn´t work etc.... When I got to Huanchaco I was happy to find the hostel I was at had 2 computers but one broke down that first day and there were so many people wanting to use the one left, it was hard to get much time on. 

Caballitos de totora are reed watercrafts used by Peruvian fishermen, originally the Moche people, for the past 3,000 years, archaeologically evidenced from pottery shards.

Named for the way they are ridden, straddled ('little reed horses' in English), fishermen use them to transport their nets and collect fish in their inner cavity. The name is not the original name as horses were not introduced to South American until after the Spanish arrived in the 15th Century. They are made from the same reed, Scirpus californicus, used by the Los Uros people in the Lake Titicaca region.

Fishermen in the port town of Huanchaco famously still use these vessels to this day, riding the waves back into shore, and suggesting some of the first forms of wave riding. There is currently a minor debate in the surfing world as to whether or not this constitutes the first form of surfing.

Sunset in Huanchaco

Reed Fishing Boats or "Caballitos de totora"

I said goodbye to Huanchaco taking one last run on the beach this morning. there was a humungous dead sea lion on the beach, He must´ve been dead for a while because he was turned almost white. I didn´t even notice the stench till the second time running by it. 

I am now at an internet cafe in Trujillo. I, and my bags, took a collectivo here (s1.5)! The keyboard is giving me fits.....maybe it is the humid weather......part of it is that I type by sight with three fingers and half the keys are worn off.....

I got to Trujillo early in the afternoon and immediately upon going out for a walk, spotted the Museo Cassinelli only two blocks from my Hostel!  Upon getting to the door, I saw it was closed from 1 am to 3 pm then reopened til 6pm.  I went for a walk to a mall about 12 blocks away where I hung out for a couple hours.  Upon returning to the museum, I saw two tourists, a couple, in the lobby getting their picture taken with Mr. Cassinelli.  He was older and thinner but I recognised him from pictures i had seen of him on the internet.  I asked the ticket person how much a tour cost and he said s5.  I dug into my pockets and only came up with s4.90 .10 short but he would not let me in.  I told him I would be right back with more money.  As I was leaving to go get some more money I saw the two tourists outside talking excitedly with looks of wonder and amazement in their eyes.  I got back at 5:30 pm and the museum was closed!  They closed early!  I was very disappointed!