Fishing off the Negritos Pier

We've been fishing off this pier a few times already. It's a large pier in the middle of the desert between two towns, with no way to get onto it except climbing up some pieces of shattered concrete and metal pipe. Only in Peru. Next time we go, I'll try to remember to get a picture of the climb onto the pier. Click the pictures for high-res.

The Pacific.

Looking north up the coast toward Talara.

Ship traffic coming out of "El Puerto" (Talara harbour).

Looking south toward Negritos.

Looking south toward Negritos. At the right you can see the Punta Parinas lighthouse. Negritos is behind the cliffs to the
 left.

Such a Peruvian place to put a deep-water pier.

Peru's northern coast is known for its sandy bluffs.

Looking across the desert toward Talara.

Fishing the traditional Peruvian way, with a line and a length of PVC tube instead of a rod.

Pelican.

Sunset over the Pacific.

Sunset over the Pacific.

Sunset over the Pacific.

Sunset over the Pacific.

Sunset over the Pacific.

Me.

Next: Wherever I go this weekend.

Punta Balcones, Peru

Punta Balcones, the western tip of South America - although some people say it's Punta Pariñas, the next point over with the lighthouse on it. Balcones is about 10 minutes away from my house by taxi ($2 per person because the road is so rough - normal fare is 50 cents or so). Click the pictures for high-res versions.

The Pacific goes all the way to Papua New Guinea from here.

The beach is uninhabited for 50km to the south.

There are thousands of oil platforms off South America's Pacific coast.

Negritos, the fishing village to the north of Punta Balcones.

Punta Pariñas, the other possible western tip of South America. It's only separated from Balcones by a small bay,
 so it's really splitting hairs to say one is more west than the other.

The wind is so intense that birds can stay in the air without moving.

There is a giant rock in the ocean off the western tip of South America where sea lions live. Somebody tell David Attenborough.

Sea lions.

Sea lions.

Sea Lions.

This is what a tourist spot looks like in the North Peruvian desert (the parking lot and sign for Punta Balcones). The parking lot is paved
 and the road leading out from it starts out paved but turns into a potholed dirt track long before it gets to Negritos.
That kind of thing is pretty common in Peru.

Bird. It would be cool if I knew what kind, but I don't.

Next: Fishing off the Negritos Pier.

Talara, Peru (Part 1)

This is where I'm living in South America. It's a town of roughly 50,000 people that runs on oil and fishing. It was mostly built by Americans during and after World War 2 (there was an American airbase here during the war, and most of the oil from Northern Peru flows through here - 62,000 barrels per day). It sits in a valley where several dry river beds come together, in one of the few coastal deserts anywhere in the world. It is always sunny here, and heading into South American spring it's about 20 degrees most days with intense winds blowing down off the hills (click on the pictures for high-res versions).

I share this apartment with Freddy, the other gringo teacher at my school.

View from my front window: :the road out of town climbs the hills behind these buildings (the one on the right with the
 electric fence under the windows is a private primary school).

My street in one of the nicer neighbourhoods of Talara.

My street. In the upper left you can see the gates of the only gated community in Talara, where I teach high school once
 a week. In the upper right, you can see the smokestacks of the refinery.

View from my roof up the hill toward Talara Alta, a poorer section of town. Volkswagens and Volkswagen knockoffs are
 popular here.

The view of Talara from my roof. The nicer neighbourhoods are arranged around parks and ours (Parque 54) is in the
 foreground. The grass is watered with fire hoses. In the top left you can see the cranes at the port and at the top right
 you can see the domes of the church on the main square. The tanks on the roofs are water tanks. Talara's has no source
 of fresh water and gets it from nearby towns, but it only comes every other day. People either build a water tank on their
 roof, or only have running water half the time.

The view of Parque 54 from my window. I'm lucky; most people in Talara don't get to have
trees outside their windows.

A cactus lovingly gardened in Parque 54.

Next: A visit to Punta Balcones, the western tip of South America.