Where would you go?

Wondering if there are surfable waves someplace you've never visited? Or have you had an injury and want to compare experiences? Do it here!

Moderators: jimmy, collnarra, PeepeelaPew, Butts, Shari, Forum Moderators

User avatar
kreepykrawly
Owl status
Posts: 4181
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2005 10:03 pm
Location: AWAY FROM SURF CAMPS

Post by kreepykrawly » Mon May 21, 2007 12:35 pm

spent my life travelling. About to head back there towards the end of the year or early next year.
Since mini me kreepykrawly was born Ive slowed down heaps.

P.s loved La Paz. Did that crazy downhill bicycle thing there. Went to the zoo as well and of course the famous "cocaine" prison.

User avatar
crooked
Local
Posts: 471
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2005 4:55 pm

Post by crooked » Mon May 21, 2007 12:51 pm

kreepykrawly wrote:Mate has just got back from Colombia. Trying to sell his boat over there. He reckons security over there has just become full on.
I reckon its the only place in South America that i feel a little unsafe.
My uncle is the Australian consul over there.

More Australians get kidnapped in Colombia than any other country in the world.

I saw a couple of dead bodies in an alley

We also went on a car trip one day, on the way we passed a tollway (like the M5 tollway), on the way back we had to 4WD drive right around the tollway.

It had been levelled by Guriella with gas bottles, they set up concrete pipes on the back of a ute, put the gas bottles in and smash the end off the bottle, just like a crazy orange gun

User avatar
kreepykrawly
Owl status
Posts: 4181
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2005 10:03 pm
Location: AWAY FROM SURF CAMPS

Post by kreepykrawly » Mon May 21, 2007 1:14 pm

Ive come across heaps of American business people over their that have had colleagues kidnapped. Quite often they are kept for years by there captors and if they are lucky to get them back they are pretty f-cked up.
Metal detectors at every hotel entrance.
Its like the wild west !!!

User avatar
crooked
Local
Posts: 471
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2005 4:55 pm

Post by crooked » Mon May 21, 2007 1:45 pm

kreepykrawly wrote:Ive come across heaps of American business people over their that have had colleagues kidnapped. Quite often they are kept for years by there captors and if they are lucky to get them back they are pretty f-cked up.
Metal detectors at every hotel entrance.
Its like the wild west !!!
Yep, except with uzis, AK47s, machetes and hand grenades.

You can get scammed in every possible way over there, the best one I heard of was chucking a snake in your car window and when you get out they steal your car.

They steal manholes from the road for scrap metal, so you really have to watch where your going.

And don't cut off a truck. My uncle did and saw the driver bend down to pick something up...

he put his head down and dropped the clutch, BOOM two seconds later his headrest is blown away by a shotgun the driver picked up. Luckily my uncle escaped with only a couple of pellets in his shoulder.

They also got kidnapped once, but thats another story

diro
Grommet
Posts: 37
Joined: Thu Jun 28, 2007 12:30 am
Location: Indo

Post by diro » Thu Jul 12, 2007 3:14 am

Image

Peru is going to be gangbusters! Water is kinda on the cool side though; bring a wetsuit (full or short john). If you are going in January, that is an excellent time to get some southern hemi swells.

Carpark King
regular
Posts: 320
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2005 10:34 pm
Location: Whale/Avalon

Post by Carpark King » Thu Jul 12, 2007 10:37 am

I have nearly out Peru in the too hard basket now..! Got some people I know over there and they have all been mugged.

That can happen anywhere and its not really a deterrant but in saying that I will most likely be travelling by myself with 3 boards and no Spanish.

I keep changing my mind each week but at the moment im thinking of going to Indo over summer for a couple of weeks, then save my cash and head over to Southern France (Hossegor, Biarritz) for their summer next year for 6 weeks or so...

sliver
Grommet
Posts: 40
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2005 9:00 am

Post by sliver » Thu Jul 12, 2007 11:23 am

I've spent 2 months travelling in Peru and Bolivia on and off the beaten track not long ago and I loved it!

Don't listen too much to people saying they've been mugged etc. You obviously have to be careful, expecially in the cities, but they are pretty safe countries overall.

I found Bolivia super safe and relaxed. As KK said, the worst that can happen to you is to get stranded for a few days because of a political demonstration, but I felt at ease in La Paz. The high altitude is definitely the worst danger.

They are incredibly interesting and diverse countries, the people and scenery are fantastic. Peru, Ecuador and Chile for that matters have great surf.

That said, a bit of Spanish goes a long way to make the trip more enjoyable.

emerald snake
newbie
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2006 11:03 pm
Location: Emerald Beach/Ballina

Post by emerald snake » Sun Jul 22, 2007 2:45 pm

you will def get better waves in peru than in indo...and with no crowds.

i agree with the previous post. dont take any notice of the bad stories being posted. i was told the same things before i left. i did pretty much all the countries in south america, including the infamous darien coastline in columbia. nothing happened. people will have horror stories from any place on the globe, but this is not the norm.

peru is super chilled and the people are so friendly. having no spanish should not stop you going. spanish is like english. all you need to know is basic phrases like how to get to places and cost. not hard. they also help you learn in peru.

i wouldnt rule it out. and in jan/feb the northern swells start to arrive which makes it epic.

User avatar
kreepykrawly
Owl status
Posts: 4181
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2005 10:03 pm
Location: AWAY FROM SURF CAMPS

Post by kreepykrawly » Sun Jul 22, 2007 7:18 pm

Peru does not have better waves than Indo. Full Stop.

emerald snake
newbie
Posts: 19
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2006 11:03 pm
Location: Emerald Beach/Ballina

Post by emerald snake » Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:47 pm

i didnt say it did. i said he would get better waves in peru.

sure indo has flawless reefs, but most are filled with once a year wave hogs and 2nd tier pros.

lobitos is longer, more consistent than deserts. i know where i would rather be. def not josting in g-land or ulus or even these days one palm for a decent left barrel.

User avatar
kreepykrawly
Owl status
Posts: 4181
Joined: Wed Dec 07, 2005 10:03 pm
Location: AWAY FROM SURF CAMPS

Post by kreepykrawly » Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:46 am

emerald snake wrote:i didnt say it did. i said he would get better waves in peru.

sure indo has flawless reefs, but most are filled with once a year wave hogs and 2nd tier pros.

lobitos is longer, more consistent than deserts. i know where i would rather be. def not josting in g-land or ulus or even these days one palm for a decent left barrel.
Dont get me wrong Emerald i love South America and i love the people. I would totally recomend a trip there for anyone... especially if your sick of Indo and want a break from Nasi f-cking goreng, hassling harbour side benchongs and salmonela chicken. The first time i tried to find lobitos i got totally lost.
The people are friendly and if you follow the well worn tracks of tourists you will be safe. I like to get off the beaten track and so have found myself in some "dangerous" situations at times.

Deserts is a far better wave(barrel wise) than lobitos but there is something about surfing that wave(lobitos) with only a handfull of people out with those long wally waves that brings the same smile to my face as it did when i had just had an epic Deserts surf.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests