The birthday dinner

We have been a little quite on the blog front for a few days now, which I could say was from rushing around and being exhausted from doing too much. To tell you the truth - we have been at a very layed back beach in the north of Peru called Mancora. Known for its party scene and as one of the best surfing spots in Peru we weren't sure what to expect. Overall, we found it very relaxing and spent our 5 days there by the pool, eating ceviche and indulging in the odd happy hour beer. Unfortunately Ryan didn't manage to get a surf in as the break was quite large but directly over a rocky area, sending a lot of people back to the shore with large cuts and damaged boards.

Another reason we decided to stay in Mancora was that Ryan was due to catch up to me in age and turn 27. After getting some recommendations on a great restaurant in the area we ended up at the local steakhouse, which seemed a little strange considering we were at the beach, but as you can see the steaks were quite impressive. For the steak we decided on a local specialty which was a loin of beef served with potato chips, egg and stewed banana, the sides tasted great and the steak was extremely tender and cooked to perfection. We also tried a nachos burger and washed it all down with two for one mojitos.

As it was a birthday celebration the meal wouldn't have been complete without a birthday cake. Unfortunately, finding an actual cake is next to impossible in small towns of Peru, so we settled for a recommended desert bar. Again we opted to try something local and thought that a desert called a Lima girl sigh would be nice. It seems that most of the desserts here are extremely sugary and this one certainly fit that description with a bottom layer of dulce de leche (similar to caramal) enriched with egg yolks and a sweet, stiff meringue made with port wine. However, it was delicious, so much so, we made a repeat visit to the desert bar to try their lemon delight later in the week.

We had a great stay in Mancora and seemed to avoid any raging parties to make it a very relaxing stay, and (I think) Ryan had a great birthday. It would have been nice to stay longer but we had a 24hr bus ride booked to Ica, in the south of Peru, and plenty more places we are looking forward to see.

- Louise -