Lance Cherry

May 26, 2024 | travelwrite.co.za | Lance Cherry |Caroline Hurry

Chicama, north Peru, surfing nirvana. The longest ‘left’ wave on the planet. Up to 2.2km, on the rare occasions when the gods oblige and stars absolutely align. Set just beyond the southern fringe of scrubby little dust town Puerto Malabrigo (pop. 5,000), at the edge of what seems a never-ending ugly, stony desert. A fleet of big, ocean-going fishing trawlers anchors off a long, spindly tressle-dock. Smoke belches 24/7 from 10 processing plants set at the northern, rough end of town.

May 7, 2024 | travelwrite.co.za | Lance Cherry |Caroline Hurry

The Peruvian desert, which includes most of the nation’s western flank between the Andes Mountains and the Pacific Ocean, is not exceptionally wide, between 100km and 200km. But it is a long land of near nothing, a moonscape, running near the length of the country, 3,000km, or 10 percent of the nation.