Hanging out in Lima:
“’Yeah, it’s the big man’s nickname,’ Markus said and exhaled smoke through the corner of his mouth. ‘Some of the locals living up in the altiplano gave it to him when he first made to South America. They went scurrying for cover when they mistook his booming voice for thunder. Thunder’s as good a nickname as any for him.’”
Surfing Punta Hermosa:
“Shooting down the face, I used the momentum to cut back up the wave, and a hollow, thundering sound opened behind me. I looked back and found the wave barreling, forming a tube of rolling water. I dragged my fingers through the face of the wave, slowing the board’s momentum, and squatted down. The wave caught up and covered me. It sucked me back into its hollow. Inside, the sun glinted through the top of the wave. A great rumbling bellowed through the tube, and wind gushed, spraying water past me. So this is what it’s like to be in the green room, I thought. With a final heave, the wave spat me out and the barrel closed. The raging wave tired and slopped the rest of its way to shore.”
“We walked over to the single arrival gate as the whine of the engines fell. The tiny airport was constructed with wood lattice walls that allowed jungle breezes to pass through and knock off a couple of degrees of the sweltering heat. Beads of perspiration appeared on my arms.
It was nine a.m.
Heading into the Amazon:
“We walked over to the single arrival gate as the whine of the engines fell. The tiny airport was constructed with wood lattice walls that allowed jungle breezes to pass through and knock off a couple of degrees of the sweltering heat. Beads of perspiration appeared on my arms.
It was nine a.m.
“Three wobbly fans spun from the high ceiling inside the wood lattice structure. Passengers crowded the single luggage carousel inside. Yellowing posters hung about the arrival gate, warning about mosquitoes and the risk of malaria. They silently requested certificates, but no one was present to check for yellow fever vaccinations or administer the shots if needed.”
