LIMA PERU - TATTOO CONVENTION LAST YEAR

Lima is a rad city. Peru is a real gem. It is full of unexpected surprises!! We were scheduled to do a seminar at the convention put on by Ramon. There are 2 conventions that happen there, one is put on by Ramon and the other by Miguel... We prefer Ramon's convention. It is bi annual and very professional.

We usually arrive at least a day prior to the event so we can iron out any kinks before we do the seminar, wether we need to buy tools, supplies, copy participation certificates or whatever it may be. On our way to do our shopping routine, we walked past a music store, saw some stuff we wanted to check out. While we were there, a guy came up to us, he said he recognized us from Thrasher Magazine from 1990!! He was an ex-sponsored skater named Juani Masias... we made friends and set up a time to surf in the morning. Morning came too soon, but we were excited to surf Peruvian waves!!! He picked us up and we were off...

Peruvian Surf Vehicle

We drove south down the coast passing old parts of the city which were once trendy and have lost their modern appeal. These places were full classic architecture, and very colorful. You would expect this country to be warm all year round but that is not the case! Remember, when you move further from the equator, in either direction, you start to have seasons. These seasons on opposite ends of the globe, are opposite from each other. For instance, when it's winter in Canada, it's summer in Argentina. Same as Peru. We were there in their fall... the water was cold, in this photo, you can see the greyness... look at Steve freezing his ass off...

Behind Steve is where we surfed. The beach was called Caballeros... it breaks into a cove, there are rights and lefts. This day, there were waves, it was 6-8 feet on the face. If you look to the left in the photo, around the middle of the picture, you will see some waves breaking WAY outside... this peak is called "Pico Alto". This is a HUGE wave.. it breaks way out and you have to be towed into it in order to get on. You wouldn't have the strength to paddle onto it on your own. In this photo, we're facing the ocean, what do you think is behind us when you're looking toward the ocean? Topical Greenery? Palms? NOPE!!!

Sand dunes and more sand dunes. Those are all little ghetto houses on the side of the dune. As desolate as it looks, it has a real cool personality. The waves were clean and good... strong and relatively uncrowded. It was a good time. Our friend Juani, shaped one of the boards we took out. Totally functional but visually unconventional. We came in and got some food at the restaurant/surf shop there before we headed back to the city.

Art and Juani eating chips and talking shit.

The way back was interesting too!! We were re routed to different roads due to a potential riot about to happen. There were cops in riot gear, shields and helmets... people on the other side of the street ready to go. Not sure what it was about, but after many travels in South America, we could guess that it may have something to do with the government f*cking their people over in some way.

How many of you readers have eaten ceviche? It's a raw fish prepared in lime juice. The lime juice "cooks" the fish. Peru is well known for that dish, as well as a juice made out of corn! This was on the menu for us that night. The traditional Peruvian foods we ate were great. There was one in particular which was NOT so hot... anticuchos... cow heart. Not so good.

The tattoo convention was great, it was packed. In our seminar, we met several artists from different countries, the most standout ones were the Naranjo Brothers. They are from Ecuador, Quito to be exact. The shop they own is called House of Style. They are unreal artists... both of them. Mauro is the older brother, he is a machine builder as well. His creations are original and very well tuned. It shows in the tattoos he does... we met other brothers there who bought machines from us. In the photo below, they teamed up on a back piece. They finished this in 5 hours. The client sat like a champion!

All that red is NOT blood!!!

The convention was a success for us and even if it wasn't monetarily profitable, just being there is worth every penny you spent. The culture is rad, the people are cool, the scenery is unbelievable, the waves were quality, the food delicious... can't wait to go again!