Islands, Sand, Lines, Fun

From Lima I "coasted" on down to the Paracas peninsula, to the crummy little town of El Chaco. The reason one goes to Paracas is not to see countless stray dogs or to enjoy a happening nightlife (guess which of those I discovered). Instead the Islas Ballestas are what bring the tourists. These small islands off the coast are known as the "poor-man's Galapagos" because they provide tremendous wildlife viewing, but on a lesser scale than the Galapagos.

To get to the islands it is a ~45 minute journey via motorboat. The lines for the boats are really long, so it was a major relief to finally get on a boat. The tour guide spoke both English and Spanish, and most importantly he had a great eye for spotting wildlife. We briefly stopped along the peninsula to take a look at the large "Candelabra" design set in the side of a sandy hill. Nobody knows the purpose of the image, but they know it dates back to pre-Inca times. Following that stop we headed directly to the islands. The seas were rough, yet our boat managed to weave around the islands to reach the top photo spots. On this tour you do not go on the islands, you stay in the boat. Even so, I saw a few Humboldt penguins, Inca terns, Peruvian boobies, Peruvian pelicans, very vocal sea lions, and a group of bright red shrimp alongside the boat. Green, Hawksbill, and Leatherback sea turtles are supposedly out there, but I saw none. Without the turtles this tour was still easily my favorite activity to this point in my travels. There were so many birds, though rumor has it there were several times more back in the days of the Inca.

That same day I also went on a less exciting bus tour (do not go on bus tours!) on the desert peninsula itself. I hoped for a few geckos or a snake, and only saw more of the same birds. The views of the desert meeting the ocean were dramatic, so that saved this tour from being a bore. I also saw Peruvian boobies diving into the water for fish - very cool. We stopped briefly at a fishing village where I had my first taste of ceviche as well! It was called "toyo" or small shark, as the menu translation stated. The shark was rubbery yet flavorful. Overall that variety of ceviche gets my stamp of approval.

The next day I met up with some English folks in the desert oasis of Huacachina. I got totally screwed over by a taxi on my way in, which meant I needed this stop to function as a pick-me-up. It absolutely did! Huacachina is literally a tiny town built in a circle around a small lake. Surrounding it on all sides are massive sand dunes, which held the key to improving my mood. With my English pals and some American med school students I went on a thrilling tour of the seemingly endless dunes via buggy. The dunes were seriously massive, so as part of the tour we all brought sand boards with us to make a few runs down the slopes. The recommended technique for doing this was to lay flat on the board, face first, with your arms tucked in, head up, and legs spread apart. The views from atop these dunes were definitely intimidating, though that fear was quickly forgotten after my first run. After one ride on three separate dunes I can safely say that sand boarding is the greatest thing ever. It is like sledding except there are no trees to hit, and you burn/melt in sweltering mid-morning heat. It was surreal being out there. In all, a great decision to go.

The final activity on this portion of the journey was a brief sojourn to the "Mirador" where one can view some of the famous Nasca Lines without paying for an expensive flight over. With my English friends still in tow I climbed up a big metal tower and saw a few of the shapes below: the frog, the lizard, and something else I think. For just one Nuevo Sol this was a good deal, just nothing like the pictures you see on postcards all over Peru. We also hitched a cramped ride to a small hill and sort of saw more of the lines for free, and saw a beautiful sunset to boot! Not too shabby.

From Nasca we headed east on a SAFE overnight bus ride to the "white city" of Arequipa, where my next blog post will begin. Writing this blog has turned out to be pretty fun. Hope it remains interesting! Thanks so much for reading!