Apr 22, 2013 - Paracas to Nazca

Early morning start, 6.30am! Watched the sunrise from our balcony overlooking the sea. We met at 8am for our trip to the Ballestas Islands. Amazing! I have never seen so many birds in my life! Such a vast amount of species in one place from Pelicans to Penguins. We also got so close to sea lions! A perfect start to the day. We then got a private minibus to Ica to visit and winery. After a short tour to show how they make both their sweet wine as famous pisco, we have a tasting. Pisco sour is great, an equivalent to limoncello. And then...

Apr 21, 2013 - Miraflores to Paracas, Pisco

Slept great. Woke to a breakfast off fresh fruit, toast with eggs and beef casserole! (With mushrooms and what are like pea aubergines), and a slice of pizza! Freshly juiced by the hotel a mix of papaya, pineapple and melon, yummy! Quick stroll around the town before getting the bus to Paracas in Pisco. Roughly 4 hours, looking out the window to see shanti towns and deserts. We arrived in Paracas to a really cool hostel, our room is next to the balcony over looking the sea. We then took a stroll down to the beach with a few beers to relax...

Mar 13, 2013 - My last day in Peru

Hi everyone Today is my last day in Peru. I'm so sad... Well at least I get to see you guys again! My last city is Ica. It's a desert so it is the hottest city I visited! It is 93°out! For breakfast I had Dried corn humitas! To be honest, I didn't really like them. After breakfast I went to Regional Museum of Ica. There were a lot of wooden carvings! In Ica there are a lot of natural dangers like earthquakes! Luckily I was not in one! I am so sad to leave. See you tomorrow! Wait... Maybe see you tomorrow!

Mar 7, 2013 - flight 119 to Ica

Today I landed in Ica. The city of Ica is the capital of the Ica Region. It borders the Pacific Ocean on the west. Today was 81 and partly cloudy. Great weather for sightseeing. I visited Paracas. It is a small town great for tourists. Feeling hungry I stopped off at a little restaurant. I noticed all the grape vines and winery's around. It is so beautiful here. I decided to order traditional food from the area. I ate dishes made from pallares, or lima beans.I also had some delicious desserts like frijol colado (strained black beans mixed...

Mar 7, 2013 - Ica (day 2)

Hello! I'm in Ica, the oasis of the desert. Ica is very dry. I feel like I'm going to melt because it is also hot. I'm also sweating. Did you know that the conquest of Peru is one of the more important events of Peruvian history and, as well, one of the most outstanding events of the New World History. This city was conquered by Spanish conquistadors in 1533 and didn't obtain independence until 1821. Watch out because there are lots of natural dangers like earthquakes, tidal waves, floods, landslides and smooth volcanic activity. Here are...

Jan 7, 2013 - Lines and Dunes

After a couple of days in Lima following surf camp, we put Katie on a plane back to college and the four of us boarded a bus and headed south to the town of Nazca. Katie did a project on the Nazca lines when she was in 6th grade and ever since that time, my curiosity has been piqued. The Nazca lines are a series of ancient geoglyphs-basically pictographs in the ground made from rock- that are found in the desert south of Lima and cover an area more than 450 km2. They were believed to have been constructed over a period of 800 years from 500...

Jan 5, 2013 - Lady finger, dipped in moonlight....

Writing "What for?" across the morning sky Sunlight splatters dawn with answers Darkness shrugs and bids the day goodbye.... My time in Bolivia was too short (I'll be back) but it was time for me to make my way back across the border into Peru. It was a long day of travel, a bus to Puno, and then another bus to Arequipa, all in all about 12 hours of buses. Thank god for Cruz Del Sur - a first class bus company that runs on most routes around Peru. The first class cabin has huge seats that recline almost all the way back, they serve meals...

Nov 23, 2012 - Huaccachina , peru

Peru is not our friend:( sneaky sneaky bus thieves) Camera gone. Seriously mi5 should recruit here. Andy had is feet actually on the bag the entire time. By the time we realised it was gone the 'helpful' guy in the seat opposite said ( and I'm paraphrasing here,what with him saying it in Spanish with a few actions) ' ah yeah the guy sat behind you was ferreting about under his seat for ages and then got off ' we checked his ticket, even have his name and he got off 3 stops early. Sad face. Still Peru police stations are fun. Never more...

Oct 30, 2012 - Monkeys, dogs and spiders in the desert

We took off from Nazca airport in a four seater plane with Mike andVivienne to view the Nazca lines, drawn in the desert 1500 years ago. They are not sure why they were drawn, but the result is a wonderful collection of drawings of animals and objects that can only be appreciated from the air. Our pilot was skilled at tipping the plane at just the right angle for the designs to be seen below the wing. A whale, a monkey, dog and the famous hummingbird that features on our rally badge. After a coffee at he hotel we set off into town to fill...

Oct 29, 2012 - Pelicans

Easy drive south along good roads, largely parallel to the coast.  We took a diversion to the Paracas nature reserve - a beautiful coastal peninsular with dramatic sand dunes. At some times of the year you can see a wide variety of wildlife, but the only ones around at present are the Pelicans. They did not disappoint. Much larger than ones we have seen before and with red white and blue stripes on the side of their beaks. We travelled with Charles and Jane ( always ip for a good outing off route) drove across the sand to reach a small...

Sep 21, 2012 - Beam me up Scotty, or my visit to the Nazca Lines

As a kid, on Sunday afternoons at 3pm I would lie on the floor in front of the TV, transfixed as Leonard Nimoy (he of Mr Spock fame) explored mysteries on "In Search Of", including the Nazca lines in Peru. The voice-over calmly explained about these incredible etchings - animals, symbols, intersecting lines - covered 300 square kilometres of desert in southern Peru, and speculated on why and how they came into being. Time now to see for myself. We booked a flight over the Nazca Lines in a light plane. The van to pick us up arrived early...

Sep 11, 2012 - Ballestas Islands - Paracas - Nazca

What a day ... up at 3:00 am to board the bus at 3:30.  All twelve of us are in a state of mutiny, but we steel ourselves for a very long day.  After polite greetings in the lobby of the hotel (no one slept very well in the 4-5 hours that we had), we all pile onto the bus.  Day one of travelling with new companions ... and in a few minutes on the road, our heads were bobbing along in various states of sleep. Our 6:30 am stop for breakfast (truck stop along the way) wasn't terribly invigorating ... confusion about what to order, how to...