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Hey all,
So, the tour is well and truly underway now. The group are great. There is even a guy who loves The Swan which most of you know is my favourite bar in the world so that made my day! We have reminisced about live bands, cheesy tracks and the sticky floor.
We spent today in the Pisco region of Peru and started the day with a trip to the Ballestas Islands; the poor man's Galapagos Islands apparently and that seems like a pretty apt description. Bet richer travellers heading to the Galapagos Islands didn't have to fight their way through a crowded dock to get to their boat! Still, a wonderful experience and we spotted a lot of interesting wildlife - penguins, sea lions, the Peruvian Booby (a white haired bird whose name will stick with me for obvious childish reasons) etc.Thw abundance of bird life on these islands allowed Peru to be one of the world's first fertiliser exporters thanks to the wonder of bird poop.
After running a comb through our windswept, salt filled and, in one case, bird pooped hair, we loaded our bags onto a mini bus and headed off for a wine tour. We were shown round a Pisco winery and then had a chance to sample some varieties of Pisco liquer and a sweet wine called "Perfect Love" which our guide seemed to think had almost magical seductive powers (draw your own conclusions!). For those who are not aware the famous deink around these parts is the Pisco Sour - a mixture of the Pisco liquer, a fruit juice and egg white! I'm not convinced myself but tried a few to make sure. My opinion is based on thorough research, don't you worry!
Our final stop was a little oasis town where we experience dune buggy riding. Now, perhaps I am naive, but I pictured a fun jaunt through the dunes and then some gentle sliding down sandy hills on a sand board. My brothers might understand what I was picturing if I mention our childhood trips to SandHill in Ireland where we ran headlong down sandy hills until our bodies overtook our legs an we inevitably tumbled to the bottom. Fun for all the family. Dune buggy riding is not what I had pictured. Instead it was a roller coaster ride over bigger and bigger dunes. Goign up was fine but coming down, often vertically, was quite hair raising. (Imagine me, knuckles white, eyes closed, screaming at the top of my lungs and you have some idea of what I experienced!)
I'll be honest I wimped out of the sand boarding. Yes, I know I let the side down here but some sort of instinct (call it self preservation) prevented me from rushing headlong down an HUGE and almost vertical sandy slope on a board. To my credit, I did lie down on the board and peer over the edge and discovered... my limit. So I got straight back up again and opted to the slope in the buggy instead (which was quite terrifying enough for me!)
We arrived in Nazca this evening anf will be visiting the Nazca lines tomorrow. More on that later. I must go as I am missing a vicious game of "Uno" (we're so rock and roll) but thnks for all your messages guys and I'll be in touch soon.
C x
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