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After checking out of our hostel in Pisco, we all climbed into taxis to take us to Paracas, a small port town near Pisco. We all climbed into a boat to head out to the Ballestas Islands, known as the Galapagos of Peru.
First stop was to check out a 180m long candelabra carved into solid rock on the side of one of the islands. It has been there for over 1000 years and was carved 80cm deep by the Paracas people. There are loads of theories as to why they used a candelabra, it points directly to the Nasca lines (some 200km away), some say it's a religious symbol, others just think its human creativity at its best. I reckon the latter too. How they managed to carve so deep into such solid rock is a mystery.
The Ballestas islands are known for their wide array of sea and bird life, and with that comes a s*** load of s*** - guano that is. The red rocks are absolutely covered in white bird poo and it sells internationally for about $100 per kilo! No wonder it used to be Peru's main export. People still work on the islands today, a pretty dangerous job considering the diseases you're exposed to, many people get I'll from working on the islands.
There were literally thousands of birds - Peruvian pelicans, boobies, cormorants, inca terns, Humboldt penguins and even vultures. They flew around above our heads (yes I got pooped on) in amazing formations and the cormorants flew single file only inches above the water in a line that can stretch for kilometres. We also saw a few sea lions lazing about on the rocks, and dozens of large Humboldt penguins standing at the rock edge waiting for the swell so they could jump in. The islands themselves were really cool too, they had huge archways and holes where the swell created blowholes. It reminded me alot of new Zealand's coast, except it was a dirty brown colour.
2 hours and 2 cycles of Bob Marley's greatest hits blaring over the boats stereo later, we were back on shore to catch our bus to Ica. It was only an hour or so, which was a nice change from the 5 hours+ we have been travelling lately.
We then jumped in taxis to head to Huacachina. I was so pumped for today, and it definitely didn't disappoint. A fast, rough journey into these MASSIVE sand dunes on a grunty dune buggy saw us perched on the edge of our first hill to board down. We were advised not to do it standing up, as you go alot slower and have to wear proper boots and everything, so on our tummies we went. Our driver waxed these wooden boards that were snowboard shaped, and got us to lie down on them. He said "elbows in, chin up, no brakes" and pushed us off. Hoooooooooly hell we went fast. A couple more "intermediate" hills and we were ready for the mammoth hill. We had to climb this one as it was too steep for the buggy to get right to the top. After letting go of a few nuggets in my undies i took off. This hill would have to be at least a couple of hundred metres from top to where we finished sliding and it was really steep. I went so fast my eyes watered and looking at the video, I was so scared I didn't even scream which is amazing for me! I was so amped when I hit the bottom though, what an awesome adrenaline rush. And the best part was once you'd slid down, the buggy came and picked you up to take you to the next hill, no effort required!
We then had a little walk around this neat little town which is built around a large oasis that you can swim in and paddle little row boats, had a bit of food and were ready for our next exciting thing for today - a 2 hour trip to Nasca in a '82 chevy. Now I'm not much of a car person but this car was cool, and it certainly beat the crappy buses we've been taking. Arriving in Nasca we checked into our hostel San Marcelo, had a bit of dinner and went to bed ready for another wicked day exploring Nasca.
- comments
cat hahahha yay you got pooooed on I'm so happy! thats what you deserve for the number of times it has happened to me and you think its hilaaaaarious! Sounds like you are having an amazing time and that sand duning would be so good to do! xx