So am finally in a place wih free internet and long enough to use it! For those of you thinking this will be witty, sorry, it is simply just a probably boring account of what I have done so far!

So, the journey has begun...

The first couple of days spent in Lima were a nice way to settle into holiday mode whilst frantically trying to remember any Spanish. It still tends to come out as a mixture of French... ah well.

Day 1 - Lima - Miraflores

After arriving into Lima at about 4am, ordering a very expensive taxi and getting to the hostel, I tried to decide how to spend my day. In the end, in return for an eglish lesson at the military school I got a presonalised tour around Miraflores. This consisted of a set menu lunch, peruvian style. Chicken foot soup to start and soem form of meat and rice for the main, served with a glass of spiced water. After lunch I was shown the park, strolled through the arts and crafts exhibition and then sat in a play rehursal. The evening was pretty quick as jet-lag caught up with me, Dinner cooked by one of the guys at the hostel, quinua, which is some form of lentil / cuscous thing, am yet to acutally find out its translation!

Day 2 - Lima - City centre / Miraflores

Strolling around the old colonial centre of Lima, stopping off every now and then to investigate the museums. Met an English girl who has just finished her elective in Bolivia, and spent the afternoon with her back in Miraflores. We went down to the beach and walked along the coast to the pier. At the very end of the pier was a lovely bar with a view out over the sea. Sat and had a cup of tea watching the waves breaking, crazies surfing and some paragliding.

Day 3 - Lima / Paracas

Went to the local ruins of the Huaca Pucllana. These are currently being excated and consist of a giant complex with a flat roofed temple belonging to the Limas (a civilisation before Incas). Ran into a small group of people who were on a Gap adventures tour (same company as me) and they explained that most people in the group were in fact teachers, female and late twenties to early thirties!

Caught a taxi to the bus station to get an afternoon bus to Paracas. The first class buses are really something else, food, tv, fully reclining seats with loads of legroom... definately not so worried about my 8hrs back to Lima!

Arrived in Paracas just as the sun was setting. A beautiful little fishing village in the middle of the national park and my base for heading out to Ballestas Islands. The hostel was pretty reasonable, a single room on the roof terrace and views across the bay... hammocks and umbrellas for sheltering from the sun. Had dinner in a local restaurant, braved the seafood and had a mixed seafood risotto, delicious!

Day 4 - Paracas

Early morning start of a boat trip round ´poor man´s Galapagas´. Thousands of birds, which I could possible identify the differences between mixed with sea lions and penguins. On my tour were 2 Irish ladies also heading onto Ica, they were getting an earlier bus to me but are also on the Bamba bus!

The rest of the day was spent around the beach waiting for the bus to Ica. Arrived in Ica and caught a taxi to Huacachina were I met up with the Irish ladies for dinner and drinks, sat sipping out Pisco sours while admiring the view of the desert Oasis by night.

Day 5 - Huacachina

So this is where I currently am, had a leasurely breakfast before heading up into the dunes for a bit of sand buggying ( more like rollercoasters, but I was assured that they had undergone lots of training) mixed with sandboarding!

Off this afternoon to actually have a go at sandboarding properly rather than just clinging onto to it for dear life as I head up and over the dunes flat on my stomach face first!

Day 5 -