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Feliz Cumple Joel (Happy Birthday Joel!)
It's been a busy couple of days, so we thought we'd update whilst we have a spare minute.
We moved on from Lima on Thursday morning on a coach called PeruBus, where we travelled in style in "Business Class". This means paying an extra 3 soles per person (about 60p) and getting a ton more legroom! The 4 and a half hour journey passed quickly, as there was a TV on the bus, where we were shown 6 episode of A.M.I.G.O.S (Friends dubbed into Spanish). It was entertaining and agonising in equal measure. There were also lots of funny Peruvians getting on and off every so often, trying to sell us drinks and food. We travelled South down the coast to Ica, passing some really poor shantytowns and huts made of wood and palm leaves along the way.
Upon arriving in Ica, we got the smallest taxi you've ever seen to a place called Huacachina, which is a desert lagoon surrounded by huge sand dunes and filled with a surprising number of Israelis, where we stayed overnight. On Friday morning we took a tour to the Islas Ballestas (Ballestas Islands), famous for their amazing wildlife. We saw so many pelicans, penguins, boobies (apparently the name of a seagull-type bird!) and sealions and their very cute babies. We didnt realise sealions made so much noise! It was incredible to see entire beaches covered in grunting baby sealions. We were advised by our boat guide to cover our heads, as some unlucky sightsee-ers get hit by guano (peruvian bird poo - a first-class fertilizer!) In some places the droppings are 50m deep and there are licensed extractions every 10 years! Although we both made it through unscathed.
We then moved further down the coast to Nazca, which is where we are now. We stayed overnight and this morning took a stomach-lurching (Joel: VERY stomach-lurching!) light aircraft flight over the Nazca lines, mysterious 2000 year old lines in the sand in various shapes and no-one knows why they are there... Needless to say, that will be Joel´s last trip in a light aircraft after a bout of travel sickness and seeing a nurse upon landing! (Mummy Stodel, please dont worry... she took his blood pressure, gave him smelling salts and sent him on his way!)
Tonight we're taking a 14-hour overnight sleeper bus (complete with fully-reclining bed-seats and vegetarian meals) to Cusco, where after adjusting to the altitude, we'll be seeing Machu Picchu!
Weather is still ridiculously hot along the coast here, and Joel's birthday was celebrated in style with lots of balloons and cards and getting to watch the second half of the Spurs´game...Keano! Thanks to all for birthday love and messages.
Lots of love
Mel and Joel xxxxx
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