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Bird Watching and Other Near Death Experiences
We stepped off the bus straight onto the Pan American highway, the main road running through a desolate desert landscape. We had originally planned to stay at Pisco and just visit Paracas for the day, in order to to the boat trip. We had to get a taxi from the highway to the little town of Pisco and on the way the taxi driver kept trying to persuade us to go the Paracas and just stay there. We kept saying no, assuming that he just wanted more money for taking us further. However, when we got the Pisco, we saw that it was just a dirty little baking hot no industry town, so we soon changed our minds and allowed to cabbie to keep driving (and as it turns out, it wasn’t that expensive). On the journey he kept showing pictures of Paracas National Reserve to us that he had on his mobile, and nearly kept crashing into everything from walls to cyclists. We were very scared but touched by his concerns (he he).
We soon arrived at Paracas and were greatly relieved, as it was a beautiful little coastal village with surprisingly nice hotels. No Crispy Hands here. The taxi driver dropped us at a hotel and Lisa and Charlie went to enquire about the price, leaving Calum to guard the bags. The hotel was beautiful – all rooms ensuite and one had a lovely balcony and it was all brand new. The lady quoted us a price, which although not unreasonable, was a little on the high side for us backpackers, so we started to leave in search of other hotels. Before we had even reached the entrance lobby, the price had miraculously halved and turned out to be a very good deal.
The sea front at Paracas was beautiful, and right on the beach was a small promenade full of restaurants. Every time you stepped foot on the promenade, the restaurant kulaks would rush out and beg you to come into their restaurant. It was here that Pisco Sour was tried for the first time, to mixed reviews.
The Failed Rape Attempt - or - Lisa disappointed by quality of attacker
Lisa was staying in a room by herself. The room had a large double bed and en-suite bathroom. All spacious and clean. It was incidents on the first night that ruined the rest of the time in that hotel. There was a knock on the door so Lisa refused to answer it thinking that if it was one of the boys they would say so. The knocking continued for about 30 minutes until a jangle of keys was heard. Lisa relaxing in minimum attire decided she must hurriedly dress and see what the hotel kulak wanted. She certainly didn’t want the kulak bursting in. A babble of Spanish came out of the kulaks mouth so Lisa replied “No Entiendo” and tried to shut the door. The kulak then simplified the babble to “Te gusta massage?”, Lisa then knew the meaning of this interruption and pushed the kulak away from the door (he was much smaller than her) saying “NO”. Before the kulak was out of reach he managed to touch Lisa’s left breast before the door slammed in his face. Lisa was shocked and scared by this action but couldn’t alert the boys as she was too scared to leave the room. She took immediate action in securing the door with the lock, her backpack and a chair. Sleep was a little disturbed as fear took control. In the morning Lisa told the boys and there was an idea to change hotels but all were more expensive and Calum offered to punch the little toe-rag, so we stayed put. Lisa’s main complaint was that the kulak was an ugly kulak, a rich and pretty kulak might have been treated differently.
Isles Ballestas
We were in Paracas mainly to go to The Poor Man’s Galapagos. This was claimed to be just like the Galapagos but smaller and less expensive. We took a 2 hour trip on a boat around the Isles Balestas. We had to wear bright orange flotation jackets, of which Betty would be proud. The islands were amazingly stinky due to all the guano producing birds. The stench carried and combined with the smell of hundreds of Sea Lions. We toured around the islands and Calum felt a little sick, apparently the motion but probably the smell. There were many different species of birds and thousands flying overhead creating a non-look up policy. Anyone caught staring at the sky with a gaping mouth was put at a very great risk of bird faeces eating. The tour was a little disappointing, like most things when they are compared to something much greater. It was a nice boat trip but we are hoping that the Galapagos far exceeds this as a similar scene can be found on the Isle of May and in Orkney, without having to travel thousands of miles to see it. Although the locals may be just as primitive!
Collectivos
The collectivos in Pisco and Paracas were a dangerous breed. The narrow doors and low overhead environment led to Calum’s head coming into contact with the sharp metal at regular periods. This led to his head bleeding and scabs forming on his head.
Lisa also came a cropper with a low level door as the collective was moving during embarkation and Lisa was more concerned about the movement than the kulak level door. A large error to make and a lump on the head was a gift for this oversight.
Reserva National Paracas
The day after the boat trip, we set off on a private tour of the Reserva National in Paracas, a sprawling oceanside desert full of sand dunes and secluded coves. The taxi (a bog standard non-maintained estate car) tackled the sand roads exceptionally well. The taxi driver started questioning us about sand boarding and making hand actions demonstrating what it looks like. We all nodded and pretended we knew what he was talking about. The next thing we knew, the taxi suddenly accelerated rapidly and launched itself up a sand dune, completely clearing the ground as it lurched over the top at high speeds. It then tore around some other sand dunes and caused our stomachs to drop a few times. Eventually we returned to the road, all of us with our mouths hanging open (more due to the fact that the car didn’t all apart than the exhilarating ride we had all just had!)
The driver took us to see some wonderful natural formations on the coast and some sheer drops into the sea were driven perilously close to. Eventually we were taken to a secluded beach where we spent a coupe of hours sunbathing and going in the fairly cold sea (Charlie included). Eventually we were picked up and driven to a museum about the reserve, which included a collection of pickled sea mammal fetuses.
Paracas Characters
- There were many inbred crazies in this Peruvian backwater. The first one encountered was Chocolates Lady who seemed to know that we all had a bit of an addiction to chocolate and after buying a couple of packets, seemed to follow us around the streets with a big gold tooth grin. She had obviously been eating a large amount of the stock herself.
- Pan Lady (Bread) had a very varying nature. Sometimes she was positive and sometimes very negative. We once bought Pan from her by shouting down the street and getting the produce thrown up to us on the hotel balcony. Pan lady liked to draw attention to herself by honking a loud horn from 6am to 10pm. This kind of behaviour was not met with a favourable attitude.
- There was also a crazy Granjad who fed pelicans with tiny dead fish for the entertainment of tourists so they would give him a tip. Some good photos were taken by Lumicron and a very small tip was given to bird granjad – mainly to make him go away.
- Another crazy Granjad sat in a restaurant and sang (well croaked) and played the guitar badly. Calum felt sorry for this crinkly figure and parted with some hard earned cash. Also to get rid of him.
Final Thoughts: Paracas had a lovely beach but the islands were too praised. The taxi driving over the steep sand dunes was definitely a highlight. Worth a visit but requires the need of a chastity belt for lone women travelers.
Mark out of 10: 7
Next time... Huacachina
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