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We left just after dawn on Saturday and jumped on the truck to take us to the small town of Paracas about 4 hours drive from Lima. We got to Paracas about 11am and managed to catch the last boat out to the Ballestas Islands. These islands are known as the poor mans' Galapogas but there is nothing poor, mediocre or secondary about them. The boat took us on a two hour trip around the whole area so we got to see penguins, sea lions, pelicans etc, in a completely natural and untouched habitat. It was undoubtedly worth every penny to see the sea lions playing in the water and edging closer to the boat as curiousity got the better of them.
After getting back to the harbour we jumped on board the truck again and headed out to Huacachina, and the desert. We arrived, had lunch and packed for the night, taking only what was nessecary to keep warm. A couple of small trucks took our bags to our campsite for the night and travelled on ahead while we took our seats on the dune buggy. We spent the next hour buggying through the desert at speeds of up to 60mph, driving through and over the sand dunes. Mario Kart will never be the same again! The driver knew some excellent boarding spots and luckily we had a couple of hours before sunset so we spent the time sand boarding over some of the highest and steepest drop offs in the desert. It was like a theme park in the sand. We made it to the highest dune just in time to watch a spectacular sunset and then drove to the camp site which was a small area of flat sand between three dunes, to keep off the wind.
We sat around the campfire drinking pisco sours, the local tipple, and feeding off of the bbq and constant snacks. Daniel and I finally admitted defeat and dug a couple of holes in the sand to keep us warm for the night, jumped in our sleeping bags and fell asleep under the stars. And there were stars, hundreds of them. I've honestly never seen a sky like it.
The morning came a little too quickly and we took the buggys back down to Huacachina for breakfast, and boarded the truck once again. We drove about 3 hours and came to the Nazca tower, a badly built metal viewpoint with rusty stairs and questionable hand rail. Ever considerate of the health and saftey handbook, we paid the guide and gave it a go anyway. At the top we looked out over the Nazca lines, enormous markings in the wastelands, made by the natives thousands of years ago. Today, we are still unsure of how they made them, why they are there and who they are for. We saw the tree, the candelabra and another one we couldn't quite make out. Truly amazing, but not worth the $140 to take a flight out over them.
So, we opted for the pool and spent the afternoon in the sun. We camp again tonight which promises to be interesting as we've set up the tent in, what appears to be, a peacock sanctuary and they didn't look like they were expecting company!
Thought of the Day: Do not underestimate the sneakiness of sand.
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