Pisco

After a lovely sojourn in the highlands we caught an overnight bus back to the coast and landed smack bang in the tourist trail. So far we seemed to have avoided most of the tourists, or they were diluted by the local population, but Paracas was heaving with them and it was a bit of a shock.

To get there we took the rather dodgy local overnight bus that dropped us at the side of the Panamerican Highway at 2am in the morning. After being warned about dodgy taxis etc by our hostel owner we were two rather scared gringos trying to act tough and like we knew what we were doing. Obviously we lucked out because 2 taxis and only 15 soles later we ended up at our hostel with all our gear and limbs intact. Phew!!!!

We were in the area to 1) take a trip around Paracas National Reservation and 2) a boat ride to Isla Ballestas, which is what every other person in the whole place was doing.

Both tours were very interesting in terms of seeing unique wildlife (mainly birds) and the crazy desert landscapes that look like the moon/Mars AND there were nice rocks and fossils too - hurrah!!! The islands were absolutely packed with birds and there are obviously no rules about approching marine life (like in NZ) because the boat was about 2m from the seals and dolphins.....tsk tsk. And yes we did both get pooed on by the birds, so lucky!!!


The birds......aaarrrgggg

 

They collect guano off the islands and this is where they load it onto a boat.





Paracas Trident.

  

Paracas National Reserve



Lunchtime stroll, Paracas National Reserve



Paracas National Reserve



Fishing boats, Paracas

  

Booby.....mwahahahahaah