Birds, sand and bodies - Lima to Arequipa

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Hey all,

Arrived in Arequipa yesterday at 5pm, it wasn´t a bad journey and we even managed to get a lie in!!

Our last day in Lima was great, we spent most of the day in Miraflores, the more upmarket area of Lima. There were many huge artisan markets both indoor and outdoor to be explored. We had lunch in a fancy cafe built right into the coastline of the Costa Verde, and watched paragliders fly past. We also met our new truckmate, Qamar from London, at dinner later that night.

After leaving Lima (at 6am rather than 5am which was still painful but more acceptable), we headed down the coast towards Paracas, sleeping all the way!! We had a speedboat tour of the Ballestas Islands all lined up, which are renowned for their birds and wildlife. We saw the Candleabra etched in a cliff, a preview of the Nazca lines, before heading across the water to the bigger islands. There were hundreds upon hundreds of birds flying around, from common Seagulls, to Pelicans and native Peruvian Boobies. We even saw small pengiuns on the rocks- the Humbolt Pengiun native to this area. Our guide said that the Ballestas islands host up to 216 different species of birds. In the caves and on the beaches rested huge sprawling colonies of sea-lions, honking and fighting. It was all really cool to see, despite the smell which came from the tons of birdpoo everywhere. It is called guano and is a very valuable fertiliser, so every 7 years people come to the islands to collect the guano and export it.

We were supposed to go sandboarding afterwards but it got moved to the next day, so after lunch we made our way to our hotel in Pisco. Pisco is where the Pisco Sour (peruvian national drink) comes from, but the town was hit by a huge earthquake in August 2007 devestating about 80% of the city. Rubble still lies everywhere. The cathedral was completely destroyed and many small shacks lined the streets as temporary accommodation for those who had lost their homes. There was nothing to do and we didn't really want to go outside, so we stayed in the hotel all day chatting and got to know Qamar (Kaymar) better.

We left for Huacachina the next day, which is a small village and hotel which has sprung around an oasis in the desert. We went dune-buggy riding and sandboading which was great craic!! The dunes were absolutely massive, and we were speeding and swerving all over them getting airborne a couple of times!! (we were strapped in and driven by expert dune-buggy drivers I hasten to add!!) The view was stunning, huge clean dunes, with the green valley below, and the towering misty Andes in the background. Sandboarding was great, we lay on narrow pieces of wood, holding onto straps, legs apart to act as breaks and sped down ever increasingly taller dunes.

After all the adreneline it was back aboard Jack (the big yellow fun truck) for the trip to Nazca. We pitched tents in the lawn of a hotel, and then 7 of us went to see the Nazca lines. Have to say I wasn´t that impressed, we were just given a map and flown over them in a tiny 5 seater plane. The pilot didn't point out any of them just banked around so that both sides could see them. I got a bit sick around line no 8 (of 12) and had to close my eyes for a while!!! I just expected them to be bigger or more impressive, it looked like someone went down in the morning with a big stick and got busy!! Mary was happy though, she was up front with the pilot and he let her take over the controls for about 20 seconds!! She takes flying lessons back home.

Had a quiet camp as we couldn't have a fire. Next day we left to camp at Puerta Inca on the coast. We stopped at Chauchilla Cemetery on the way, displaying Nazcan graves. They had opened up the graves to show the perfectly preserved bodies below, which was incredibly creepy. The bodies were mummified, put in the foetal position, and buried facing East - believed to hasten the transition to the afterlife. We saw lots of mummified babies too- everyone got the treatment, although the royalty had their own sectioned graves. The royalty also had deformed skulls, high foreheads were considered a sign if beauty. Some of the mummies had incredibly long hair, dreadlocked and 2-3 meters in length. They only practiced human sacrifice on two occasions; if they took over another tribe they sacrificed the tribe leader, and if babies were born deformed they sacrified them and replaced their heads with pumpkins. Lovely. The guide, Jorge, was full of information and even shared theories on the Nazcan lines, which was far more interesting!! Apparently the "astronaut" is actually a shaman or wise man - the head of an owl with the body of a man. He also said that the condor is really a Peruvian mockingbird and that the trapeziod shapes were pointing out the course of underground rivers. Another interesting thing he said was about the "hands" which have nine fingers. He said that it could have been a frog or a monkey which also has nine fingers. He also explained it could be related to a prophecy that a person with nine fingers would someday study the lines. Sure enough, Maria Reiche, a Geman expert who came to stidy the lines for 40 years, had only nine fingers after she developed gangrene when she arrived in Peru.

We made it to Puerta Inca around 5pm, pitched camp and started dinner. My group made pork sweet and sour stir fry with noodles and rice. Had a big night that night, didn't get to bed 'til after 3am!! Next day was total relaxation, and we also went for a walk to see the nearby Incan ruins. It was once a port which sent fish and other materials to Cuzco using a succession of couriers to bring the products up. We had a BBQ that night which Wes spent most of the day preparing!! It was lovely but we were knackered and didn't last past 10pm!!


So we are in Arequipa, which is a beautiful city and I could happily spend a week here!! Leaving for Cuzco tomorrow, start the Inca Trail on friday!! All getting exciting and busy at last!!

Chao!!
Orla

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Photos

Lima
the green coast

sealions
sunning themselves on the Ballestas Islands

dune buggy
Huachachina