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Published: November 1st 2006
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Hopping a series of overnight buses, I have been making my bleary-eyed way down the
south coast of Peru: Pisco, Paracas, Ica, Nazca, Arequipa, and into the Colca Canyon region. Just yesterday, I returned to Arequipa from a
4-day Colca Canyon-to-Valley of the Volcanoes trek.
In Pisco, I tepidly signed up for a Paracas Nat Park/Islas Ballestas tour. I am not normally a big tour fan, since it seems like I am often disappointed. But lacking my own boat, and with ground transport to Paracas NP pretty scarce, I really had no choice. This time I was not disappointed.
Paracas NP and Islas Ballestas support a rich coastal ecosystem, driven by the Humboldt Current and coastal upwelling, and harboring one of the densest concentrations of seabirds in the world. So, so many birds - I have never seen such swarms! Alfred Hitchcock must have been inspired by a visit here!
There were Humboldt penguins, Peruvian boobies, guanay cormorants, pelicans, and Inca terns in abundance. At Paracas, I spotted blackish oystercatchers and the Peruvian seaside cinclodes. The latter looks and behaves a bit like an oversized American dipper, quizzically flitting about and feeding in the intertidal zone. I was an instant fan of this bird, as I am
of our dipper.
All these birds make for a lot of guano. So much so, that it took the Peruvians 60 years to mine it all off the Islas Ballestas (for use as ag fertilizer), going full tilt. You can still see the industrial mining facilities on the islands.
Sorry, you non-nature freaks. I must be boring you.
Our last tour stop was a museum, where one can spot flamingos in nearby Paracas Bay - there were only three that day. But across the bay, I spotted 5-6 even larger birds of a different feather - kitesurfers! The next day, I checked in with the friendly husband-wife team running KiteSurfPeru and learned about their operation. And I resolved to return, later in my travels for some lessons...
Next it was onto a desert oasis called Huacachina, near Ica, for a try at some sand-boarding. I think most board-sports are for knuckle-draggers, but I decided to give it a whirl. But only after looking hard for ¨sand-skis¨ to rent! After one hour my knuckles were sore and I had had enough. There is no turning or finesse involved in sand-boarding, just raw speed. Also, a curious aroma
drove me from the ¨slopes¨. It was Monday - garbage day. Garbage burning day. Oh, I have tasted sweeter mountain air...
Still the dunes were beautiful. Very Paul Bowles ¨The Sheltering Sky¨.
On the south coast of Peru there seems to be a rash of ferocious dogs on roofs. In Paracas I was almost bitten (on the head)! It appears to be the urban equivalent of the donkey on the terrace above your trail that tries to eat your hat as you hike by. A Peruvian lesson in the importance of the vertical dimension. Now, when I hear a vicious dog bark, I look up!
Passing through Nazca, I took in a museum but skipped the popular Nazca Lines overflight since my stomach, small airplanes, and turbulence don´t get along. Besides, everyone does Nazca. Still, I love the Nazca hummingbird!
Arequipa has the wonderful, peaceful Santa Catalina convent, which I spent part of a day wandering through. And lots of other churches, a few of which I glanced in. Many of the buildings in Arequipa are built with a beautiful, grayish-white porous volcanic stone that gives the colonial style construction a rough-hewn look.
Another highlight
of the last few weeks was my 4-day Colca Canyon-Valley of the Volcanos solo trek. I started in Chivay, half-walking half-hitching collectivos through a series of unremarkable towns to Madrigal, then crossed to Pincholo and hiked the south canyon rim to Cabanaconde. From Cabanaconde, I descended into the canyon, crossed the now-bony Rio Colca (at 1800 m) and walked up to Choco.
Arriving in the quiet oasis of Choco was a wonderful gift, after having passed through such a parched landscape. With its pleasant groves of pepper trees, eucalyptus, and fruit trees, Choco reminded me a bit of the Ojai Valley, CA where I went to high school.
Just above Choco, flocks of bright green parakeets flitted overhead. And there were lots of blooming flowers and shrubs to soften the otherwise harsh landscape. Walking up the Rio Chalza canyon I had a sartori, deciding that I was putting too many confusing, unreliable maps and trail guides in my path to seeing the Colca. So I buried my 1963 IGN topo map and equally-bad Bradt Peru trekking guide photocopy in my pack and picked a trail (one leading up!) and followed it.
I walked through the mountain village
of Mina, then had a steep climb to an elusive 5200-m pass near Cerro Cerani, just making it over the pass before sundown. Then a long descent to Chachas in the stark, lunar landscape of the Valley of the Volcanoes.
On my trek, I spotted a number of exciting plants and critters. Exciting for me at least. The scarlet-flowered huanarpo shrub (Jatropha spp), which lacks leaves but is in full bloom now - very striking amidst its largely dry, drab surroundings. Also lots of blooming kantuta trees (Cantua buxifolia), a sacred tree of the Inca and also popular with the hummingbirds. Also, the green parakeets mentioned above, oasis hummingbirds, Andean condors and Andean geese galore, more large yellow-bellied flickers, Andean tinamous (a bit like our grouse, but unrelated), tons of other unidentified colorful birds, more viscachas than you can shake a sombrero at, and the very rare Colca two-legged dog (see photo below).
On my return journey to Arequipa, I hopped a series of collectivos to Toro Muerto - near Corire - the largest petroglyph field in the world (about 2200 petroglyphs spread over 5 sq km). On the first collectivo, a box of cuy (guinea pig) got
loose, which made for some excitement. The next bus ride left me a little groggy: 8 hours on rough mountain roads (no sleeping!), ending in me getting dumped in the wrong town at 2 am - with no hotel in sight! Got a bit of practice at my road-side ditch-sleeping skills!
I digress! Toro Muerto was incredible, and well-worth the discomfort to get there. I am a bit of a sucker for petroglyphs, especially mysterious less-visited ones like these.
What else... I am enjoying solo travel, but missing you all very much. And looking forward to the coming months when I will have some travel companions: friends and family - you know who you are! Don´t let me down! Been reading: Philip Roth ¨American Pastoral¨ (great), Isak Dinesen ¨Last Tales¨ (not so great), Che Gueverra ¨Motorcycle Diaries¨ (great and inspiring).
In the bus stations I notice two styles of travel down here. The gringos arrive early and stress over which bus, which seat, etc... The Peruvians arrive just-in-time for the inevitably late-departing bus. I am working on uncovering my hidden Peruvian...
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tiara
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astounding photography-- what color!!! just excellent.