Day 5 Peru!

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Day four/evening and day five.



Surprises in the restaurant and expectations exceeded in Peru.



Starting off with last night’s formal do. We booked a 7:30 pm slot at the restaurant as we had the night before.



When we arrived the greeter pulled us to one side and said “ Sir, you don’t need to book, you are club class.”

Turns out being club class (which was a free upgrade princess gave us) not only secured us the mini suite but means we get priority service at the restaurant.



We get our own cordoned off area with our own wait staff and, best of all, a chef who cooks one item for us not on the menu or available to anyone else. Talk about upgrade!



It was awesome and we thoroughly enjoyed that as a totally different experience. We get to do club class every night too. ?



Day five Paracas Peru and the jaw-dropping gorgeous Islas Ballestas.



We woke up early again to find the ship had docked in an area which closely resembled Area 51. The port is a desert.... the area surrounding the port, desert..... as far as the eye could see, desert. It was quite surreal! I think any Star Wars film could be shot there and it would look perfect. Very, other worldly.



A market was set up at the port for the usual trinkets and souvenirs... Dave found a football shirt which was great. We then took the princess shuttle bus into the town of Paracas, around thirty minutes drive away.



The views on the way to the town.... desert. Still very pretty and fascinating. Paracas was, in stark contrast to its sand dune backdrop, a colourful oasis.



A multitude of bright market stalls lined the entire front of the beach walk. Bars, restaurants and street traders were dotted amongst the stalls and, even at 8:30 am, it was bustling and vibrant. We knew we loved it after only a few minutes.

An old couple who had been on the shuttle bus said “disappointing isn’t it?”

I honestly don’t know what they expected... it’s like they set out to be disappointed.



We had breakfast at one of the restaurants and then wandered up and down the front enjoying the atmosphere. Like our last port, there are wild dogs everywhere here. We saw two hairless dogs, funny looking things but cute in their own way.



I found the towns only cat. An adorable ginger boy who was far too skinny and tiny. Again, the dogs looked well fed. A lovely little boy gave some fish to the kitty and I felt a lot better after that. I had been planning to sneak him back aboard and take him home. He was gorgeous.



After a few beers and more wandering, we decided to take a speedboat tour to the Islas Ballestas.



These are often referred to as the Galápagos Islands of Peru. The Princess tour to this area was $140 dollars each. We paid $25 each for this private tour.



The speedboat took us past, El Candelabro, a 1500 year old, three pronged geo glyph which is etched into the sand. It’s around 500 foot high and there has been discussions as to whether it’s linked to the Nazca lines or if it served as a navigational tool for ancient sailors. Regardless, it was breathtaking.



The islands were rugged with naturally formed arches in the rocks which we actually travelled through. Thousands of birds, including boobies, were atop the rocks and the noise, not to mention the smell, was incredible!



We got so close to some of the rock formations it was almost possible to reach out and touch the sea lions who were snoozing and baking in the sun.

Thousands of sea lions. They barked and called as we travelled slowly by their shores. It was just stunning to see and beyond all our expectations. We even got to see hundreds of baby sea lions.

The tour lasted two hours, around an hour of that was getting there and back but it could have lasted all day and you would still want more. I took loads of video but I won’t be able to upload all of it with this poor WiFi. Hopefully, you get the gist from the photos.



We are back on board now and relaxing until dinner. We have another stop in Peru tomorrow.



Side note, several people disembarked today for a three night land tour up Machu Picchu



The general consensus amongst the crooners lot is that not all of these guys will return. It takes around four days for a fit healthy person to acclimatise to the 15,000 feet... that lot are going right up and they average 92 years old. ? hopefully, they will be fine!!! That tour cost THOUSANDS.



Anyways, we will let you know how they do.



Tara

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