Blogs from Paracas, Ica, Peru, South America
April 17th 2012
As I haven´t been able to get my images loaded for a few days I chose to postpone my blog entry, so I´ll start back in lima and work up to todays activities that match the name of this blog entry. on my last full day in lima I decided to sleep in since I knew we would be on the road a lot after I started my tour the following day. I then decided to take a quick stroll around the neighbourhood to check out the plaza near by. It appears there was a world record trying to be set at the time because there were hundreds of people in the square all playing this instrument called a cajon. (It looks like a large wooden box with a whole in it.) Anyway apparently they did ... read more
December 23rd 2011
It was the first time I had been alone in weeks and if felt good to sit in silence. So, considering how successful getting the bus from Cusco to Arequipa had been I headed to Arequipa bus station to board a bus to Lima. Not one bus company had a seat to Lima. It was way too close to Christmas and locals were trying to get to their families. I did not have the fore sight that this might even be a problem… idiot abroad-mí! The closest to Lima I could get was Paracas. Okay fine Paracas is better than nothing. Lima was only 3 hours from Paracas and the chance that I would be able to get a bus that short distance was more likely. Yet again, I was on another 18 hour bus journey. ... read more
December 20th 2011
Dear Family and Friends, As some of you may know, we are on another Downes family adventure over the holidays to visit Peru. South America was omitted on our 2008 around-the-world trip and we have long desired to visit the Andes and the ancient indiginous lands of this continent. We departed Friday, spent one restful night in Miami and continued on to Lima, arriving without delay on Saturday evening, where we rented a car and drove to our apartment in the section of Lima called San Isidro. Lima is an enormous city of 8 million people (1/3 of the population of Peru) and it was wide awake and hopping even at 10pm at night. Even with GPS, our drive took all our concentration and nerve as the other drivers seem to use their horn in place ... read more
July 21st 2011
So far our time in Peru had been spent exclusively above the altitude of 2000m, and while we had loved the mountain adventuring our bodies were beginning to crave some warmth. Fortunately this intriguing country is not all mountainous. Far from it in fact. It has sparse deserts that stretch all the way to Chile, lush Amazonian jungle which covers the north east, and of course its elongated pacific coast. We were heading to the Amazon next, but having not seen the sea in two months, since leaving Rio, we decided to make a brief stop in Paracas. This small community is famous for two things, the multitude of birdlife which thrives on the nearby Ballestas Islands, and its consistent stable wind and safe bay which make it a perfect destination for wind sports. You can ... read more
January 12th 2011
The day after we arrived in Paracas we jumped on a boat to go out and see the Islas des Ballestas. On the way out we drove past the peninsula called the Paracas National Reserve, I will mention this later since we actually went out there. But on the coast as we drove by it in our boat we got a chance to see a glyph, kind of like the Nazca lines. The local Peruvians think of it as being a cactus since that is a big part of their culture and native religion, the Europeans sailors who came through thought of it as being a candelabra that guided their way to land. Either way it was pretty spectacular, also since it was carved into rock whereas the Nazca lines are just rocks arranged on the ... read more
Krasny slnecny den v Piscu/ Beautiful sunny day in Pisco
Published: November 25th 2010South America » Peru » Ica » Paracas
November 22nd 2010
Noc v Paracase nestala za moc lebo sme boli atakovany naletom komarom ktorym sa nejako podarilo dostat do zatvoreneho stanu. Dost sme ich zabili, bohuzial niektorych uz neskoro a teraz mame vnutro stanu ozdobene krvavymi flakmi. Rano nam zobudilo kvapkanie na stan, co bolo dost nezvycajne lebo sme boli v pusti a v tejto oblasti skoro nikdy neprsi, /pokial nieje rok El Nina/, ukazalo sa, ze to sa len morska voda vykondenzovala na stromy nad nasim stanom. Este raz sme sa vybrali prezriet si plamieniaky a su to celkom nudne tvory, len tak tam stali, chodili hore dole alebo ranajkovali. Na ceste naspat sme mali neskutocne stastie, zastavilo nam prve auto, ktore sme skusili stopnut a chlapik za to ani nic nechcel, asi sa len potreboval vyrozpravat lebo celu cestu pomerne hlasno nadaval na skorumpovanu vladu. ... read more
November 21st 2010
Druhou atrakciou vdaka ktorej je Pisco zname je blizka narodna rezervacia Paracas a to sme si samozrejme nemohli nechat ujst. Vacsinu rezervacie tvori pust a krasne opustene plaze kde zije vela vtakov, medzi najvzacnejsie patri chilsky plameniak. Rozhodli sme sa navstivit Lagunillas, ktore nasa kniha opisala ako krasne malebne miesto kam sa urcite oplati zajst. V skutocnosti to bolo zoskupenie restauracii cakajucich na turistov a par rybarov, okolie bolo nadherne ale nam sa to akosi znepacilo a rozhodli sme sa zmenit nas povodnie plan, tj prenocovat tu v stane a vratit sa domov. Nasli sme si volne miesta v odchadzajucom autobuse, ktory vsak nastastie este pred odchodom z reservy urobil malu zastavku pri ceste odkial sa dali pozorovat plameniaky. Tu nam padlo do oka dalsie miesto na stanovanie a nase plany sa opet zmenili - rozhodli ... read more
September 18th 2010
From Lima we took the local bus, Flores, four hours south to Pisco. Pisco was hit hard by the earthquake in 2007 and there is still so much damage here. There was massive amounts of construction underway. That, along with the political rally in the main square (right next to our hostel) was a bit overwhelming. Luckily we were exhausted and the very loud street noise didn't keep us up. Street noise aside, our hostel, Tambo Colorado, was quite pleasant. For under $11 we got a private double room with our own shower. We woke up at 6:30 the next morning to eat breakfast and head off to Paracas to tour the Islas Ballestas. It was a two hour boat tour to the "poor mans galapagos." We saw loads of pelicans, boobies, penguins, and sea lions. ... read more
August 2nd 2010
Om te beginnen, onze zondagavond in Miraflores. Ana regelt een taxi voor ons, de rit naar Miraflores duurt 20 minuten is 9 kilometer lang en kost omgerekend 3 euro. Zijn andere prijzen dan bij Van Dienst, he Rolf? De taxirit is weer eens spannend. Tijdens de rit lijkt het of de achteras op ieder moment onder de auto kan uitvliegen en we kennen totaal de weg niet, waardat de chauffeur ons heen brengt is dus een groot raadsel. We gaan naar Larcomar, een winkelcentrum met restaurants gericht op toeristen. Vergelijkbaar met de Spaanse Costa's. Hier onze eerste Pisco Sour op, de lokale cocktail, het Sour was goed te proeven. Omdat we geen zin hebben om op straat weer een taxi te regelen besluiten we bij het taxistandpunt een taxi te bestellen. De prijs was maar iets ... read more
March 3rd 2010
We had heard that Paracus is a must see when you are in this area so since its only an hour away from Ica we decided to take a taxi there, what the hell, The somewhat barren desert landscape continues but there is respite from the heat as the breeze picks up nearer the coast, What's fascinating about the area we were driving through has flat plains on which there are perfectly square plots of various crops, green and lush surrounded by unforgiving desert, Dill, Asparagus,Paprica and of course potatoes, When it does rain which is seldom the farmers collect it in man made reservoirs and use it to irrigate their crops, there is also access to underground water. We arrived in Paracus village to yet another festival ( I swear we are not seeking them ... read more
