Blogs from Pisco, Ica, Peru, South America - page 10

South America » Peru » Ica » Pisco March 21st 2006

Yes it is a real activity, and it's just how it sounds, surfing on a board down a sand dune! We arrived early this afternoon at an oasis in the midde of the desert, that has turned into a small village with shops and restaurants. From here we strapped into a wicked dune buggy, which drove us recklessly over the enormous dunes like a rollercoaster ride! (it's ok it was perfectly safe Mr & Mrs Skaliotis!) Every now and then we would stop at a taller and steeper dune than the one before, so that we could make our way down it. Preferred manner of descent was on our stomachs, which means you get a face-first view as you whizz down and across the smooth white sands. After a few tummy attempts we decided to mimic ... read more

Pisco, Ica y Huacacina

South America » Peru » Ica » Pisco March 5th 2006

Out of Lima

We left Lima on Wednesday 1st March and travelled 200km south, down the Panamericana to Pisco. Travelling on a public bus for the first time was interesting; not only was the bus station in one of the poorest parts of Lima, one of the 'friendly' bus company employees tried to rip us off by telling us it cost an additional 20 soles (4 quid) each to put our luggage on the bus (having paid only 19 soles each for the entire journey!!). He even had the cheek to write us a receipt - no way Jose! No wonder the other workers were calling him a monkey! Pisco is situated in one of the many oases (oasi?) which punctuate the desert lying between the Andes and the Pacific. The main reason Gringos stop off at Pisco is ... read more

Islas Ballestas (birds, pengiuns and seals!)

Bird Poop...

South America » Peru » Ica » Pisco January 23rd 2006

Birds at Islas Ballestas

Grandy

Hi folks... first off the key boards down here are a little bit different so bear with the odd funny symbol! Oh ya, were on vacation so expect grammatical errors and runon sentences. Theres also a map of Peru included on the site so that you can see where we are. Wow... so we finally left Lima and headed down the coast spending a nite in the coastal town of Pisco. We had excellent seafood and made a trip out to the 'Islas Ballestas' a.k.a the poor man´s Galapagos Islands. Thousands upon thousands of birds swarm over head.... and we made it through without incident! About every 7 years some folks go out and collect all the poop (guano) to make fertilizer for all our gardens. Birds, Birds, Birds, some penguins and of course sea loins. ... read more

End of the road

South America » Peru » Ica » Pisco December 20th 2005

AndyToni

The end of the Inca Trail signalled the start of the last leg of this trip - from Cusco to Lima and then on to Cork via Madrid and Heathrow. After a busy few days on the Inca Trail we spent a leisurely morning in Cusco wandering around a few shops/markets, sorting out our laundry and relaxing in an internet cafe. We then met Kenny for lunch in Jacks, another ´gringo´haunt that served the biggest chocolate cake we´ve ever seen. Afterwards we enjoyed an all to brief ´people watch´ in the Plaza de Armas before our peace was interrupted by the obligatory gaggle of ´tat´ sellers where yet again a cap saying ´no gracious´ would have come in useful. Having extracated ourselves from this group we said our goodbyes to Kenny and headed back to the ... read more

Sea Lions.... and more sea lions!!

South America » Peru » Ica » Pisco October 25th 2005

Sea Lions

JezLin

Heading back north towards Lima, we stopped at Pisco which is a small town near to the coast 4hours south of Lima. Arriving late at night because of the delay on our Nazca Lines flight (3hours) we found a nice Hostel that also arranged tours to the local attraction of Paracas. The following morning we were picked up at 7.30am and taken by minibus to the port of Paracas. From here we were taken by speedboat to a group of islands about 40 minutes off the coast that were home to hundreds and hundreds of sea lions, thousands of birds, and the odd Humboldt penguin or two. Lin was like a the cat that got the cream, and never stopped smiling the whole trip. I really enjoyed it too, but was glad that despite the warnings ... read more

Lima, pisco, ica

South America » Peru » Ica » Pisco August 21st 2005

lima

wheresdave

left lima yesterday (alright, now it has been a few weeks since i left and i have returned) so no more mcDonalds¡¡. I arrived in pisco and booked a tour for today to go to the islands around paracas and to a "national" park. I ran into roger a canadian guy i met in sucre, bolivia. it is a small world, when i was in cusco i ran into a girl who lived in the same house i did in guatemala. of course i ran into paddy and suzie in cusco for the 5th and not last time on this trip!!! today (a few weeks ago), I took a bus from the hotel to paracus and then like many other tourists took a boat (there must have been 8 boats) to the islands. The islands are ... read more

Hola de Peru

South America » Peru » Ica » Pisco August 16th 2005

ItchyAdventurer

I'm currently in Pisco, a 3 hour bus ride south of Lima. Today I've been travelling with a Swedish guy (also called Adam), and tomorrow we're going on a tour of the Paracas National Reserve and de Islas Belistas, both of which are known for amazing marine & bird life. I felt pretty shell shocked for my first couple of days in Peru, but I'm slowly adjusting to travelling without the convenience of being with friends and speaking the language. Actually my Spanish is improving all the time. I think in another week or picking the odd bit up and practising what I've learnt, I should be able to get by, maybe throwing in a little Spanglish from time to time. Currently undecided whether to do a Spanish course in Arequipa, which is probably the next ... read more

Islas Ballestas

South America » Peru » Ica » Pisco June 28th 2005

Lions

A A

Today I woke up with severe neck-pains from my tumble yesterday evening. I´m still sneezing out globs of sand. At 5:30 AM we departed for Isla Ballesta via Pisco. (I'm not sure why we get up so early...getting old I guess) We boarded a small tourist boat and headed west towards the Islands from the small fishing village of Paracas. There we had fantastic views of Peruvian boobies..... sea lions, penguins and hundreds of assorted birds. The odor was rather overpowering.... what do you expect from islands full of guano. One island in particular was absolutely carpeted by cormorants....the sight would have made even Alfred Hitchcock a tad jittery... especially with no phone booths in sight. I got a tad sea sick.... Luckily I popped some Hydrazine just in time. After returning to shore we spent ... read more

my 15 minutes used well

South America » Peru » Ica » Pisco March 7th 2005

juan franco

it had not rained in Lima since 1972, that is until last night - i would not be so bold as to suggest i brought the rain, but, it was the last time i was there - living in arizona was not the desert - the desert is where there is no vegetation, at least that is what i think of when i think desert, brown, sand, hot - the road from lima to pisco was pure desert. we sat on the top of the tourist bus, tony got the window seat, and as we left lima, he would point out all of the new interesting items in his new world - the cows, goats, desert, sand and then the vineyards, new towns... it reminded me of my childhood christmas days - new and exciting. children ... read more

Pisco, shithole

South America » Peru » Ica » Pisco January 19th 2005

My neckbeard

El Gringo de la Bachata

we took a 17 hour busride (its actually not as bad as it sounds) from cuzco to pisco, where we were to visit the ¨poor man´s galapagos islands¨ aka the islas ballestas. so, cramped and tired, we emerged from our night bus to swarms of taxi drivers offering us rides into the town of pisco. a 4 sol cab ride and we were there. pisco is a shithole, as the title indicates. we fell into a terrible hostel for 15 sols a night per person (i personally felt this was pricey for how bad it was) and explored the town. it reminded me of nagua only shittier and more dangerous. we bitched about the town the entire time we were there. the next day we visited the islas ballestas and the península paracas, which, despite its ... read more

Brief history of Peru

Ancient Peru was the seat of several prominent Andean civilizations, most notably that of the Incas whose empire was captured by the Spanish conquistadors in 1533. Peruvian independence was declared in 1821, and remaining Spanish forces defeated in 1...more history

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