Lima and the Ballestas Islands

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We eventually managed to leave the desert and Huacacina behind, a few days behind schedule as i managed to get ill AGAIN! We set off to Pisco the port near the Ballestas Islands and managed a while 2 hour bus journey without a hitch!

The Ballestas Islands were great, we saw penguins and loads of other unidentifiable sea birds! We also saw hundreds of sea lions, they are hillarious creatures and look so ungainly slipping about on the rocks, yet in the water they are almost graceful. We spent a long time watching one heaving itself up onto a rock, only for a big wave to wash it straight back into the water again! We also saw quite a few dolphins in the harbour and one swam right under our (very small) boat.

From Pisco we went to Lima and spent a couple of days there. Lima is huge (8 million people live there!) and therefore quite difficult to get around, especially as it isnt really safe to stay in the centre so our hostel was in a very nice subburb called Barranco, but a 20 minute (and fairly exensive) taxi ride from town! We spent one afternoon in the centre and another day walking around the subburbs along the coast but still didnt really get a proper feel for the place, however we were running out of money so left for the coast again.

Crump and Suzie have gone trekking for a few days in Huaraz, so the 2 of us have come to Trujillo and the surfer hang out of Huanchaco for a few days. This place would be brilliant if the sun was shining, sadly it has been warm but cloudy since we got here!

Yesterday we went to see some Moche Pyramids and today we are going to the aincent city of Chan Chan which whould be good. Then tomorrow I think we will head inland again as we are hoping to hitch a lift on a trade boat down the amazon to Iquitos sometime next week.

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