Yesterday we travelled to the Ballestas Islands from a little port called Paracas. The Ballestas Islands can only be reached by boat and visitors are not allowed on the Islands. The boat that took as out can best be described as a high powered open speed boat with 2 very powerful engines at the rear. We sped off from the port on a very calm sea (thankfully) and after about 40 minutes we approached the Islands. They were teeming with wild life and I never seen so much in one spot. There was so much it was surreal and David Attenborough would be in his element. Apparently there are over 160 species of marine birds including penguins, boobies, Inca terns and pelicans all of which we saw. On top of that there were hundreds of sea ... read more

There has been a request for more pictures of people and so here we go. Later to day we are back to Lima and then tomorrow we take a 4 hour coach trip to Ica and then take a light aircraft flight over the Nazca Lines... read more

Spent part of the morning in a museum with a young and beautiful Inca girl called Juanita. The only problem was that she had been dead since about 1445. Juanita had been found in 1995 in the form of a frozen mummy at the top of a nearby mountain. Also known as the Ice Maiden she is considered to be one of the world's best preserved mummy. She is on show in this glorified freezer in this wonderful museum known as Museo Santuarios Andinos.Why and how did she come to die and be buried on the top of a mountain? Well she was marched from Cursco to the mountain as a sacrificial offering to the gods by the Incas. She died as a result of a blow to the head and was buried on the top ... read more

All Saints Day and the locals celebrated with a civic and military parade around the main square known as Plaza de Armas. All the local worthies were settled in a canopy placed outside the Cathedral and the march pass began. It consisted of amongst others the army , police, government workers , schoolchildren and even the road cleaners (they came last with their brooms and shovels). Very colourful and very stirring with the army band in full pelt especially the one with the big bass drum. Well as it was Sunday I decided to do the religious tour which included a visit to the Cathedral and the Museum of Religious Art. Both are impressive in that they are both fine buildings and constructed by the Spanish after the conquest. Both are constructed on the top of ... read more

The Sacred Valley of the Incas is a lush and fertile valley not far from Cusco and along it are several sacred Inca sites. Another day of admiring and photographing impressive Inca stonework. I dread to think what Lynne will think when I produce reams of photographs of Inca walls upon my return home. The most impressive site today was Ollantaytambo, a town built on the base of an old Inca town. The streets are the same as the original Inca layout and again lots of Inca stonework to look at. The town is dominated by the Inca fort which stands over the town and at the top there is incomplete temple which was in the course of construction when the Spanish arrived on the scene. There was a big battle here between the Incas and ... read more