Hopping a series of overnight buses, I have been making my bleary-eyed way down the south coast of Peru: Pisco, Paracas, Ica, Nazca, Arequipa, and into the Colca Canyon region. Just yesterday, I returned to Arequipa from a 4-day Colca Canyon-to-Valley of the Volcanoes trek. In Pisco, I tepidly signed up for a Paracas Nat Park/Islas Ballestas tour. I am not normally a big tour fan, since it seems like I am often disappointed. But lacking my own boat, and with ground transport to Paracas NP pretty scarce, I really had no choice. This time I was not disappointed. Paracas NP and Islas Ballestas support a rich coastal ecosystem, driven by the Humboldt Current and coastal upwelling, and harboring one of the densest concentrations of seabirds in the world. So, so many birds - I have
... read more