Sea life, cemeteries and cooking

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An action packed day began with a boat trip to Ballestas Island (sometimes known as the poor man's Galapagos Island) to see an assortment or wildlife. There was also a truck sweepstake to see who was going to be the first to be pooped on by the thousands of birds that fly above or around the island and I was relieved that it was a near miss for me and i returned to dry land with my clothes and hair intact. The sight of the rocks simply covered by cormorans, penguins, pelicans and blue footed boobies and took my breath away. I also wondered whether I may have been a sea lion in another life as I watched them sunbathe on the rocks!


We travelled to Huacachina in the early afternoon to the sand dunes for the best afternoon of the trip so far. We all piled into two dune buggies for a hair raising drive around the dunes, including some almost vertical drops. It only took about 15 minutes for me to relax, open my eyes, enjoy it and ride with my hands in the air like everyone else. This ride was interspersed with five separate sand boarding runs down the dunes on a snowboard named 'Jesus'! The day was completed with an incredible sunset, a BBQ, dancing and sleeping under the stars on the dunes. Perfect.


As we travelled to Nazca, famous for its geometric lines and animal geoglyphs in the desert, we passed a scaffolding tower or look out point which we could climb to see one of the famous Nazca lines in the sand. These unexplained mysteries date back to pre-Inca civilisation and despite the slightly surreal element of the tourists and the tower, I was surprised how impressive and clear the lines of the lizard, tree and hands were. There was an option to see more of the Nazca Lines from the air but most of us chose to relax by the pool at the campsite instead.


The following morning there was a slightly bizarre tour of the Chauchilla Cemetery where we saw mummified bodies in their graves that have been excavated by archeologists. Many of these bodies were sacrificed by the Incas and buried in a foetal position so after hundreds of years they are about 50cm in height! There was one final night camping on the beach at Puerta Inca before a long drive to the wonderful city of Arequipa.


There was almost a day and a half to explore and discover this beautiful, old city. For something completely different, on the second full day, nine of us spent the day at a Peruvian cooking school. First we went to the market to choose some of our ingredients and learn a little more about the local produce and then we went back to the venue to learn to cook a starter called ceviche and an alpaca main course called lomo saltado. The setting of this cooking experience was at the back of a beautiful and manicured garden and we all enjoyed a late lunch of our culinary creations. The final instalment of this wonderful experience was learning the origins of the local alcoholic tipple, Pisco Sour, and how to make it. Naturally there was no waste after the lesson!

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