Of Paros and Médicos--Part II

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...though thankfully there are no actual médicos in this installment.

So, Thursday morning I hopped a bus to Ica and from there a quick (and cheap) taxi to Huacachina. Huacachina is a very small town, literally an oasis in the middle of these crazy-high sand dunes. I had every intention of going there to sand board. I had been reading about it for months and was dying to try it, but it was not to be, and that’s okay.

This town is so mellow, it was actually a big change for me coming from cities and big towns. The silence was kind of shocking. There was lots of hippy-like restaurants and everyone was just lazing around in hammocks reading and journaling. There was also some really unbelievable jewelry for super cheap. I had promised myself that I would stop buying, but I just couldn’t pass it up. Arantxa and I both made out pretty well with lots of new stuff.

That evening the guy at the hotel suggested that I go on a tour to Las Islas Ballestas the next morning (Friday.) Now the tour left at 5:30 am and I would have to take my stuff with me and leave from there to go to Lima so I would be on time for my Saturday flight north. I had to choose between sand boarding and the islands. Everyone refers to the islands as "the poor man’s Galapagos" so, being practical, I should have passed as I’ve already been to the real Galapagos, and gone sand boarding which was the whole reason I was there in the first place. But, for some reason it felt right to take the tour, and boy am I glad I did. It was a day to remember.

Friday, I got in a cab at 5:30am hauling with me everything I own. There were about 12 of us in all on the tour, and only one other person dragging along a huge backpack. As it turns out she was also headed to Lima to catch a flight (to Guatemala) the next day.

Her name was Ana Lía and she was from Guadalajara México. Several years ago she taught in a bilingual 2nd grade classroom in Houston. She has been out of the classroom and working in offices in México and Argentina, but has just decided that teaching is her calling. She will be returning to teach 1st bilingual in Austin next year. She was really fun. We figured that together it wouldn’t be such a problem doing the tour and then getting to Lima with all our stuff.

I had this really weird experience on the way to the tour. Part of the trip to the boat was on local transport and there was something about being on a local bus that early in the morning that reminded me so much of my daily (well, sort of) journey to school in Ecuador. I think it was mostly that it smelled exactly the same. There is nothing like a smell to toss you back in time, and this one really did.

We took a speed boat out for the tour of the islands and it was really amazing. Not at all like the Galapagos. The color of the rocks was what had me fascinated. The top is white (from guano, but still!) the mid section was red and then down where the water had receded it was black with mussels. The water was dark and foaming and the whole thing was really gorgeous. They collect the guano about every 5 years, and it is a huge export for Peru. It didn’t smell to great, but I think it really added to the beauty of the scene. We saw some sea lions, crabs, humboldt penguins, boobies, and various other birds I can’t remember the names of. It was definitely worth the trip.

But, it was when we got back in that the fun really began. We couldn’t get any transport out of town because of another, unrelated, strike! This one had to do with oil and which towns the money is going support, and how their local governments are spending it. I didn’t read the news about it, but according to the radio this is the first time ever that Pisco (the town) has done this and stood up for itself. We had to get to Pisco for a bus to Lima, and the other people had to go to Pisco for a bus back to Huacachina. Finally our tour coordinator, Rafael, called a friend to take us part way. We got in his van and went as far as we could, but there were rocks in the road and remnants of things burning and it wasn’t safe for him to take the car any further.

So, we got out and walked. It was interesting because Ana Lía and I had on these huge backpacks and all our stuff and were grinning from ear to ear as we had already decided to look at it as an adventure, but the other group of people had nothing to carry and threw a fit the entire time. At the end they went as far as to demand over 1/3 their money back because they had to walk a bit and they had been told that transport would be included.

At some point after only about 10 minutes of walking we were told it wasn’t safe to go any further as we would be robbed. At that point this police jeep thing pulled up and a bunch of the police guys got out and they stuffed all 7 of the women from our group in the vehicle (a very tight squeeze) and took us through the closest problem zone. It was really fairly empty with just some smoking things and some rocks and brush in the road. The people who were left were yelling and heckling the police ("taxi!" and "Qué vergüenza!" etc.,) but to their credit they pretty much ignored it and took us to a nearby gas station. Then they went back for the boys.

The only really kind of freighting part was when we were walking from the gas station to the house of the company owner (a woman who was in the police car with us.) The house was only about a block away, but as we headed down the street this man started screaming at us like a lunatic about how we couldn’t go that way, and it was dangerous etc. The lady and him got into a pretty good shouting match in the middle of the street until it was clear we were only going a short distance. Even the short distance seemed like it took forever after he had me scared though. This whole time the other part of our group had a horrible attitude and was basically nasty to everyone involved--even when they were helping us. Some people should just stay home!

We waited for awhile in the lady’s house and then when it was decided it was safe we took a little motorcycle cab (I’ll write about them later) into town to try and get bus tickets. The others got off fine, but the roads to Lima were blocked, so Ana Lía and I had to hang around and eat lunch in Pisco waiting for the bus company to open back up (most shops had closed because they were afraid of looting.) We did get a bus around 4:00, and then made it to Lima around 8:30pm with no other problems. I was glad that she was with me, it would have been a much more stressful day if I’d been on my own, or with someone that got up tight about things. As it was we had a lot of fun.

I ended up going with her to a hostel that she knew in Lima. We went out that night to a park that she knew had dancing outside. It was so neat! They have this little mini amphitheater and there are people sitting all around it, and live singing and music and then people get up and dance down in the middle. They are almost all older people and they just have so much fun. They seem to totally mix up partners and just rock out for hours. I have video of that as well. And, if you can believe it they even got me out there for a few minutes. It was one of the best things I’ve seen in a long time. Plus, with Ana Lía around we got a seat and could sit back and relax for awhile (I would have never pushed my way in for a seat.)

We met this older gentleman there who had lived in both Guadalajara and San Francisco and we ended up going with him for coffee until midnight. He was a very interesting guy. I was too tired to follow most of the conversation, but he is very into some new agey enlightenment stuff and other things that I can only partially buy into.

It was the perfect way to end my time in Perú. What a day!

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Photos

On the boat on the way out
me and Ana Lía

Police guy...
stuffed in with all our crap.

Other people...
not too happy.

The dancing
in parque Kennedy in Lima