Las Islas Ballestas... Final SA trip

---

From Huacachina, we took a tour to Las Islas Ballestas, which means the Bow Islands. The islands are part of a marine reserve off the coast of Paracas, Peru. The islands are a popular tourist spot because they are full of different marine birds, sea lions, penguins, and dolphins. We got to see all three while we were there. From the port, we took a speed boat out to the islands. People don't get off on the islands like at Isla de Plata. We stayed on the boat and took a tour through the islands by water. It was really cool to see all the birds, sea lions, and a small family of Humbolt penguins. Industrial fishing is illegal in the reserve, but local fisherman are permitted to do traditional fishing, including diving to gather octopus, squid, crabs, and other life on the floor of the ocean. The birds and sea lions have a safe haven to thrive on the rocks. A certain kind of bird (I can't remember the name) poops all over the rocks, and every 7 years the guano is gathered and packaged for export to other countries where it is used as a natural fertilizer. The tour lasted about 2 hours, and then we caught a bus from Paracas back to Lima for our final 2 days of the great South American adventure.

---