Ballestos boobies and sand sliding!

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During the night I woke up at silly o´clock, my body still not used to the time difference and it was wonderful to hear the sound of the sea. Bardsey Island sighs lulled me back to sleep.

Another early morning start saw us waiting to board the speed boat to the Ballestos Islands, home to resident birds and sealions. As we got nearer to the islands more birds started flying by and I honed in on them with my binoculars spotting what I thought were gannets, but actually turned out to be the famous fnar fnar boobies! I also saw pelicans, cormarants and terns. Eventually the white, guano covered islands came into view and we arrived to a carcophany of sound from the mass of birds clinging to the rocky outcrops. We saw 3 different types of cormarant - Guanay, red legged and neotrophic, the beautiful Inca tern (with blackish grey body and red bill and legs with a little white tufty bit) skimming the water and dipping in to catch fish. The boobies clung to the cliff edge while others flew around us in formation Vs in massed arrays. We even saw a couple of groups of the comical Humbolt penguins. Another spot for me was a different type of oyster catcher to the ones we get back home. These were just black with red bills, no white at all.

By the way it was so wonderful being back on a boat again, slam, slam, slamming as we planed along, the fresh sea air in my face, the birds, the sounds, the smells sent me Bardsey island echoes again. I can feel it drawing me back. Maybe the time is nearly right for me to go back soon. God that place tugs at your heart strings!

AS we bobbed about in the boat we were spoilt by the sheer mass of birds and sealions all around us. The beach areas were full of sealions all vying for space, with pups and the odd bull throwing his weight around. Some were beneath a huge arch in the rock and the calls echoed noisily across the water like some eerie banshees howling! My cheeks hurt I was smiling so much. What a cure for the soul this place is. All the crapiness of the year so far faded and elation and joy took its place.

Too soon it was time to return to Paracus and I stood hanging over the side watching the last few birds skimming the water along side us as the Ballestos Islands faded into the mists that had started to roll in. Big contented sighs and grins!!!

Back at the hotel we packed our bags once more and set off on another drive, this time to the dessert oasis of Huacachina. We had a brief stop on the way for lunch and Pisco tasting at a local winery. On and we also saw paprika growing in huge fields by the side of the rode so stopped off to have a quick scrumping session. They looked just like chillies but weren´t hot at all, tasting more like red peppers.

Arriving at Huacachina was a huge surprise. The hotel was a very colonial looking building with a beautiful inner court yard that had an arched veranda all around. There was a couple of large resident tortoises mooching about the yard too. The hotel is literally an oasis in the middle of the desert, with beautiful large lake with restaurants and cafes all around. The desert scenery has been a real surprise to me, not what I was expecting in Peru at all. Apparently it´s like this all along the Pacific coast.

After settling in to our rooms most of us set off in these Mad Max looking contraptions called dune buggies at break neck speed up into the sand dunes. It was such a fab and exciting experience hurtling along towards a HUGE, heart stopping drop of a precipice that we just DROVE down. WHat a roller coaster ride. A few of the girls were screaming sooo loud it was hilarious. The rest of us were chucking our hands up in the air and cheering each time we launched off down another death defying drop. We stopped for a photo taking session and I orchestrated a jumping one in a bid to get another of my photos into the Adventure Company´s new travel brochure! They turned out great so fingers crossed. Then it was off to find a handy dune to dune board down. Standing at the top was pretty scary - it was soooo steep. But most of us braved it and had a brilliant time sliding down on what looked like snow boards, head first lying down and steering with your feet. After an abortive attempt to find a geocache to drop my Paddington Bear travel bug in we headed off to enjoy the sun setting behind the massive sand dunes before making our way back to the hotel via more hairy dune buggy roller coasting!

A perfect day was rounded off with happy hour, two for the price of one banancolardas by the lake.

What an incredible day. Loved it! Peru is totally awesome.

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