Blogs from Ballestas Islands, Ica, Peru, South America - page 4

Day 597 (15.11.08) The Islas Ballestas are perched offshore from Paracas just north of where we´d been staying. An hour or so on the bus took us to this little town which was all but devastated last year as a result of a 7.9 earthquake. There is now a huge amount of construction work going on to repair the homes and businesses in the area. Finding our way through the building sites we were soon climbing aboard a little boat that would take us out to the islands and donning the mandatory life jackets (just how extreme was this trip going to be?). We were first taken to view the Candelabra. Similar to the Nazca lines it is a huge marking in the sand on a hillside and comes with all the usual wild theories as ... read more

The alarm going off at 6am was not welcome and I had just 30 mins to get myself ready for the bus which was leaving to take us all to the Ballestas Islands (rather like a poor mans Galapagos). We had a rather hairy 30 min bus ride to the speedboat and then a very choppy sail over to the islands. On the boat ride over we saw the famous Candelabra which is a 50m shape etched into the sand. Noone knows who did this or why but it looks pretty inpressive. Noone is allowed on the island as the wildlife is protected, and they only go on the island to collect the bird poo (called guano) every few years, which they export as fertilizer. It was no surprise then that the islands stank!! The islands ... read more

We had a very early wake-up call to get down to breakfast and check out of the hotel by 7am. We then got a very vintage looking bus from Pisco to Paracas where we had an organised boat trip to the Ballestas Islands. Its a great opportunity to see loads of different types of birds, neither of us were that bothered by the birds but when we found out we could see penguins and sea lions we decided to go. Just as well as if we hadnt we would have been the only ones in our tour that didnt go! The boat journey was fun, a speed boat wth a fairly impressive top speed. Ann and I spent most of the time laughing at each other in the life jackets as they were very restrictive! The ... read more

Sunday 9th March So frustrating that can´t get the photos up for this yet, as had the best day, and got some great photos! A really early start (6am, although my alarm clock didn´t go off, so 6.30am... I did wonder why Anna, my room-mate for tonight, was getting up 2.30am!). Quick breakfast, with a nice rendition of ´Happy Birthday - nice juice, otherwise not the greatest (and we´re back to white bread/jam/egg!), before heading back to Paracas for our trip to the Ballestas Islands. An optional trip, but otherwise you sit in the hotel. Lonely Planet describes them as the ´Poor man´s Galapagos Islands´ - I´ve not been there so this will do. First sign is someone feeding pelicans - but he wants money for this, as we soon learn does everyone. Have left my ... read more

Ueber das Meer mit einem Schnellboot fahren wir an einem riesigen Dreizack im Wuestensand (ca. 180m hoch und ueber 70m breit), genannt El Candelabro, vorbei. Uralt und raetselhaft. Was der Dreizack darstellen soll? Keine Ahnung. Seit vielen Jahrhunderten befindet er sich dort, laesst sich durch die Pazifikwinde nicht verwischen und auch nicht vom Sand zu wehen. Er dient den ganzen Seefahrern hier zumindest als Orientierungspunkt. Dann kommen wir auch schon zu den Islas Ballestas. Eine kleine stark zerklueftete Inselgruppe mit Torboegen und vielen Voegeln, Pinguinen, Seeloewen. Ein paar Gebaeude sind auf den Inseln auch zu entdecken. Da jeder Vogel hier ca. 350 Gramm Scheisse am Tag produziert, haben sich gleich ein paar Abenteuerer gefunden, es gibt tatsaechlich Leute, die versuchen, aus jeder Scheisse Gold zu machen, die hier Guano abbauen. Obwohl ich Abenteuer ja mag, und ... read more