Blogs from Ballestas Islands, Ica, Peru, South America - page 5

Hi Folks, Today was a bit more leisurely with the opportunity to do a few more touristy type things. Today was a trip to the Ballestas Islands just off Paracas on the coast of the Pacific. If you remember, I was also there back in 2005 with Pancho and the CCS crowd. It was a very different Paracas that I saw this time around. As a result of the earthquake that hit Peru in August last year, a huge Tsunami wave came from the Pacific and hit Paracas. The nice area where we had a lovely evening meal back in 2005 is gone, and the main hotel on the beach virtually destroyed. They are in the middle of reconstruction work there. I have attached some photos to let you see. The speed boats are still running ... read more

Today was another day of wonderment and fun here in South America. Starting off at the small village of Paracas, we boarded a speed boat to head out to the Isla Ballestas. These islands are essentially towers of rock that surge from the ocean and are home to thousands of animals, all of different types and species. Many types of birds, sea lions and penguins call these islands home and the volume of life present here is awe inspiring - I didn´t think any other nature experience would come close to the Galapagos, but this certainly did. After a couple of hours cruising, we headed back and set off for the region of Ica. The change in climate and topography was obvious as we left the coast and headed inland. Upon reaching the oasis of Huacachina ... read more

Our tour guide Mel joked with us as we left the dock to look out for the boobies! Huh, nudist beach, no Peruvian booby birds, and thousands of them. The Ballestas Islands are home to a great variety of wildlife. There are huge colonies of sea lions and unusual marine birds, such as - Humboldt’s Penguin, cormorants, Peruvian booby and Peruvian pelican. The islands surrounding seas are rich in creel, and associated upper food chain fish. They provide a safe breeding ground for sea lions, pelicans and a large variety of bird life. The tour enabled the gang to get up close with much of the wildlife on the island. An astounding amount of birds and sea lions were seen all over the island. The locals take advantage of the bird droppings by collecting these twice ... read more

Cauky, dnes vstavame v 5:00 hodin, je pondeli 19.9.2005. Odjizdime do Icy na bus smer Pisco. Odtud minibusem do Paracasu a lodi na Islas Ballestas. Vylet byl moc hezky, na ostrovech bylo spoustu racku, kormoranu, lachtanu a par tucnaku. Po ceste jsme take mijeli nejake pelikany. V poledne jsme zpet v Piscu, zasli jsme na obed, potom busem do Limy. Jeli jsme cca 4 hodiny. V Lime jsme az u ctvrte spolecnosti sehnali listky na 22:30 hodin do Huarazu. 19.-20.9.2005 jsou na nekterych silnicich blokady, tak jsme meli s listkama i celkem stesti. Jeli jsme zatim nejluxusnejsim busem s obsluhou, v cene bylo obcerstveni a piti. Mista bylo v buse spoustu, jeli jsme pres noc, spalo se nam vyborne. Pa S+M+P... read more