The Awe and Wonder that is Ica, Paracas, and Huacachina.

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To me, Ica sounds like something you don't like. Why would I want to go to a place I've never heard of, doesn't roll off the tongue, and with only three letters is much too small to merit a visit? Besides, isn't Peru all about the mountains? the pan-flutes and alpaca hats? Perhaps. But the region of Ica in Peru has much more to offer if you dare to give it a go. During my travels here, I have heard many foreigners and locals both talking about Ica and Paracas with awe and wonder. But being familiar with only the more well-known parts of Peru, I couldn't figure out why this place seemed so special to so many people. It didn't take long to find out.

I booked a ticket with the premier bus company, Cruz Del Sur, which is kind of like taking a plane, only, of course, if it rolled the whole way to your destination. Since I don't usually ride in a bus, I was suprised how "super elegant" everything about my trip was: navy, velour seats that reclined to just the right angle so as to be comfortable without being in the lap of the person behind you; wi-fi (for all your computing needs) a steward; a complete meal; and even a movie, The Zookeeper, starring Kevin James, who is such a good actor I could even understand his Spanish.

I was all set up to stay in Huacachina , which is an oasis just outside of Ica proper. I say oasis, because, Huacachina is surrounded by dunes of sand, hundreds of feet high with a beautiful desert lake located smack dab in the center. It kinda felt like a 1920's hollywood movie with the palm trees, arched doorways and cabana-style architecture. My hotel, "Hotel Nice," while serviceable, was not quite the oasis I was hoping for. Carlos, (call him a concierge if you want) helped out whenever he could, but I think I might have surpassed the age of young backpackers who can put up with cold showers, large bugs in the room, and questionable bedding. But for ten dollars, should I really even be commenting on it?

Next course of action, food. When traveling, if I decide it's time to eat, I always make a sweep of the surrounding area to get a take on what looks appetizing, a great atmosphere and reasonable prices. So I walked around the lake, which has a great walkway with restaurants and hotels just yards away from the water. In one of the building either someone was having a giant wedding or playing some sort of bingo or something. (In retrospect, I guess they were a bit too dressed up for bingo.) Anyway, I ended up back at Hotel Nice and decided to eat at the restaurant "Desert Nights" where I had the popular Peruvian dish, Lomo Saltado.

I woke up at 6:30 a.m. Saturday morning to head to my first of three excursions for the day; the port town of Pisco, from where I would embark on a small boat to the Paracas National Reserve and the Ballestas Islands. I had no idea all there was to behold in this region of Peru.

The van let us off at Pisco and the first thing I smelled was mariscos or seafood . . well, to be honest, I guess it wasn't technically seafood yet, it was just . . . well, the sea. But it was an amazing port. Boats lined the shoreline and the pier was lined with colorful storefronts and touristy souvenir shops. I didn't have time to look though, as throngs of people headed toward the dock, anxious to board the boats for the marine reserve, Paracas National Park, which, I heard later, had been featured in National Geographic many times.

The dock was a teeming mass of chaos and confusion as people dug in their pockets for Nuevo Soles, the currency used here in Peru, to pay the seemingly never-ending taxes or entrance fees, or guide fees. But what I usually think is so much money in Nuevo Soles , usually only ends up being a couple of dollars. Anyway, after I paid my fees, I searched around for the rest of my tour group, and found them already seated in their places on the ship. Luckily I found a spot somewhere in the middle of the boat, although the "prime" realty was in the back, (aft, maybe?) where the sides of the boat were low enough not to obstruct your view.

The boat took off at a pretty nice speed, enough so that the a cool breeze was generated, and saltwater spray blew in our faces. I saw nothing but open water ahead and wasn't quite sure what I could expect to see once we arrived at our destination. The guia, microphone in hand, reassured us that his degree in biology and ornithology .. . (if that's the study of birds) would give him the expertise to explain everything we needed to know about Paracas National Park.

It wasn't long before we saw that we were approaching a large rock formation in front of the boat. Aside us, maybe 100 yards away, another tourist boat quickly took the lead, which actually was great for me so I could capture some of the video on my camera. I might have heard that at one time there were pirates here, and if that is the case, they would have the perfect location. In the Paracas rock formations, large cut-outs of rock where the water slowly eroded parts of the formations appeared to be be perfect cover for ships looking for a hide-away.

But eventually, rather than hiding pirates, various animals instead used these oceanic caves and rocks for their homes. The boat captain ventured as closely as possible to the caves so we could get a first hand look at all the bio-diversity in the reserve. The rocks were multi-colored and we learned that the shining white parts weren't necessarily pearly mineral deposits, rather the remnants of dinner of the hundreds of different bird species that made their homes here. I wish I could remember all of the types of birds; I know there were pelicans and blue-footed something else or other, but the names elude me. I do remember, though, the penguins. I think I remember because I had no idea penguins made their homes in off the coast of Peru. Isn't it too hot? But that's one of the myths they try to de-bunk down here. Not all penguins enjoy the freezing cold environment. The penguins seem quite content to mingle with all of the other creatures who make their homes in Paracas.

While we cruised in and out of the caves, one of the passengers began pointing wildly off the port side of the ship. (port = left . . . I'm pretty sure) Floating through the waters were gigantic masses of what I thought looked like egg-drop soup, but were actually hugely-tentacled jelly fish. They came in a wide array of colors and brushed up against the boat on their way to where-ever it is that jellyfish hang out.

The diversity in this park seemed endless. Starfish perched delicately between shore and sea, birds nested, took care of their young, and co-mingled peacefully all in perfect harmony. We were pretty lucky though to experience a school of dolphins hunting tuna. It's a rare occurance to see all of these mammals working together, so I quickly changed my camera settings to video and managed to capture the action. I marvelled at the grace and speed of these fantastic creatures. I'm glad I had a chance to see dolphins out in the wild; truly an incredible sight. Another presence which made themselves known were the "Lobos del mar," or, as the gringos might say, sealions. There was to be no performing for us on this day, rather they chose to sun themselves on the rocks of Paracas.

Another part of the tour while in Ica included visiting Pisco, one of the wineries where the drink that is named after the city is produced. I spent time with Columbians, Germans, Brits and Australians, learning about the ancient wine presses, the vineyards, where the wine was fermented, and then saw the vat where people used to stomp the grapes to make Pisco. The guia explained that music would play as the stompers danced in order to make the juices flow. I think he also told a joke about the fact that since the dancers were barefoot, the drinkers of Pisco would also have cheese to go with their wine. But since the joke was seemingly so gross, I didn't really care to translate the parts I didn't understand.

Finally, when I was ready to call it a day, Arturo, who was kind of like the cruise director for my time in Huacachina, asked if I wanted to ride in a dunebuggy as part of the tour. Since I probably wouldn't have the chance to see the deserts of Peru again I decided to go for what I thought would be a leisurely ride through the sands, kind of like Lawrence of Arabia. That is, if Lawrence had raced across the desert in neckbreaking speeds, over dunes 100 feet high in everywhich direction including hanging off the sides. I couldn't believe how fast we were going. I had to keep my mouth shut, which can be hard for me, so as not to have it fill up with sand. But the worst was when we would get to the top of a dune. Why, you ask? Because nine times out of ten we would be then looking down on an almost verticle drop. But it's sand right? Mostly likely any crash or mishap would be prevented by the soft grains of sand. I didn't care to find out.

Back in Lima, people had asked if I had gone "sanborning' and I never quite knew what they meant. That is, until I saw the miniture-looking surfboards in the back of the dunebuggies and figured out what people were referring to was "sand boarding," kind of like snowboarding but without all the warm clothing and frozen extremeties. But even so, it's no easy task. I could have opted to lay on top of the board and slide down like it was a sled, but instead, I decided that this would be my time to be a risk-taker. I stood atop the sandboard, much like a surfer might do and mustered up the courage to push myself forward. I made it about twenty feet before ending up with a mouthful of sand. But I persevered, refusing to give up. I took a few tumbles, (enough that I felt it the next day) but eventually I was able to make it down a little bit more each time, not the whole way, but I'm getting there.

Incidently, if you try sandboarding, be prepared to take home a little of the desert with you. Even after showering, I had sand in a lot of places that wasn't too comfortable and hard to get rid of. Nice souvenir!

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Photos

Harbor
Birds wait on ship while I prepare to visit Islas de Ballestas.

Comments

[pam cohn]

jealous
What great adventures you are having and I love the pictures. Maybe you should publish some books about your travels for perspective adventures. Looking forward to your next blog. Have fun and be somewhat careful. PC

[D MJ Binkley]

We loved our time in Ica....well, all of Peru
We went there before we starting blogging so maybe someday that one will get written. Thanks for the memory. Hope you've been able to wash away all of the sand by now.