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Pisco & The Ballestas Islands What can be said about the town of Pisco? Weeelllll!!! Not much really (Granted the town had been heavily destroyed by an earthquake in 2007). Nevertheless, we were only using it as our overnight base to visit the nearby Ballestas Islands, otherwise known as the ‘Poor Man’s Galapagos’. We caught our early morning boat from the port of Paracas and we subsequently herded into 24-seat speed boats that would cover the journey across to the Islands in super fast speeds. Our first visit en-route was to see the three-pronged candelabra, etched into the sand hills on one of the nearby islands - then it was out into the open sea for the very bumpy journey to the islands themselves.
The islands were made famous for their guano producing birds (otherwise known as highly-potent bird shit), which was Peru’s main source of export during the mid 19th century and the basis for the Spanish-Peru Guano wars during 1865-66. Not surprisingly, the islands are home to thousands of different colonies of birds, penguins and a very large colony of sea lions - all happily mucking around in the water, oblivious to the people in boats
All aboard.
On the way to catch my flight over the Nazca Lines ogling them.
Their description as the Poor Man’s Galapagos is certainly fitting - especially given the fact that you are not actually able to get out of the boat and walk around with the animals, but it was still a good place to visit to catch the very large colony of sea lions surrounding the islands, albeit from a distance.
Back on dry land after our visit, we headed off to a local Pisco distillery to get a tour of the ‘Pisco making process’ before being put out of our misery in the 30+ heat and given ample samples to try and of course, purchase. A bit like grappa, so therefore highly potent - I couldn’t help but buy a bottle to take with me up on the Inca trail to help celebrate my birthday and the completion of ‘Dead Man’s Pass’.
Not content to end our level of excitement yet - we then went to a local town nearby called Ida for some sand boarding and dune buggying along the dunes. Sitting in an open buggy riding the dunes whilst overlooking the oasis town of Ida was amazing. There was nothing to see for miles around
Taking control
I couldn't help but take a photo of the controls on the plane - so here they are for you to see as well. except mountains of sand over crystal clear skies. Hamming it down those mountains on sand boards at break neck speeds only adding to the beauty of the place.
Nazca Leaving Ida behind (weighed down by extra kilos of sand in odd places), we headed of for our destination for the evening - Nazca!
The town itself is small but well built-up, obviously catering to the tourist trade using it as a base to visit the Nasca Lines. Our hotel was based in front of the town square that was so shiny, so polished, we spent most of our time skidding along the pavement as we walked along it. Tiny little cars, a bit like giant matchbox cars, all the same design would whiz past, one after the other. Some of them had disco balls with loud music blaring out of them, others were painted in an assortment of colours. It didn’t dawn on us until our last day, when they came to pick us up to take us to the bus station; that they were the local taxis. For most of our time we were under the impression that there must have been a massive discount
on the purchase of these vehicles enabling every one in town got the same one. Hah! 😱
The following day involved a late morning start to visit the Nazca Lines by plane. I didn’t really know very much about the lines prior to my arrival in Peru and had only vaguely known them to be ancient lines drawn in the sand. And, once I was up on that plane looking down at then from above - that is exactly what they were. Ancient lines drawn in the sand, some in trapezoidal shapes, others in animals, birds, plants and others as yet unclassified things. The plane ride was an experience in itself. I normally don’t get nauseas - but this ride almost made me want to remember my breakfast, visually that is! As we swooped up & down the area looking at the various drawings, we would do a series of vertical descents to get a more up close & personal view. Hanging on for dear life, whilst clutching my stomach & trying to take pictures was not a pleasant experience at all!. Whilst it was nice to get a visual of the lines from the air - a part
of me was very, very glad to be on solid, stable ground, where I didnt feel as if my stomach were sitting in my mouth.
Seeing as I spent most of my time in the plane taking pictures without really looking, I was only really able to experience the views from my camera once I was back on land and able to look at then properly. Thankfully they were not too bad & I couldn't wait to get back to the hotel after that to lie down and wait for the earth to stop spinning.
We were due to catch the overnight bus to Arequipa that night, so we had ample time to wander around the town, relax, or visit the planetarium before hand. Aware that I was going to be spending the next 12 hours on a cold, cramped bus, I was eager to walk around and do something - so off I headed to the planetarium to try to get an understanding of the Nazca lines and their ‘supposed’ link to the cosmos (all this according to Maria Reicher - a German woman who studied them for 40 years).
What did I think about the
Planetarium and the link between the Nazca lines & the cosmos? Not much! Essentially the ‘planetarium’ was a small round room off the back of a hotel where Maria Reicher spent her last days. The link between the Nazca Lines & the cosmos was explained by a series of ‘connections’ between the stars and the drawings themselves. For example, Orion’s belt was connected to the drawing of a spider - How? Well because three dots said it did! Whatever that meant!. The only worthwhile experience for me was being able to see Saturn through one of the high powered telescopes at the end of the session. 20 soles certainly NOT well spent!. I prefer to think that the mystery of the lines have yet to be fully understood, one of the many proposed ideas behind their creation still undecided. I couldn't resolve the hypothesis of a plausable link between the stars & lines, from what I was shown that night - but then again, we're all entitled to an opinion, and that is mine!
Later that night it was all aboard the bus again for our next destination of Arequipa. Did I say I was getting sick of riding
in buses yet? Well 12 hours was not going to be a pleasant experience….
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