Nazca, Peru

---

The newbies are all very nice - there is one couple Craig (Kiwi) and Geraldine (French), two girls travelling together Georgie and Ana (both English), and three other single girls - Claudia (German), Jenny (Scottish) and Emma (English).

Yesterday we left Lima and took a 5-hour bus to Paracas. The bus journeys are pretty boring now as the scenery is just desert for as far as the eye can see. We arrived in time for dinner, but nothing else before bed. Today has been busy to make up for it though!

We were up early for a trip to the Ballesta Islands, about 30 minutes off-shore from Paracas. Described as the 'poor man's Galapagos', there were hundreds of thousands of birds all over the rocks, including cormorants, boobies, pelicans and penguins, and several sealions too. No blue-footed boobies though, and no giant tortoises like on the Galapagos.

We then jumped on a bus to Pisco central where we visited a Pisco winery and had mini tasting of several different Piscos, only one of which I liked the taste of, so I won't be rushing out to buy any while I'm here!

Another hour on the bus and we stopped at a desert oasis town called huacachina. The oasis itself was beautiful - a real spot of paradise in the middle of a desert landscape. There was an option to do sand buggying and sand boarding, but as my back still isn't feeling to great I gave it a miss and hung around the pool with some others who weren't doing it.

Back on the bus, on the way to Nazca, we stopped on the Panamerican Highway to climb a metal tower which overlooks two of the Nazca lines. Impressive, and huge, and I'll be taking a flight over all of the lines tomorrow to see more.

---