Seeing monkeys and spiders from the sky

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Leaving Arequipa the landscape turned to desert again as we headed for the coast. It was nice to see the ocean again. Took longer than we thought to get to the campsite at Puerta Inca. It was dark on arrival and it was immediately obvious that we were on the beach, but waves crashing onto the shore soon gave it away. Pieter´s group was cooking tonight. We got a fire going on the beach and had barbecue followed by marshmallow roasting. It was not all cold for a change.

We woke up to discover that we were in a cove with rocky outcrops on either side. There were ruins here of an Inca port, complete with pilfered graves. From here is only 250 km to Cusco and an inca roads goes all the way. There used to be posts every 7 km, making it possible for a relay of runners to get a message to Cusco in 24 hours. We went for a walk and saw some vultures and pelicans.

We drove to the Chachilla Cemetery for a tour. The guide was an archeologist and he knew lots and lots. The cemetery was first discovered by grave robbers 40 years ago so the desert was scattered with discarded bones, pottery (the stuff without any colours was not so popular) and even bits of cotton. There is a total of 2 hours rain each year so nothing is destroyed in a big hurry. Each open tomb was covered so you had shade while the guide was talking but walking between the tombs you felt like you were baking in an oven. There were lots of mummies, quite a few babies, and one that looked like Bob Marley.

We arrived at Nazca in the mid afternoon, setting up camp in the grounds of a hotel opposite the airfield. We flew that afternoon. It as US $50 each. There were 3 of us in a plane so we went with Tina. She was dead worried that she might throw up, so it was ironic when Rae was the one who chundered. Good thing Tina brought a plastic bag just in case. Besides that, the Nazca lines were very interesting. Fascinating shapes. Pieter´s favourite was the Monkey and my favourite was the spaceman.

The next day we went to Paracas and got on a boat to visit the Ballestos Islands. It was an annoying little boat that we were on but the visit was great. We had never seen so many birds before. There were a few penguins, a healthy population of sea lions and some big red crabs and starfish on the tide line.

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Photos

Nazca Lines
The whale

Nazca Lines
The astronaut

Nazca Lines
View from the plane

Ballestos Islands
The penguins

Ballestos Islands
Lots and lots of birds

Ballestos Islands
Sea lions