Mini Galapagos and The Oasis

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Blogger Bec

Day 2 of our trip saw us visit the amazing Ballestas Islands, off the coast of Paracas, about 4 hours south of Lima.

(Normally, tourists stay in Pisco, a major town, but due to the major earthquake there late last year, it was not possible. Pisco is still being rebuilt, a very slow process, but one helped immeasureably by NGO´s and the local government.)

After an early start, we walked about 1km to the boat dock where once suitably life jacketed up alongside about 25 other cameraweilding tourists, we set off in a speed boat.

About 10 minutes into the journey bought us to a mysterious candelabra inscription on the side of a hill. At a guess I´d say that the inscription would be about 100m in height and maybe 50m in width, smack bang in the middle of a hill along the cliff strewn coast line. You can get an idea of the scale of the inscription by looking at the picture Doug took of the scuba divers walking underneath it (yes, scuba divers.I have no idea what they were doing on a dirt cliff about 100 metres above the water line...)

The origin and maker of the candalabra inscription is unknown but theories abound. The most popular is that it is a pirate symbol, marking territory and/or navigation marks. Personally I like the ´alien communication signal´theory but I´ve always been a conspiracy theorist....

After we had had our fill of the candalabra the boat then sped off to the Ballestas Islands proper so we could all get an eyeful of the local wildlife.
Dubbed the mini-Galapagos (by who?!), the islands are home to tens of thousands of animals, especially sea lions and birds. For many years the islands also bore the brunt of massive guano farming/collecting.

Our boat hovered around the islands for about 1.5 hours while we all went camera CRAZY taking snaps of drowsy sea lions and harping, squalling gulls and boobies.

The sea lions in particluar were complete posers who seemed utterly content to stay still in order for us to capture their cheekiness! Did you know that sea lions have ears and seals do not? I do now! All my life I had thought they were interchangable terms like cyclone/hurricane - see, you learn something everyday, sometimes every hour!

The islands are part of a nature reserve so fishing is illegal which means the wildlife are well fed and very content. If I was a bird watcher, I would´ve been in paradise! There were so many species of birds that my brain couldn´t keep up with the guides speil. Nevertheless, simply watching the birds at rest, play and work (fishing) was good enough for me - I didn´t need to know their exact names!

We had a particularly nasty weather day so not many of our photos worked out and we were left feeling a little sea sick. I felt especially annoyed at not having any good pics - what is the point of hauling a bloody big camera around if you can´t get a good shot? But when you take into account the terrible light, a rocking boat and a moving subject, I guess I should be grateful to get any kind of decent shot!


We got back to Paracas about 10:30am and heading off on a large bus to Nasca. On the way, we stopped a few times to get in some cultural and physical activities!

First was a Pisco winery/distillery. Pisco is a grape based alcoholic drink which has put Pisco, and Peru in general, on the map. It is a type of brandy but tastes more like tequila. Clear, fiery and about 40% alcohol, a Pisco Sour is a cocktail made out of Pisco, lemon juice, sugar syrup and egg white. It is absolutely delicious and utterly addictive!
At the distilery, we were taken through the whole manufacturing process, from the vines through to the cellar door. Much of the process is still man made (so to speak) and involves lots of offerings to Pacha Mama (mother earth) as well as God.
The tasting was a bit full on as the pure stuff is VERY strong. The only one I could handle was a milk/Pisco blend which tasted a little like Baileys.


After the distilery, we got back onto the bus and traveled to the Ica Oasis - literally an oasis in the middle of the desert, completely surrounded by towering sanddunes. We had a quick lunch then jumped in huge dune buggies to get ourselves some sandboarding action.

The whole trip reminded us of the dune exploration trip in Dubai but far more interesting and less sanitised - no air con´d Nissan Patrols here! The dune buggies were caged so our driver Fernando felt free to get excited as we roared up and down massive dunes at high speed. It was like being on a roller coaster only sandier!

We duned for about 20 minutes in the buggy then after reaching huge peak, Fernando let us out, waxed up our boards and set us free! Sucker Taylor here went first on the first dune - set at about a 30 degree angle! The only way to control your speed was to stick your legs out to the side and drag them in the sand - but who would want to do that?!

The first dune I took slowlyish but the two after that I just let it hang out and I swear to God I must´ve reached about 60km/h!! I had the group record for length of descent, probably about 30 metres from the bottom of the dune - freaking AWESOME!! Call me ´Streamline Taylor´....

However, it is mandatory to stack at some point, leading you to be covered in sand anywhere you had applied sunscreen. For The Pale One here, that meant every single millimetre of exposed flesh. Not a great look but funny all the same!

I loved, loved, loved the whole experience and would do it again and again! Perhaps next time I will show some real mettle and actually do it properly by standing up!

As the sun was setting, we trooped sand back onto the bus and completed our journey to Nasca to take in the famous Nasca Lines.

Till next time...

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