Blogs from Ica, Peru, South America - page 81

Hi Folks, Final update re the remainder of the weekend!! We stayed overnight in Paracas and got up early on Monday morning to take a trip to the Ballestas Islands, just of the coast of Paracas in the Pacific. We boarded a 25 person speed boat for the trip. The water was pretty choppy to say the least and the ride was a little rough. Caroline and I ended up absolutely soaked from the spray, but it was well worth it for what we saw. Key highlights were the penguins, the pelicans and the sea lions. I´ve never been so close to them in the wild and managed to get some great photos (well, I think they´re great!!). On the way back, a pelican flew in front of the bow of the boat and over the ... read more

Heading back north towards Lima, we stopped at Pisco which is a small town near to the coast 4hours south of Lima. Arriving late at night because of the delay on our Nazca Lines flight (3hours) we found a nice Hostel that also arranged tours to the local attraction of Paracas. The following morning we were picked up at 7.30am and taken by minibus to the port of Paracas. From here we were taken by speedboat to a group of islands about 40 minutes off the coast that were home to hundreds and hundreds of sea lions, thousands of birds, and the odd Humboldt penguin or two. Lin was like a the cat that got the cream, and never stopped smiling the whole trip. I really enjoyed it too, but was glad that despite the warnings ... read more

Our Huacachina hostel owner turned out to be a regular tourist baron. He had fingers in all sorts of pies and was able to arrange a trip straight to Nazca, another 2hours south by bus, with a night in a hostel followed by a light aircraft flight over the ´Nazca Lines´. There are all sorts of theories about who and why these lines were created, and we were shown a video before our flight (twice!) about some of them. The main idea, was that these huge images of a Condor, a Monkey, a Humming bird and various others etched into the landscape were designed and made by the Incas, and were intended to be ´processed´around by the people playing instruments and singing to worship their gods. We had been warned not to eat breakfast before the ... read more

Nazca 17.10.2005 Version francaise plus loin.. Traseul Lima-Nazca-Arequipa Nazca ora 18:33 (Franta +7h, Romania +8h) dar cred c-ati invatat deja. Ola! ¿que tal? (Salut! Ce mai faci?) Sa stiti ca am primit si citit toate mesajele voastre. Multumim pentru incurajari si "descurajari" sugestii si viitoare reclamatii. :o)) Sutem la sarsitul sederii noastre in Nazca. Am ajuns ieri seara pe la 8 seara (cu bine si cu toate bagajele) dupa 6 ore de autobuz. Nazca e un orasel mult mai linistit decat Lima, situat intr-o zona desertica intre ocean si munte. Ne-am cazat la un hotel familial simplut, dar simpatic si foarte primitor. Am progresat la capitolul spaniola, pentru ca gazda nu vorbeam deloc engleza si ne-am bucurat foarte tare ca romana e o limba e origine latina. Gazda s-a ocupt de toate rezervar... read more

After a week in Cuzco it was time to make a decision, and with no word from our travel guru's in Bolivia we decided to head over to Nazca and then down to Arequipa (the white city), before begining our mamouth jorney back to Santiago. The bus to Nazca was reasonably comfortable except that we were thrown from side to side as the bus snaked its way (sometimes off road) through the Ande's. We arrived in Nazca at 5.30am where we were bundled into a taxi and taken to the airport. The flight was in a small five seater plane, and took us over the world famous 'Nazca Lines'. As the name may suggest they are not infact all lines, but most are strange child like drawings, so large they can only be seen from the ... read more