Peru: Lima, Paracas, Nazca, Arequipa

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It was really hard to leave Ecuador. But I guess the trip had to carry on... To be honest Peru left me cold after the lush green of its neighbour - and quite literally too - it was bloody freezing when I arrived in Lima! But travelling down the coast was a depressing affair, nothing but brown everywhere as far as the eye could see...

From Lima I went to Paracas (which would be hit by a severe earthquake a week and a half later) to Isla Ballestas, a marine national park. It wasn't quite as nice as Puerto Lopez, but I saw plenty of sealions, some penguins and of course loads of birds, whose droppings or guana, are used as fertilizers. Twice a year some poor sod does a cleanup/ collection for export...

From there I headed to Nazca, where I took a flight above the famed Nazca Lines. It was pretty cool and brought about questions of 'Who', 'Why', and 'What If'... I also went to the Chauchilla Cemetary, which graverobbers had looted, leaving the bodies out in the searing desert heat. It was interesting enough, but I chose not to take pictures - I think there has been enough sacriledge! My favourite moment in Nazca was waiting for a hamburger at this tiny little shop listening to two really old men with cowboy hats on debating whether Pepsi Zero really had no sugar in it haha, very endearing...!

Arequipa was next, a beautiful town that lifted my spirits, with grand colonial architecture in its main plaza. I went to my favourite museum exhibit of all time here - to see Juanita, the Ice Maiden. She was discovered at the top of a mountain in 1995, Perfectly frozen over several hundred years and made as a (very rare) human sacrifice to the mountain gods. It was fascinating hearing about how it all, most likely, occured. And her corpse is there for viewing, in an ice chamber - incredible how well preserved her skin, hair and nails are. Wow. While in Arequipa, I also took a tour to the Colca Canyon, where the highlight was watching out for condors in the wild...

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