Pisco ... 50 metres deep in ....

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The cathedral.

Pisco.
there is very little that one can really say about pisco.
for those of you that have been fortunate enough to have experienced the joys of a little town in Cambodia called Battambang, then some vivid images should come to mind instantly.
probably the infamous words of the Badman "we're on the first bus outta here" also come to mind quickly.
then again, we were in Pisco for a reason.
not pisco sours as one might think ... we would have to wait until the ICA provence for that.
it was an island where sea going birds like to flock. the name, Islas Ballestas, or popularly refered to by guidebooks as "the poor man's Galapagos"!
and flock there they do.
they flock there in such numbers that the island literally is 50 metres deep in sh!t.
hard to put to words the sight of thousands of birds on the rocks, diving into the ocean, flying in formation and flying overhead.
a little hard to define the aromas as well.
sea lions also like to bathe at the foot hills of the sh!t islands and like to sun bake on the rocky crevices.
they are fun to watch.
penguins gathered high on the hill and seemed to be enjoying the spectacle that was unravelling around them.
pretty orange star fish held tight to the rocks just below the surface so that the wild waters rushing in and out wouldn't knock them from their places.
an entire side of an island was black from all the sea going birds that were taking rest on its shores.
and to top it all off, dolphins playfully swam around the boat and made us all go "oh and arrr"
it was quite an experience.
even if our little tour was delayed by over an hour due to fog and we made it back to shore half and hour before we were due.
uh huh ...
more time for the afternoon activities.
flamingoes.
you bet. lots of flamingoes in the lagoon. hoorah!!
ok, so 15 minutes into the desert and climbing a look out post gave us no vantage point as there were no flamingoes in the lagoon.
ok, there may have been 1 or 2 lurking about, but you would have had to have the eyes of superman to see them.
next stop the catedral. a natural rock formation down below the high cliffs that we were observing it form.
rather spectacular ... something like a small version of 1 of the apostles from the great ocean road.
so, back into the desert, destination lunch.
here we were told the now usual story ... this place is bad, this place is expensive, this place makes the tourists sick ... best to eat at this place (ie, my mates place)
simple lunch by the water was only entertaining for our sea otters that frolicked and larked around in the ocean with a wonderful sense of fun.
on conclusion, it was time to head back to pisco and arrive with much too much time for a town that has nothing to offer.
a quick coffee, a natter to an icelandic traveller, some internet where we were locked in behind a big metal security door and then over to "los tres balcones" for pisco sours.
we felt we needed them to get through the night ...
to our surprise and delight, the barlady put on the big screen telly and the pirated dvd of 80's classics ... and thats how we spent our time before we could leave and escape to the oasis in the desert.

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Photos

Those scarce flamingos.
This is at 12 times optical zoom, enhamced with 4 times digital zoom.....

The cathedral, once more.
That's rene, top left, for size reference.

Comments

[Stacey]

Keep em comin'
Loving the journals, photos and videos...looks like a fabulous trip and I'm super envious, wish I was in all those places too!!! xxx

[Mechi]

Que bueno!
Queridos amigos, desde Sucre sigo cada aventura que viven! espero que sigan conociendo las bellezas de Sudamerica. En la escuela esta todo bien, tenemos muchos estudiantes de diferentes paises...casualmente creo que ninguno de Australia...los extrañamos!. Bueno pronto volvere a escribir, un abrazo grande desde Bolivia!.

[Beavisbradley]

Not sure which..
Not sure which is funnier - the pic of bin "full speed ahead", or the video of the dutchman eating a guinea pig. Either way, Im in a fit of laughter. FULL STEAM AHEAD