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Published: January 17th 2010
The first time I travelled south from Lima, I missed Paracas and the Ballesta Islands entirely. Hadn't heard about them. Weren't on my radar. Eventually I heard enough pleasantries about the area that I decided it should be the first stop on my Beach Hopping Summer Tour. The Islas are also referred to as the Poor Man's Galapagos due to the massive numbers of birds and marine life that flock to the reserve. Minus some lizards, blue-footed boobies and the ability to swim in the water, I'm happy to confirm that the reserve stands up to its nickname. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear the guide from the back of the boat where I was seated so I don't know exactly how many types of birds there are, but we saw penguins and that alone will keep my happy for weeks. And I can tell you this - there is a shitload of guano (haha, bad pun intended). It's impossible to ignore the, uh, fragrance, if you will. In fact, the Peruvians sell the guano as a rich fertilizer. You can see in the pictures, the heaps of whiteness on the rocks, not part of the stone structure...
The first day we
arrived, it was overcast in the small town of Paracas, located near Pisco (note: don't EVER mention Chilean Pisco to a Peruvian. And if it comes up in conversation, be sure to badmouth Chilean Pisco as much as possible. Bonus points if you say they sell Peruvian Pisco as Chilean.) I had heard Paracas was small. Yep, very very. It wasn't until we headed out to the port that I got to see the handfuls of beautiful beachfront properties. I'm not sure who's living or vacationing in them but they sure were lovely and I wish I could stay in one of them! The guide on Day 1, who took us to the Reserve de Paracas (separate from the island tour) told us the sun would come out, and sure enough it did, just in time to dip into the Lagunilla for a swim. After returning from the Reserve where we saw red sand beaches and cliff faces that often paralleled Australia's Great Ocean Road in its severity and rock formations, it was off to the beach right in front of hotel for a late afternoon dip. I didn't actually go for a dip. The water looked kind of black.
There are motor boats coming in and out of this beach and many more anchored not far from the beach. I took a late afternoon read and then enjoyed watching the sunset.
The boat tour out to the islas started at 7:45am on Day 2. The morning was sunny and hot. It was nice to be out on a boat for a couple of hours. I got plenty splashed in the back of the boat but it was warm enough out not to mind. First we passed the Candelario, a curvature in the arid desert peninsula similar to the famous Nazca lines. Then we slowly steered around the small islands. What fun to see the sea lions and the penguins. Man those sea lions are noisy! It was a great morning. In the afternoon, I started my trek northwards to Trujillo, Chan Chan and the beachtown of Huanchaco (discussed in my next post).
Enjoy the flickr set with comments here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/69192286@N00/sets/72157623099039767/
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me (Aunt Joey!)
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today's blog
the animal life is adorable...next time I wanna see you perched with the penguins and assume their pose! love you much tengo un buen viaje mi hija! muchos besos su tia (y tio tambien)