Thank God for wake-up calls. Slept like a baby. Was up at 6 so I could have breakfast and be ready to go at 6:45. Past 7 am, still no bus. The receptionist called the company and found out that they were running late but would be at the Hotel Jasmin within 5 minutes. True enough! But the guide informed us that they were running late and she had to call the boat taking us to Islas Ballestas and ask that they hold the boat for us. The traffic was bad so the bus did not make good time, but the guide was a wealth of information. Turns out the locals learned from the Israelis how to grow crops in sand ! There is actually an aquifer in the region, so they can grow their crops: grapes, cotton, mangoes, oranges, asparagus, onions, etc. They water all their fields by hand. Temperature in winter averages about 24 and in the summer 38. 10 years ago, between Ica and Paracas, it was just a desert. Now there are fields and lots of crops. Great for their economy.
There was a huge earthquake in 2007, 7.9 in strength and lasted for about 3 minutes. 600 people died in the region and most of the homes were destroyed. This part of the world is supposedly part of the “ring of fire”.
We reached Paracas and immediately got on the boat to the islands. Beautiful sunny day, sparkling blue water and no big waves on the way. They stopped the boat along the coast so we could take pictures of a drawing, similar to the Nazca Lines, but they are not sure if it was made by the Nazca or the Paracas culture. This one is in a sand mountain, and because there is hardly ever any rain, the drawing survives.
The Ballestas islands were filled with birds of all kinds. Even filmed some tiny Humboldt penguins. Lots of sea lions as well.
The left side of the mountain that is darker..... all birds
Men collecting guanoThey actually harvest the guano for fertalizer. The smell !
After the boat trip, I was one of the lucky ones who had a 3 hour wait to enjoy Paracas. It was a beautiful sunny day so I walked around for awhile, visited the local private museum (Also a gem and not advertised enough: El Museo Historico Paracas, owned by Señor Juan Navarro Hierro. His collection is beautiful. The majority of the collection is from the local area. “visitparacas.com”
Had a nice meal at a restaurant along the beach, then sat out in the sun and read for an hour. AH ! Life is grand !
Picked up at the meeting point and driven to the bus station for my 2:30 departure. Bus was late because of traffic, so got into Lima a bit later than expected. Surprise: no one there to pick me up. I stood there with my Tika Tours papers in front of me. Saw a lot of other drivers waiting with other names on their placards, but no one for me. I finally asked one of the other drivers and showed him my voucher for “PYM” company. He did not know, but asked another guy, who thought it might be “Condor”. I walked out of the station thinking that maybe someone was waiting outside for me. NOT ! But I did spot a “Condor” mini-bus in the parking lot. The driver was just getting out, so I showed him my voucher. He said it wasn’t with his company, but rapped on the window of the mini-van parked next to his. The driver had reclined his seat and was sleeping ! That was my ride. So after multiple apologies, the driver took me back to hotel IBIS. Home sweet home !
Oct 9, Sunday
Day of rest ! The words speak for themselves. But there were paragliders out there and I took a few photos from my hotel room.
Had dinner in the hotel restaurant and tried 3 different dishes from their “taste” menu.
Finished updating my blog for the past 4 days.
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