Day 4 – from Pisco to Paracas… and beyond!

What a fantastic day today has been. A day filled with wonder & adrenaline… & things I thought I never thought I’d see – & I don’t just mean the beauty of God’s creation… although I guess I do in an odd sort of way! Read on…

A 6:30am alarm call & head upstairs for breakfast. Somehow everyone got there before me, so I ended up sitting on my own with a couple of random foreign strangers, but that was OK, they seemed very nice. A nice cup of hot black coffee before tucking in to scrambled eggs & fresh bread. Just prior to this the lady serving breakfast had come up to me & asked – what I thought was – would you like a cooked breakfast. What she actually said was ‘would you like your egg fried or scrambled?’ – to which I replied ‘yes please’. Or rather, thinking I was being clever, said ‘Si por favor’. Mike didn’t help me out – he said he hadn’t heard, but I know what he’s like. Vicious. I’ll get my revenge… 🙂

After breakfast we settled our bills & headed off to the port to board ‘Carol II’, the vessel that would take us to the Islas Ballestas. The Ballastas Islands are famous for their many different types of birds – including pelicans, cormorants, Peruvian boobies and Inca terns, the Humbolts penguin & one of the largest sea lion colonies in Peru. The journey took about 30 minutes, but on the way we also took in the area known as ‘El Candelabro’, a giant lamp dug in the rough sand in the same method used to create the Nazca Lines. The origins of ‘El Candelabro’ aren’t known and theories vary, but there’s no getting away from the facr it was very very impressive to see.

As we travelled over the water we were joined by a number of bird trails, eager to pick up any fish churned up by the twin engines on the boat. Sadly all my pictures were blurred because the boat kept moving just as I pressed the button. Silly boat. Trust me to get in the wobbly one!

Approaching the Islands just opened up a vista covered in birds – I mean absolutely covered. I’ve never seen so many birds in one place all at once – they were everywhere. In the air, on the water, all over the land, on the cliff faces, in the caves… everywhere. At first, the land on the Islands just looked black & rock-like, but looking at it through a zoom lens revealed that the ground coloration was birds – thousands & thousands of birds forming one big carpet. It was amazing.

As we circled the Islands it wasn’t just the birds that caught our breath. Hundreds of penguins waddled around, close enough to touch – or so it felt. Pelicans, with bills full of food, flying back to their nests where their young waited impatiently. Sea lions just lazing about on the shore – then as we passed rocks, there they were lounging on them too, again close enough to touch. Then just beneath the surface of the water we could see bright pink starfish & bright orange ‘spider crabs’, exposed as the sea withdrew only to cover them again seconds later. Hundreds & thousands of creatures & animals, all co-existing in this extraordinary environment. Totally breathtaking.

Mike, of course, got pooed on. Nobody else, just Mike. Maybe that was revenge enough for me 😉

I’d like to tell you a lot more about the Islands & it’s inhabitants, however the guide’s english was so thick with the spanish accent that I only caught the odd bit. I guess it doesn’t matter that much though – to have experienced all that for just £10 was an absolute bargain in my mind.

We returned to shore then hopped straight on the bus which would eventually take us to Nazca – this evening’s stop – as it took us the the home of the Pisco grape for a tour round the vineyard &, of course, some tasting 🙂

I have to say, Pisco is not to my taste. I realised this very quickly. It’s soo strong! At 43% proof in its native form – & would be drunk this way – it blew my socks off. Even the little sample glasses were too much for my delicate state. As many of you will know, I very rarely drink, so to introduce such strong alcohol to my system was a bit of a shock & a couple of the shots went over my shoulder into the bush behind me – & not because I’d had too much before anyone comments!

At the end of the tasting a very ruddy faced Mike & John ambles over & shed how mush they’d enshoyed it… so much so that Mike got a couple of bottles in! Some others in our group bought some bottles too, so I think the next few days could be interesting!

Anyway, back on the coach & off to ‘The Huacachina Oasis’ for some lunch. The Oasis is as it sounds, & is situated amidst the awesome sand dunes of the Ica Desert. If we had known before lunch what we now know, I don’t think any of us would have atenolol so much… however, we didn’t, so we did & yes, we regretted it later…

The Oasis is built around a small lake in the desert. Legend holds that the lagoon was created when a beautiful native princess was apprehended at her bath by a young hunter. She fled, leaving behind the pool of water she had been bathing in to become a lagoon of water. The folds of her mantle streaming behind her as she ran became the surrounding sand dunes. The woman herself is rumoured to still live in the oasis as a mermaid.

We didn’t see her though!

The sand dunes themselves are huge – several hundred feet high – & it was to these we headed after lunch. We strapped ourselves in to 2 dune buggies between us, each powered by huge V8 engines, each driven by very able (we hoped) drivers/navigators & lunged forward. Within minutes we were surrounded by the huge dunes on all sides as we bombed along at a tremendous pace, weaving in & out of each other’s paths, bouncing in & out of sand bunkers & ultimately going over the summits of the dunes only to plunge at a stomach turning pace before hitting the bottom with bone jarring speed & pulling back out the other side. It was totally exhilarating. John thought he’d broken his neck at one point, – which was a worry I have to admit 😐 but we realised that should have been the least of his worries with what was to come…

After about 20 minutes of being chucked around & several stops for ‘photo opportunities’, both cars drove up… & up… & up… At came to a stop at the summit of the largest dune we had seen up until that point. Angel asked how many of us fancied a go at sand boarding down to the bottom…

I felt parts of me clench without an control. I know Mike did too. Then came a voice from behind “yeh, I’ll give it a go”. It was John. Mike & I both gave him a look that we thought said “shut up you plonker, you had a broken neck 2 minutes ago”, but what actually seems to have translated as “yep, we’ll join you you smashing fellow”. So quicker than you could say ‘aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrgggghhhhhhhhhh’ we each in turn found ourselves poised at the summit of one of the largest sand dunes ‘IN THE WORLD’ (assume the voice), belly down on a waxed – yes, they even waxed it first! -snowboard, looking down at the minute dots of those of the group who’d gone before, wondering if we were ever going to survive this, waiting to be pushed over the edge.

John went first – of course – we felt it was the least he should do! He had some difficulty getting his position right & the instructor had some difficulty in getting his legs apart… (!). He was warned that if he didn’t have his legs wide apart there was a great risk of him rolling over at high speed & there would be nothing he could do about it – except keep his mouth shut – which if any of you know John well enough… 🙂

Anyway, big push & he was gone! He went like a rocket & within seconds was just a tiny dot at the bottom with the others. Mike went next & similarly did very well. I managed to capture both John & Mike’s premier flights on video, so if I can work out a way of doing it from this iPad I’ll upload them on to the blog – if not I’ll do it when I get home because they’re an absolute MUST see.

I went last & as I lay there, peering over the edge, I kept saying to myself “why am I doing this why am I doing this why am I do…” then I was away… WOO-HOOOOOOOO! Fantastic! I went over a thousand miles an hour! Well, maybe a little slower 🙂 but it certainly felt like it…. it was A M A Z I N G G G G! I gradually slowed to a halt as I reached the bottom of the dune & the adrenaline rush was huge. After spitting out the half of the dune I’d swallowed (I think I must have grinned all the way down…!) I just jumped around whooping! I went over to the other guys & we had a short time of male bonding – it was a beautiful moment as we each stood there spitting & shaking sand out from places it only usually goes on holiday 🙂

After the last boarders had descended it was back in the buggies (who’d driven down the dune to pick us up again) & off for another ‘chuck around’ before stopping for another bit of sand boarding. We were all feeling a bit more confident this time but the dune looked even bigger & as we each teetered on the edge those nerves set back in. Mike went first this time & you’d think he’d been doing it all his life. A natural. He’s built for speed too, so that helped. Next John. Remember the bit about keeping you legs open otherwise you’ll roll? Sadly John didn’t…

A third of the way down he wobbled. Then he seemed to recover. Half way down he wobbled again but this time shot off to the right. Then seconds later it all went pear shaped. There was a huge cloud of sand where John had once been & we lost sight of him. As the sand cleared there he was, at the bottom of the dune, but he looked very very dusty 😐 We obviously made sure he was OK before we fell about laughing & we each needed to be careful that as we wiped our tears away we didn’t get sand in our eyes because that can be very dangerous you know…

Anyway, poor John was fine & we all had a good laugh about it. He was very good about it – he just rolls with it we’ve found. But today wasn’t the best day for John poor thing.

We had about three quarters of an hour to kill before the coach was due to take us on to Nazca, so some took advantage of the fantastic pool in The Oasis, while others just stayed poolside & ribbed John 🙂 of course I didn’t join in…

Another busy day planned for tomorrow – starting with a visit to the Cahuachi Burial Ground, an area covering some 24kmsq thought to date back to 700BC. After this we will take a flight over the famous Nasca Lines, lines & drawings etched in to the hard sands of the desert more than 1000 years ago – for what reason is still a mystery to this day.

So, until tomorrow then my friends 🙂

Gb.