peru - pisco

From Lima we took a 3-4 hour bus ride, which went very smoothly, to Pisco, Peru.  Upon arriving in the musch smaller city, we were surrounded by taxi drivers, one holding the sign reading ¨Guy Still.¨ We were surprised that our hotel apparently set us up, but made our transfer very simple.  Our hotel here is very nice and quite new, due to the recent earthquake in 2007.  Parts of the city are still in shambles, with buildings half standing, never re-built.  The main plaza is where everything to see in the city is, which isn´t much.  But, like in Lima, the city is so charming at night, with families walking the dirt roads and food vendors selling dinner and treats.  Mototaxis fill the streets here, which look like a hybrid between a small car and a motorcycle.  Stray dogs roam around town, and every one I´ve encountered is quite friendly.  As much as I´d like to pet and make friends with one, I of course resist the urge. 

The main reason to visit Pisco (besides contributing our tourist dollars to rebuild the ciy) is to visit the Paracas Reserve and the Ballestas Islands.  We went as part of a tour, including about 20 other "English speakers," though we were the only Americans and it seemed as though others spoke only limited English.  There were several French people in our group, as well as Brazilians, other South Americans and Europeans.  We started off by going to the Ballestas Islands via boat.  About a half an hour offshore, we reached the islands which are also referred to as the ¨Guano Islands¨ (due to the amount of birds leaving behind their droppings) or ¨Poor Man´s Galapogos¨ (since many of the animals that can be viewed there are also here).  The islands were absolutely covered with a mass of birds including pelicans, penguins, tern, boobies and cormorants.  We also saw sea lions and dolphins swimming around our boat.  The waves were really high and rocky, but our driver still got really close to the island so we could have an upclose view.
I felt a bit seasick from the waves, but got over it during the smooth ride back to shore where I fell asleep.

The second part of our tour included a bus ride through the Paracas Reserve, where we got out several times to take pictures of flamingos, the gorgeous ocean and stunning cliff views.  We ended the tour by stopping for lunch where we were bombarded by restauranteurs wanting us to go to their place of business.  We chose the one with the ¨best deal,¨ but were promptly given a much more expensive menu.  Luckily, Guy was able to ask for the bargain menu they offered us originally, and we enjoyed a typical Peruvian with an incredible view of the ocean.  I jumped a mile when a seagull dove down to our table to pick up a leftover chicken bone!  We laughed, as did the French girls next to us, and this concluded our day long tour.  Guy will undoubtedly describe the "financial" aspect of our day, as we noticed we were kind nickel and dimed throughout the day, but considering how cheap this type of day would cost in the U.S., I thought it was well worth it!

Last night we were very American and decided to indulge in a little pizza, which was very cheap and very good.  As we were walking around last night, I decided to try "emoliente," a traditional Peruvian drink sold by many street vendors which is very popular.  Its served hot, and has a thick consistency but tastes like a cross between tea and apple cider.  It was very delicious and is supposed to be full of lots of healing properties.  Too bad we don´t have it in Minnesota!

We´re spending our second day here planning and figuring out what our next move will be, and decided it will be a trip to Huacachina where Guy has indulged my idea of going sandboarding in the desert.  I think it will be an amazing adventure!