Peru's Galapagos

  Paracas, Peru Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Having arrived in Paracas around 2pm, we decided to go for a wander around the small town. It took all of 5 minutes. We found a little shop where everything was made out of bones by the man who owned it. He had collected everything from the beach and the land around the town and made unusual (and weird) things with them. We weren't too enemoured with them but it was interesting to look around all the same. Next we found a string of bars and restaurants along the sea front and settled on a small bar serving tequeños and pisco sours (amongst other things) so felt obliged to stop and take part of course. The Pisco sours were very strong and what with the early start we had had, Jody was falling asleep before even having any dinner. So Jody elected to stay in the room and give in to sleep, whilst Bryan went out to party with Maurice and anybody else from the bus who had remained awake.Bryan had a great time. Maurice, whom comes through this town on Peru-Hop every 2 weeks, clearly had all his favourite bars and the bar owners were always pleased to see him - and the trail of people he brought with him for sure. Bryan grabbed dinner there and Maurice ensured jug after jug of pisco sour was supplied to the table. After several pisco sours, Bryan slurred away most of the night to a young Irish girl travelling on her own on the bus, named Mary. Being Irish she slurred back although she was probably holding her drink better than Bryan! Next morning, nursing a bit of a head, Bryan and some of the others (but not all) managed to show for breakfast by the pool. It was a lovely morning - but it's fair to say - so has every morning been in Peru. Paracas is named the "Poor Man's Galapagos" by Peruvians and this morning we were about to find out why. One of the extra trips you could book whilst on the bus or before, was to the Ballestas Islands. We had been asked to book with Maurice when we were on the bus, if we were interested in going there. The cost was £10 each so, as this was the only reason we had wanted to come here anyway, we of course put our names down. Maurice came and had a private word with us to say that to apologise for the confusion over the bus pick-up time in Lima, this trip was to be on Peru-Hop. Wow - we were not expecting that but the apology was gratefully accepted.We followed Maurice down to the harbour and waited where we were told along with approximately 100 other people. Then our turn came and we followed yet another guide down to a waiting speed boat. The boat held about 40 people altogether so it was quite a big boat. It was just 8:00am now and we didn't so much as speed off, as just set off at a steady pace. The first stop was to look at a giant rock carving on the hill. Some say it resembles a candelabra other a giant cactus. You can look at the photos and decide for yourself. Then, across a calm sea, we headed further out to the Ballestas Islands. Just the nearest ones as they spread out for miles.It turns out that the nearest ones were the only ones we needed as they were covered in wildlife. As we got nearer you could small them. Oh the smell was horrendous and we don't remember all of Galapagos smelling this bad - just little bits of it. First stop was a colony of sealions. We wouldn't be swimming with this bunch though as they are not so used to people (except the ones in boats that stare at them). What surprised us was the sheer number of babies. On Galapagos there were lots for sure but the beach here seemed to be covered with masses of wriggling little black baby ones. Much younger than the ones on Galapagos. We watched at the waves completely covered them and then they all had to struggle back out of the water again. They are so great to watch. Then the boat moved on and we were told how the guano here is coveted for being so good so it is harvested every 6-7 years and sold abroad. We think they must be getting ready for a harvest judging by the smell!Then last but not least, the guide pointed high up on the roof of a natural arch.... Penguins! Oh we love the penguins. They were all shuffling along so high up. As we were in the boat bobbing up and down with our zoom right out, we were lucky to get any shots of them at all but we managed to get a few of these cheeky little fellows. It was time to head inland again and back to our hotel. Just time on the walk back to stop in another little shop we saw along the way. This time the man made all the stone and wood carvings himself and all the jewellery. He stopped us and said Hi as we were passing and his shop looked interesting so we went in. Browsing through the things on sale we didn't want to purchase anything but then he invited us to look at his 'museum'. This turned out to be a collection of things he had bought from locals and Peruvians, whom had found these artifacts in the soil and sea around the city.As a way of keeping these items in the country, he buys what he can when he can afford it to stop tourists taking them away. he was such a gentle, spiritual man that we really enjoyed talking to him. As we had such a nice time with him, we bought a couple of bits and pieces of jewellery (just a cheap, carved, blue shell on some string) but it will remind us of this lovely man. Dashing back to the hotel, we checked out & hopped-on the bus along with yesterday's travelling companions and Maurice. Maurice makes us laugh. He doesn't mean to but it's as if he only remembers halfway through a sentence that he is supposed to be giving the commentary in two languages and mid sentence he will switch to Spanish. We were never sure if he was going to pick up where he left off or leave us dangling! Our next stop today was Paracas National Reserve. This was another place you wouldn't see on a regular bus service. The bus went off-road for this one!Along a stoney, desert road until we hit the coast again. OMG!! This place is stunning. Just breathtakingly beautuiful. Such a dramatic coastline and it is pristine. Sighhhhhh! We could have stayed for hours looking at it but perhaps it was just as well it was time to get back on the Big Red Bus of Adventure. It would have been all too easy to keep snapping away and we were in danger of running out of memory cards for our cameras. Time to be on our way again. Where too next? Huacacina of course! Where's that we hear you ask. Well read on and find out :-)   [gallery columns="4" ids="12480,12487,12493,12504,12508,12515,12523,12530,12534,12541,12549,12557,12563,12571,12578,12584,12588,12596,12601,12605,12611,12619,12627,12635,12639,12650,12661,12669,12674,12677,12684,12694,12700,12702,12708,12713,12714,12717,12720,12721,12724,12729,12732,12734,12736,12738,12740,12742,12744,12745,12746,12747,12748,12749,12750,12751,12752,12753,12754"]