After our granola bars and the apple that Oma accidentally snuck into Peru, we bundled up to take our boat ride out to the Ballestas Islands. (Island? Islands? It was a bunch of rocks, so maybe plural.)
I considered taking my coat off as we met Lelvin, walked to the dock, and queued up for the boats. We paired off, and Oma and I got seats in the middle, where the bow wasn't blocking our view. Once we got our life jackets on and the boat started cruising, I wanted my scarf out too - the sea air was cold!
I read that it was possible to see dolphins, so I scanned the horizon as we pulled up to the side of the Paracas peninsula. A candelabra was etched into the rocky sand, probably a few stories tall. That side of the peninsula is sheltered from wind, and the 1.2 millimeters of rain every year haven't worn it down.
Cormorants with white heads dove around us as we continued on to a rocky lump in the distance. These "one-eyed cormorants" weren't very successful, but each splashing dive bomb excited us. We zoomed closer, spending about fifteen minutes getting whipped around and chilled by the wind.
The rock face came into focus and the dark surface was covered in birds. Terns and cormorants mostly, though the first bay we sailed into had a pair of sea lions silhouetted in a rock arch that passed all the way through the island. The first pair of our eight or so penguins (real penguins, though there were some pelicans around too) walked with their flippers back along the smoother top of the rock, so we never got as close to them.
Sea lions were on every ledge, seabirds were on every other surface. We rounded the corner of the decently small island and saw our second pair of penguin, with a third one waddling to catch up.
A baby sea lion wallowed with its momma. One sea lion bobbed their head up, but it slid away too quickly for me to follow it. Another was hauling itself up the cliff face, an inch at a time. No wonder they are exhausted once they get up there and just nap.
When the sea got lower on the rocks, we could see sea urchins, mussels, and one red leggy starfish. Rounding the final corner of the island, we got to see boobies! (Don't remember what color their feet were, but nests of boobies spotted the face of the rock.)
Vultures cleaned a carcass that we passed by, and our guide waxed about the circle of life (and how they prevent diseases).
No one got hit by bird poop, though that was the major export of Peru in the mid-1800s - so much that there was the Pacific War about access to it. Guano makes great organic fertilizer. Peru has the best shit.
A few more meanders between rocks and caves, and another silhouetted penguin, and we were headed back. Oma sat on the inside of me, and I faced her for conversation when she says she saw a tail in the air. Sorry Oma, no more eye contact, I'm scanning the ocean.
We saw a trio of dorsal fins - success! My Pacific Peruvian dolphins! We zoomed by them, though, so no playing in the wake.
Our boat slowed to a stop not long after. Was it the dolphins? No, the captain went back and did something with the motor, and the idling went back to a roar. This sequence of events only happened one more time before we arrived at the dock.
At the hostel, we ate our seafood rice and beef leftovers from the night before, as well as picking up some little and big bananas on the street. We tried the little ones, and they weren't as sweet as I remembered, but they were still a good final bite before our bus.
We checked out, met Lelvin at the hotel two blocks away, and piled in for an included bus tour around the Paracas Nature Reserve.
While it might have been fun to see the Peruvian flamingos a little closer, we saw plenty of the rest of the isthmus. After driving through desert, more desert that is a reddish color is only fun for a bit. My favorite stop was the red "sand" beach where the rocks with iron oxide had formed tiny pebbles.
Back to Paracas, we picked up the rest of the Peru Hoppers and headed to Huacachina. I just said I was tired of desert, right? Huacachina is a lake in the middle of sand dunes. That's totally different.
The bus trip wasn't quite long enough for a nap, since Oma tried to figure out what every of the not many fields was growing. Something like sacks of potatoes were in the middle of rows of the dusty soil, trees that might have been grapes for pisco were around, and some really irrigated fields had wheat and corn. We ate Oma's pretzels from a Southwest flight some time ago as well as her peanuts that she got a few days ago.
The bus drove up the one street that is two blocks long in Huacachina, dropped us off, and we dragged our bags back the two blocks to our hotel. It was pretty bare, but had a private bathroom - high class, really.
On our walk back to meet for our dune buggy and sandboarding tour, we had about half an hour to find something to eat. I was sure we'd find some place with fried munchies on the street, but there was nothing. We capitulated and sat at an extremely touristy spot overlooking the lake.
The lake was natural, but has been drained by irrigation lately so artificially filled to keep the tourism going. Lots of families were out on paddle boats or kayaks, and we people-watched while I tried to order potatoes with a "huancaina" (spicy Peruvian) sauce. They were out. Ok, fine just an avocado sandwich. Time was ticking, and we watched a street dog lap up some spilled cola.
Ten minutes later, the server said no avocado. We got up and left. I found a brownie at a cafe/bar a few doors down, and Oma got some caramel peanuts at the bar of the hotel we met at.
The dune buggies were parked all over when we arrived, and now they roared to life as it was cooling off to go up to the dunes. Ours sat 18 people in four rows, plus the driver.
I really believe this could be a thrilling, A+ experience. I sadly had a B+ time. A few factors: firstly, the radiator on our buggy was leaking and sending water droplets into our faces in the second row. Secondly, the ratio of sandboarding to dunebuggying was heavy on the boarding, low on the buggy thrills. Additionally, my sandboard was extremely slow, so I got no speed on the hills. Lastly, the
But the entire experience was great. We sped down a hill, then bumped up another, then got some pictures of the dunes, then sped down another hill. We stopped at the top of a sharp drop, and he piled us out and gave us sandboards. The technique for sandboards, at least, if you aren't an excellent snowboarder, is to use it like a sled on your stomach, with your feet to steer and brake as needed. Also, mouth closed is key.
It was like standing at the edge of a black diamond run. It looks really steep, but once you're over the edge, it is just a mountain slope again.
Oma and I and two others helped coach a cautious girl down the hill, then I hopped down after her. Oma wasn't going to do it, but I look back after getting half up the next hill, and what do I see at the bottom but a turquoise shirt standing up and brushing herself off! I missed her first run!
We hauled the boards to the top of the next hill, and I coasted down that one. The final hill was the smallest, and I got stuck halfway down. So I decided to try it standing up. I kept my balance (barely) but it stopped near the bottom again. Success! (Though again, standing on a board that is creeping down hill isn't very exciting.)
Our driver pulled up super far away, so we trudged the twenty yards to get to him. It was odd, because when we got to the next stop for sunset, he had no qualms about being within inches of people standing around to get his parking spot.
The sun dropped fast, and then it was off to our final viewpoint over the lake with the street lights turning on.
We got back and headed for the hotel to dump our shoes and change pants (for me at least - mine managed to split down the back at some point during the day!) We were meeting our PeruHop guide to learn about Nazca flights at 6:45, and I was hoping that the BBQ we signed up for started at 7. Instead, we signed up for the flights and shuttle, and the BBQ started at 8.
Amos, a Minnesotan living in Germany, was the third person going on the flights in the morning. Viciously hungry, I was looking for anything to distract me until the BBQ. Turns out, Amos knows how to play cribbage as well, so the three of us let him win until 8pm.
The BBQ included three different types of drinks for the first hour - pisco and lemon, vodka and orangina, or rum and coke. We got there and were led to the buffet, with pasta salad and a set of fixings that was kind of a salad (but included avocado, so I was happy). Next, it was half a small chicken and a burger - I did both, Oma did the chicken. We sat down and started eating, drinking, and laughing at the pair of couples seated across from us. They had met and were looking at switching from the hostel room with a shared bath to the hotel that was hosting the barbecue which had a private bath for them. One was also obsessed with Snapchat, and, once he got the wifi password and discovered how fast the wifi was, he was sold.
The drinks were heavy on top, light on bottom, so it was hard to tell what we were drinking. After the hour was up, we went into the bar and our PeruHop guide helped us order a shot of pisco. I learned it is 42 percent alcohol.
There was music, so Oma found a few gents to swing her around the floor for half a song each before the party decided to migrate to the next bar. We wandered along with them, got another drink, but stayed out by the lake where the music was softer. The group of probably ten had all gone inside when Oma and I decided that 11pm was late enough for our 7am start in the morning, and we ghosted. It was also good, because we were running low on soles and there was an airport tax we needed to pay, so no more 15 soles ($5) drinks!
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