Roadtrek Travels: May 16 Ballestas Islands to Nazca

May 16

This morning we have the usual breakfast buffet, with eggs, rolls, fruit, juices, meat and cheese. Eddie meets us at our hotel and delivers us to the Hacienda hotel from which our boat for the Reserva Nacional de Paracas tour will leave. He explains that the cold ocean currents hold lots of fish, particularly anchovies, which in turn attract varied wildlife such as South American Sea Lions and thousands of birds which have no need to migrate.

Our boat is a 16 seater and Alex is our captain. His English is very good. The skies are overcast, which seems to be the standard for mornings. A jacket feels good but a sun hat does absolutely nothing. Fortunately they have some blankets aboard and I can fashion a head covering to block the cold breeze as we speed toward the islands. Since we arrived last, we got seats in the front of the boat.

First stop is The Candelabra Geoglyph, inscribed into a hillside. Some think it was made as a navigational guide but no one really knows for sure.

Another 20 minutes or so and the Ballestas Islands come into view. The tallest peak of the islands looks black and our guide says that is because it is covered with black cormorant birds.

The rest of the islands are painted white with guano - bird poop - which has been a lucrative industry since the 1850's. Every 7 or 8 years the guano is collected and sold as very high grade fertilizer.

There are many arches and caves carved into the islands.

We bob in the water as we watch a group of Humboldt penguins make their way down to the water and take the plunge. Photos are hard to get in these rough waters.

Other parts of the island are covered with white-headed, blue-footed Peruvian Boobies,

Peruvian Pelicans,

and, my favorite, the Inca Terns.

There are also turkey vultures and thousands of cormorants. All make their contributions to the Peruvian economy! Luckily our boat has a tarp covering overhead!

Perched on rocks and frolicking in the surf at a rocky beach, are many south American sea lions, including some young pups.

When the waves withdraw, you can see spider crabs (red) sea urchins and star fish attached to some of the rocks. After an hour or so, we head back to land.

Back at the Hacienda Hotel we are treated to tea and cookies on the terrace before heading back to pick up our luggage at the hotel and heading once again to the bus terminal.

Now we are headed to Nazca, another 2 1/2-3 hours down the coast. The terrain remains the same, sandy and flat with single story brick or adobe housing here and there. Occasionally there is some roadside vegetation and mesh fencing to slow the wind and blowing sand. Obviously a poor area, but there is still an occasional satellite dish atop a tumbledown building.

And then we come to Ica, a sort of miracle in the desert. Irrigated land here produces asparagus, cotton, fruits and vineyards. We go through the dusty town of Ica which has a population of 125,000. Busy streets with many 3 wheel taxis - some ornately decorated.

We have been traveling on the PanAmerican Highway and this is obviously an important stop for food, drink, hotel, gas, and supplies. Lots of bougainvillea flowers as well.

A few passengers depart the bus in Ica, and we continue on. The road has deteriorated quite a bit and we begin to see brown arid mountains inland. The bus, going 85 km is passing many trucks. Trees have been planted along the highway at regular intervals - a beautification program? - but most appear dead. We begin a series of switchbacks and sharp curves as we descend into a relatively lush valley with corn, fruit trees, palm trees and such. Stark mountains on both sides of the road now and lots of truck traffic on the winding road.

In the Nazca bus station, we are met by Julio, who takes us to the DM Hotel, and old but nice hotel.

We settle in, then walk through town to the main square. There is a market going on on one street. Lots of chickens for sale.

Lots of traffic, pedestrian as well as vehicles. We find a bank to convert some money, send a few postcards and then stop at La Gula, a restaurant that Julio recommended. Beth tries Chicha Morado - a sweet drink made from blue corn, and lomo saltado - a kind of stir fry of beef, onions and tomatoes served over fried potatoes.

Greg tries Tallarin Saltado de Lomo - Slices of beef sautéed with onions, tomato and spaghetti.

There seem to be many locals socializing and businesses are busy. Traffic is a cacophony of horns as some intersections don't have traffic lights or stop signs! I'm sure we would soon get to know the language of horns, but for now blowing a horn can mean "hello", "I'm here", "Look out", "I see you", "move it", "Go ahead", "Stop!" or many other things!

Marchers circle the square in some sort of protest (?) , blowing hand held horns and sometimes shouting.

And pedestrians dash here and there. Lima had civilized crosswalks with signs that told you when to go. This seems to be every man for himself! Our tour book described it as "a bit of a circus" and we find this quite accurate! There are many people selling things at booths around the square.