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Trip Start Jul 12, 2008 Previous
Entry Trip End Aug 17, 2008

  Paracas, Peru
Tuesday, August 19, 2008

When we last left you we were preparing for a long overnight bus from Arequipa up the coast of Peru to the small town of Ica.  The bus itself was quite comfortable apart from the awful film showing and we both got about 5 hours sleep which we thought was pretty good!  When we got off the bus at 7.30 the day started to go wrong.  It turns out that while we had made it onto the bus, Sarah's bag hadn't!  After a lot of people speaking to us in very fast Spanish, we think we had arranged to pick up our bag at our next destination at 5pm that day - we were a bit dubious about whether the bag would actually turn up or not!

Putting the bag fiasco to the back of our minds we carried on with what we had planned to do that day - head to the small oasis of Huacachina in the middle of the sanddunes.  To get there we used a motortaxi which is a motorbike with a box attached to the back of it!  Huacachina sits in between several very tall dunes and is a popular resort for sand boarding and dune buggying.  Although we wanted to try these we didn't have enough time as soon we had to head to our next destination to meet the bag!

We headed back into Ica and planned to get one of the frequent buses further up the coast to Paracas.  Unfortunately, there was some sort of strike in the town with numerous police kitted out in riot gear.  This meant that not a single bus was running from Ica until the next day.  Obviously we had to push on so found a taxi and a nearby policeman helped us to haggle a price for the hours ride up the coast. 

Once we arrived in the small seaside town of Paracas we headed straight to the beach and watched the Pelicans and other seabirds fish!  We found a very cheap restaurant and managed to order our favourite dish of Ceviche along with a good Paella -  it seems that along the coast all there is to eat is fish!

The following day we woke up early for a boat tour of the Ballestas Islands.  These islands are located a few kilometres off the coast of Peru and are teeming with birds and wildlife.  We saw plenty of Penguins and Sea lions fishing and sunbathing!  Due to the numerous flocks of birds on the islands, they are also referred to as the 'Guano Islands' and after smelling them, we can see why.  We were both watching our heads!

That afternoon we had booked another tour of the Paracas National Reserve which is the second driest desert in the world and bizarrely situated on the coast!  The big waves were crashing against a cliff, such a stark contrast to the desert on top.

That evening we started our journey home as we got a bus up to Lima, spent the night in Lima airport caught a 7am flight homewards via Atlanta.  We have both had a trip of a lifetime and are already trying to decide where next?!

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