Adventures in Peru

 As we drove up the coast towards Lima, we enjoyed a variety of adventures an route.

First up was a night under canvas camping just a few meters from the ocean at Puerto Inca.

 It was easy to drift off to sleep with the sounds of the waves.

We wake early to see the dawn. After packing away the tents we eat a quick breakfast before getting underway.

Next up was Nazca, most famous for the Nazca lines that strangely nobody really knows what they represent.

However first we visit the very scary Nazca cemetery. Here the mummified remains of the Nazca people sit in a feral position awaiting rebirth. Sadly over the centuries the cemetery has been repeatedly ransacked by treasure hunters and everywhere human bones and thousand year old remnants of clothing litter the ground, preserved by one of the driest places on earth.

We walk around looking at intact mummies marvelling at clothes still preserved after a thousand years, along with disconcertingly well preserved feet. 

I am not superstitious normally but having taken several pictures of mummies on my iPhone one image kept jumping around my screen on its own. I am sure there is a rational explanation but I deleted them all to be on the safe side. 

 

Following a picnic lunch amongst the dead we head off to see some amazing aqueducts build by the Nazca as their once fertile land dried out. 

Next we head off to the airport to fly over the Nasca lines. We have to wait until lighter people than John can be found to offset his excessive weight in the eight seater plane.( John is slightly offended by this comment to the amusement of our guide)

Now these flights historically had an appalling safety record with some operators crashing on average one in a hundred flights. In recent years stricter regulation has significantly improved this. Not only are pilots now required to wear smart uniforms, every flight has to have two pilots,  an impressive ratio on our flight of one pilot per three passengers.

As we enter the Cessna plane We cannot help feeling the similarity to an old vintage car. 

Soon the plane takes off banking steeply to show us the Nasca lines. We look amazed out of the window for the first 10 minutes, trying to take pictures until the heat and stomach churning turns make us both start to feel sick. For the last 20 minutes all we can do is to pray our torture will be over soon.

 

Our next stop in the desert oasis of Huacachina was much more exciting than we had anticipated and after some initial reservations,  Eva particularly enjoyed the wild roller coaster style sand dune buggying and also sand boarding down the dunes.

 The day ended by sitting on top of a sand dune, watching the sun set on the desert and then after an outdoor bbq and free flowing pisco sour, we slept out under the stars in just sleeping bags and no tents.

The Ballestas  Islands, or Poor Man's Galapagos as they are known was not a disappointment.   Located at Paracas beach, we zoomed out on speed boats around the Ballestas Isles where we could spot Humboldt penguins,  sea lions and an amazing range of birds such as tendrils and boobies, all resting on the interesting rock formations.  It wasn't clear if it was us watching the wildlife or them watching us as hundreds of birds,  penguins and sea lines appeared to be queuing up to look at us.  We also learnt that the bird poo: guano was collected and exported to Europe and other countries as an effective fertilizer.