Paracas

This morning after breakfast we got in a little minibus and drove about 50 km to Paracas to visit Ballestas Islands and a national park. On the way we stopped a gas station and saw something that would never be possible in the US -- right next to the pump was a glass case with bottles of wine, pisco and other alcohols. Everybody took pictures.

In Paracas we got on an open boat with about 25 people and took off for the islands. It took about 40 minutes to get there. They are called “Galapagos for the poor” and there are thousands of birds there -- penguins, pelicans, flamingoes, terns… Nobody lives there except for two guards who alternate and spend 15 days there at a time. For two months each year (May and June), they bring 300 workers on the islands to collect bird poop. We also saw very friendly sea lions, one of them posed for pictures. Maybe he was trained. We were almost expecting him to extend his fin and say “un sol por favor”.

Then we went to a national park -- a desert in between two lagoons --- sand dunes as far as the eye can see. We also had late lunch in a place within the park called Lagunillas -- three fish restaurants on the edge of the turquoise lagoon. Of course everybody had fish -- the freshest you can imagine. On the way back we stopped at a roadside fruit stand where everybody bought large amounts of oranges and tangelos, the only fruit available. Back to our “hotel” by 6 pm. After that, Ania and I embarked on a (successful) search for an internet café.