Paracas

From Haucacina, we took a taxi back to ICA , spent a few hours around the bus terminal, got lunch and then jumpedx back onto a bus to Paracas. Paracas is a beach town with a cold current that makes it haven for Pelicans, Inca terns, penguins, sea lions etc. It is still strange to see these creatures this far up north!

The town itself is basically one street and a beach front boulevard! The beach is pretty and the sunset beautiful. We found a local joint and ate a local meal with many locals as they enjoyed themselves laughing incessantly at a Jackie Chan movie that they played on their TV. The people in Peru love Indian films and Indian so we always got a really warm reception once they knew we were from India. Actually that is true of Bolivia and Niaragua too.

The next morning we took the tour to the Isla de ballesteros! These Islands are about an hour away from the shore in a speed boat Enroute we saw an Inca astronomical drawing on a hill side akin to the Nasca lines. It was very basic but significant I guess. Allalong you get to see huge Pelicans, and it is fascinating!

The isla de Ballesteros is a rock formation that apparently sprang up due to the earth shifts. I don't knwo enough to know if that is true but the islands are the huge rock foramtions with tunnels of beatiful green water flowing through it making it ethereally beautiful! The rocks themselves hve more birds sitting on them than you can imagine! Star fish, and molluscs of all sorts cling to the bottom of the rocks, and octopus abound in the water! The problem with so many birds is a lot of shit! There is so much bird poo on the rocks that they have tirned white. Apparently once a year the peruvian govt actually harvest the sht as fertiliser. They apparently scrape out 20 feet of the stuff in some places! I think that a bit exxagerated but it definitely puts things in perspective.

The birds were beautiful in the setting, and so were the penguins and the one sea lion sitting atop a rock preening! Two baby sea lions swam around to add to the excitement.
The ride back was bizzarre! It was big waves, high speed, and very cold!

We got back rushed to bus station and got on a bus to Lima!