Paracas-Ica-Nasca...extreme sports and near-death experiences included!

WHAT A WEEKEND!!!



Day 1- 7am on Cruz del Sur bus to Paracas. Arrive in Paracas and am pick-up by the Santa Maria Hotel driver. Get to the hotel and successfully talk the man down from s/100 to s/70! YES! I got skills... that´s like $25! Head out on our first adventure to the National Reserve of Paracas. Paracas is a very small town but the landscape is amazing. The ocean goes straight into the beach and then the desert with zero green! The contrast of the bright yellow sand out to the dark blue Pacific is breath taking. At the reserve we rode from spot to spot just to look at some of the most breath taking landscape ever! We saw some of the most beautiful rock formation out in the ocean, some red rock cliffs, salt covered banks, literally millions of birds. I ran through the millions sitting on the edge of the water!! So much fun! Even the view of all the old wooden boats in the cove was wonderful. We even got within 2 arms lengths of a huge bird... thanks to our new found friend from England! After returning we decided to relax on the beach... which turned into time to learn to make bracelets on my leg and get a free cooper wound ring from some locals. Thank goodness our English friend came by to rescue Sarah and I. For lunch I tried my first Pisco Sour-The National Drink- Includes Pisco, Lime, Lemonade, and raw egg whites! Yum! Then the 3 of us had a late stroll down the beaches and super nice Hotels of Paracas.. priced over my budget with their pools with individuals jets! Haha! Dinner and a few Piscos on the 3rd floor hostal terrace and off to bed.

Day 2- 8am off on a boat to see the Islas Ballestas and Candelabro. While waiting to get on the boat a group of pelicans walked close enough from me to touch! Beautiful blue beaks. The islands were about 20 minutes out in the sea, so we got a bonus and swung past the famous Candelabro- carved in the sand. As we continued to the islands flocks of birds were stationed on every rock protruding out from the ocean. The Islas Ballestas were literally covered with birds on ever cliff... some many the sand was hard to see. Sea Lions- mariana lobos- were sun bathing on all the rocks. We even saw a beach covered with HUNDREDS of babies, huge sea lions, and lots of parents too. They were all barking and cooing together and cumulatively it was sooo loud! Like the whole beach was howling together! Must the reason for the name ´sea wolves´ in Spanish. I watched to waves crash in on the beach with the hundreds of sea lions and bunches of them would be carried in with the waves while others would be pulled out as the wave would recede. It was probably the most amazing wild life animal display I have ever seen (and I took videos for everyone else when I get home). After we circled the islands we headed back to Paracas. My boat was caught inside of a flock of hundreds of birds forming a ´V´ so on both sides of the boat were trails of birds as far back as I could see. At this moments I truly felt like I was in Jarassic Park with all the birds and wildlife around me... it was surreal!! We then wondering through the local market and relaxed on the beach for a bit more- minus locals! At 4ish we headed to the Cruz del Sur station to venture to the next city. At the Paracas station we met Silvestre -Sly- and and in Ica we met Sarah Charley. Who became our traveling buddies for the next few days. Sly had a hostal lined up so we all took a taxi together out of Ica to Huacachina... where we all stayed for the next 2 nights- The Carola del Sur. Minus the black steams of ants, the roosters that cock-a-doodle-dooed at 2am, and the ducked-tapped shower head that sprayed the whole bathroom I liked my top bunk! Sarah, Sarah C. and I all shared the same room and Silvestre apparently had a room to himself.. plus ant in the bed! Haha! We were able to sign-up for a dune buggie/ sand boarding venture and receive an extra s/5 off a night... for s/20 each a night...that's like $7!! The 4 of us around the Lagoon of Haucachina and Sarah C. and Sly tried their first Pisco Sours at dinner. After a few each we all decided to climb these HUGE sand dune... which we later realized had no top. I know your thinking of course it did but really we climb up for like an hour, I still only felt 1/2, and I could see the entire lagoon and all the surrounding building from a great height above... And Sarah C. had continued above the us 3 so far I couldn't see her and she never found the top!!! The sand recedes out from under you as you climb and no matter how big your steps are you only move forward a few inches. On the way down you can jump out and fly like 20feet. Sarah C. took 7 steps/jumps to make it back to the bottom practically! A late night dip in the murky water pool at the hostal and bedtime!

Day 3- Taxi driver from the bus station to the hostal yesterday... Is now our wine tours guide.. who would have thought! He was early for 10:30 and Sly, Sarah C., Sarah and I headed to our 1st Ica winery. It was over 250acres over fields of grapes with a bell tower in the center as I great look-out point. I almost rang it via dare of Sly.. but good thing I didn´t cause later I found out it signals for lunch and the end of the day... all those workers would have been real mad lunch wasn´t ready! hehe!! We sat at an outdoor patio and started the wine tasting. 3 whites, 3 reds, 2 blush, 3 sparkling... and 3ish pisco´s. Obviously you can tell why I lost count! Sly bought 3 bottles, Sarah C. got 1, and got 2... and my sister was too busy passing of her samples to the rest of us.. like we didn´t have enough! PS-Pisco is not a wine.. it it the national LIQUOR.. So yes we were taking straight shots of pisco for every trail! Needless to say we stopped to buy crackers before proceeding to the 2nd winery. 2nd... took another nice tour solely about pisco... but I´m still not sure what the bubbling dark red swamp was... or the ´toxic´ portion they pour out that we tasted was?? We sat bar front here.... and only had a few wines... follow by many salads of pisco -cheers-!! I think I might go chest hair after that!! JK! We were definitely all pretty tipsy and needed some lunch... right after Sly bought 3 more bottles and I got 1- the cream del pisco, it was delicious! And the taxi / tour driver got us safely back to the hostal. We all grab quick naps in the room or hammocks before our extreme sporting adventure!! Dune buggies arrived at 4:30... basically huge tires, rows with 3 seats each, roll bars only-like a jeep-, and seat belts like roller coasters.. yep over both shoulder and buckled between your legs! READY! They ROARED sooo loud!! We headed straight up a nearby dune over the mountain and out of the towns views in seconds. I was literally coming out of my seat as the driver drove over hills of sand I could not see the bottom of! No exaggeration! People in the military of Israel with us were screaming! Haha! We reached a smaller hill and all got out. Sand board time! Sand boarding is like snowboarding- same boards- but you rub candle across the bottom to make it stick.. as sand is not! Then you Velcro your feet right in and off you go! Everyone was beginners and we all kinda slide half way.. then rolled a bit! First run we all did face first on our belly!! Haha... adrenaline rush for sure! Kinda got the hang of it some he walked to the next hill.. lil bit bigger... then the next... bigger... then the last... HUGE! Sly went down before us girls and when he reached the bottom he was ANT SIZE! Crazy.. that didn't help me out much! Last one every returned to face first tactics.. obv. not for beginner boarders! On one of the middle sized dunes I wiped out worse then anyone... sand in my hair. pants, shirt, bra, and eyelids!! Definitely jammed a finger and got some good bruises to prove it now! haha...and just when you think you headed back.. One last death race through the dunes! Its half dark now as we already watched the sunset over the dunes(AMAZING)... and wondering if the driver can see much at least point. Everyone was a little more worried because he would even pause before going over hills to check the other side out before diving over it!!! hahaha! All hoping the lined of previously buggies didn´t end bad.. cause we were following them!! Can´t top that night of with much,, just crazy Peruvian pizza and a Fanta!

Day 4- Before 8am in a taxi (same guy too! hehe) off the Cruz del Sur station headed to Nasca! Sly, Sarah C., Sarah, and I all venture to see the lines together. We all planned perfectly to arrive in Nasca 3 weeks after the plane crash - everyone died- and 2 days after the riot ended and prices are crazy high! A guide a had been emailing met us at the station and tried to charge us $80 each... we took a taxi straight the the airstrip and got tickets for $65 (only had to get drive pretty shady to another place to pay.. wait forever... find our German/ Denmark friends from the bus wigging out and final return to the same air strip :-/ weird)! So the 4 of us get a plane for 4.. yes.. literally 4 passenger seats, a pilot, and co-pilot. They have 2 now post-strike to insure they don´t forget to put gas in the plane.. no joking here! This plane is SOOO small and that´s not what made it soo bad. The Nasca lines can only be seen from the sky and the is no definitely explanation of where they came from, but basically they are designs of bird, people, swirls, hands, trees, etc. so huge you could see from the ground. So the 4 of us in the lil plane are shacking through the sky of Nasca to see all the pictures. As one comes up on the left the drivers says- your the headphones we are all wearing- BIRD... then leans the left wing parallel to the ground... right ´HANDS´ right wing to the ground... left ´TREE´ left wing to the ground... I think you get it... We are almost doing barrel rolls through the sky and after like 6 my sister is asking for a bag!! She tells me later she didn't even see the last 4 pics! Hahaha... I was seriously gripping the seat in front of me.. I am not much braver!! The landing... surprising was very smooth! Def know for sure... that's is my last time seeing the lines of Nasca! After we all recover at the airport.. we head off to lunch. Once again sport our friends from Germany/ Denmark and find out the 2 guys threw up in the plane!! Haha! As the 8 of us our eating lunch and we are finished with all our extreme sports... guess what happens... My first earthquake! Yep in nasca it was a 3.0.. off the coast of Peru it was almost a 6! Yeah.. we are on unsteady looking 2nd floor of some small restaurant and everything starts shaking! It wasn´t bad.. people just running outta building to go back in 20 minutes later. Lunch was still good.... aji de pollo! Back to Cruz del Sur... and arrived home in Lima around midnight!

WHAT A WEEKEND!!!