Islas Ballestas, Peru
A leisurely start to the day; I headed down to breakfast while Paul caught a few extra z’s. A decent continental breakfast, I enjoyed some crusty bread and a cold boiled egg while chatting to Hugo, a staff member working the room.
Hugo, came to Peru 14 months before the Venezuelan “economic war” intensified under the Maduro government in 2015. He was happy to have gotten out before the situation intensified but said it was hard getting started here in Peru.
Hugo explained that he lived on the streets here for 12 months before he was able to make enough money for an apartment. He had no family or friends here but knew life on the streets of Peru was better than at home in Venezuela.
He now has a great job here at the hotel, a wife and a toddler and he says life is much easier now. We chatted in broad strokes about the contrast between our countries and their governments. I explained that a headline sweeping the news in Canada right now is that our Prime Minister, once a classroom teacher, painted his face black for a production of Aladdin.
Hugo smiled and simply said, “...a headline of privilege”. It was a profound statement indeed.
After breakfast, we met outside our hotel with some 100+ others, all of whom, like us, were headed to Ballestas Islands.
The Ballestas Islands are a group of rocky islands located off the Pacific coast of Peru and luckily enough for us, an hour’s boat ride from Paracas. We collectively boarded 3 boats of 40 passengers each and headed out to sea.
Nicknamed “The Poor Man’s Galapagos”, the islands are a must-see for all wildlife lovers as they’re home to thousands of birds and mammals including penguins, sea lions, Inca terns, pelicans and dolphins.
The islands, locally known as Las Islas Ballestas, are protected, meaning you cannot swim with the animals or walk on the islands themselves, but you can get very close to them on a boat tour, at times, uncomfortably so. There were several instances where we could have reached out and touched a sea lion bathing in the mid morning sun.
We stopped at several points of interest and enjoyed watching a few penguins struggle to get from the ocean and onto the rocks.
From here, they marched off, one behind the other, along a path that made me think they had done this a million times before.
Sea lions were aplenty, one hove off on top of the other; all nestled together as though they were great old buddies. One wee sea lion snuggled into its mother as Mom raised her head, watching us cautiously as her little one suckled. Others made barking sounds as millions of birds flew overhead.
At one point our attention was drawn to an adjacent island that was completely blackened with birds...I’m not exaggerating when I say, there were millions of them; absolutely unbelievable!
Some of the islands were undermined, creating tunnels, one of which we thought made the outline of Newfoundland (the island part, minus the Avalon). A wee bit of home, rearing its sweet little head in Peru! (...insert hearts here!!)
Along the way, our boat stopped at one of Peru’s many geoglyphs, The Paracas Candelabra. It is estimated to date back to 200 BC, although many believe it is much older. With a large, branchlike appearance, the purpose and meaning of the Candelabra remains unknown. There has been much speculation as to the reason it may have been constructed. Was it a godly symbol, a gigantic seismograph, or simply a navigational tool for sailors?
The Paracas Candelabra is estimated to be approximately 595 – 800 feet tall and can be seen from as far as 12 miles out at sea. The geoglyph was created by cutting two feet deep into the hardened soil, with rocks placed around the figure.
While scientists cannot be certain regarding the age of the Paracas Candelabra, pottery found in the area was radiocarbon dated to 200 BC. It is believed that the pottery belonged to the Paracas civilization, but it has never been confirmed whether they were responsible for creating the geoglyph.
Whatever the reason for creating it, it is certainly something worth seeing! Strangely beautiful and I understand, a mere hint of the Nazca Lines to come! Booya!
The remainder of our day was spent wandering the streets of Paracas, enjoying watching the boats coming and going and people watching. We found a gated community and walked though it until a security guard eyed us and with a purposeful stretch of his arm and pointed index finger, “suggested” the route to the nearest exit.
I couldn’t believe my eyes; the gated community was positively a 5 star establishment, complete with individual dwellings with private balconies, infinity pools, private beaches and more. When we found the exit, we also found another security guard waiting for us.
With the stretch of an arm and finger that was now familiar to us, we walked onward to the public beach. Behind us we heard the man radio something which I can only image was “Gringo situation contained. Making their way on public beach. Gated community secure.” Pfth! (Insert eye roll here).
Once we popped out on the beach, we looked behind us only to find the most spectacular sunset. Slowly falling behind the mountains across the Paracas Pacifico, we sat and watched another spectacular day come to a close.
Before calling it a night, we found our way to a small mom-and-pop shop for a beer, where we found two Austrian ladies we befriended yesterday evening. As the evening turned into night, we chattered amongst ourselves about travel, family and even love! They had very good broken English and we were very skilled on the charade front. It made for a good evening of laughter and kinship. We exchanged contact info and I truly hope our paths cross again!
Lee Anne
2019-09-22
Loving all these pics
Jill
2019-09-22
This was yet another great read. Thanks so much for recording your travels in words and pictures, Dina. XX
Holly
2019-09-22
I am loving OUR trip so far, as you always manage to take your reader with you on your epic adventures Dina. Thanks
Breena
2019-09-22
Love these, Dena. Take care.
DianeDavis
2019-09-22
Caught up! South America! Thank God I'm not in charge of tracking you. I thought you were headed to South Africa!
Jenny
2019-09-22
Lovely pictures Dina. You and Paul must be having such a marvelous time. Love reading all about your travel adventures. Stay safe
Linda
2019-09-22
Wow! Another lovely day,glad you and Paul are having an amazing trip
Tjh
2019-09-22
High Dina.I have been reading your blogs,They are very interesting,along with the photos,that I love All the best,stay safe, TJH.
Stephanie
2019-09-22
Another incredible day! What an awesome experience you are having so far!!! Amelia loved the sea lions! Xo
Aunt Madeline
2019-09-23
Yes see the crabs! Ha Interesting you had the conversation about Trudeau and the situation he's in! Love your blogs. You both look so relaxed.
Paul
2019-09-23
I'm reading all of your blogs and enjoy every word and look forward to many more. All the very best.
Susan
2019-09-28
Wow! It's so easy to imagine you there, your posts are great! And I love it when you make travel friends! Wishing I was there!!