12/07/2008 Early rise for a morning trip out to the Islas Ballestas, this is nicknamed ´the poor mans Galapagos´. The island we went to is in the Reserva Nacional de Paracas, this is mainly a desert filled reserve except for the islands. As we were going out on the boat we saw lots of bottle nose dolphins and seals popping out of the water. The ...

Well, we´ve left Lima and travelled a mere 4 hours south to the coastal town of Pisco. This place is really quite sad. It was virtually destroyed by a significant earthquake last year and many people are still living in very temporary housing including tents. The streets are a shambles, many rubble. However, amongst all the doom and gloom the pe...

Después de la visita en Lima un nuevo viaje de cuatro horas para dormir en Pisco, en una cama por primera vez en tres días, la ciudad de Pisco sufrió un terremoto de 8.2 en la escala ritcher el año pasado y es un alucine ver como esta la ciudad, con bloques o manzanas enteras donde a día de hoy lo único que hay son escombros, o la catedral (dent...

Susan was so determined to make our night at the hostel similar to our summer in DC that she woke Jen up in the middle of the night screaming. While Jen proceeded to have a heart attack, thinking that someone had succeeded in breaking into our room, Susan calmly explained she had a nightmare about cockroaches and promptly fell back asleep. For ...

Well, after much deliberation, I have had to stick with my leaving dat of 06May. I've had trouble looking at changing my flights (there's no seats, apparently!!), and I think that another month here will only put my travels to Ireland (to start making money!!) in a rather difficult state!! So, I'll be working this week in Pisco and then becoming...

Met our tour group last night in Lima and had a meet and greet dinner at an upmarket resturant overlooking the beach. Our group of 17 includes the guide Julio and trainee Manuel - seem like great blokes, happy and eager to help with anything. Although dominated by 6 Aussies, the group also includes Danish, Canadian, Norwegian and Indian tour bud...

So, here I am still in Pisco...and my world keeps changing!! It's a hard life when you're realising your dreams, I guess!! But there are some frustrations as there always will be!! I've been working on a project with a few other volunteers for a family who's situation is rather sad. Aldo is an amazing man who is a building maestro in Peru. His b...

We´ve just left Pisco ... although a short visit, it was definitely an eye opener. The bus took about 4 hours & it was just getting dark when we arrived at our hostal. Pisco was hit by a major earthquake back in July last year and you can still see the devistation - fallen buildings, broken roads, etc. The relief effort is slow, many people ...

Well since i last wrote we have managed to get ourselves on the road and join our travel gang. Yeh sometimes organised tours are a bind but this one is just to get us in the swing of things in South America. My sis and i are with 10 other people and the ages range which is good and I think we have found some good friends. I´ll get back to you in...

Well, after my third day of this construction and demolition work, I'm on a high!! I've never felt so elated, so helpful, so humble, so proud, so amazed, or so restored!! I'm just so amazed at myself...who would ever have thought that I could hold a pickaxe or a shovel or a chainsaw or a cement mixer...!! I am doing it!! I have a lot to learn an...