Zoooming through northern Peru

  Piura, Peru
Tuesday, January 20, 2009

"Buy a tour! Hat!! Lunch!!!"
"No, gracias. No, graci-"
This is getting old.


Ah Peru. A beautiful country with a long and exciting history. Also, about a zillion people trying quite aggressively to sell you random things at every turn and more honking horns than New York City at rush hour. Thus, after our wondrous week with Bron's parents we set out to make our way as quickly as possible to Ecuador to see what a new country might have in store for us.

So much sand!

Our first stop on the journey north was Huacachina, a tiny "oasis" near the coast where we spent just one night in a "hostel" that turned out to be a restaurant with a room of dorm beds off the dining room. The town was just a funny little sandy horseshoe with a man-made lake in the middle, filled with rowdy tourists. However, the massive dunes surrounding the town were breathtaking, and we had a great hike up a sand mountain to gaze at the miles of sandy peaks surrounding us (and then an exhilarating descent down the steeply pitched side of the dune in racing leaps and bounds!)

Islas Ballestas, sky view

We left Huacachina early in the a.m. in order to get to nearby Pisco for a tour of the Islas Ballestas, hailed as the poor man's Galapagos. The islands were stunning - a small group of jagged stone peaks covered in thousands and thousands of birds, crooning and swooping across the sea and sky. On the shore of the larger islands hundreds of sea lions basked in the sun and barked at each other and the passing tour boats. It was beyond imagination - one of the most amazing natural habitats we've seen. Our tour then took us to several beautiful vistas including a carbon sand beach, a red sand beach, and the Cathedral rock formation, which lost its arch in an earthquake a couple years back. It's truly a beautiful little corner of Peru.

Cathedral in Trujillo, Peru

That same (long) day we hopped a bus moving north, stopping briefly in Lima for a bowl of chicken soup and a bus transfer. After quite a comfortable overnight bus we arrived in Trujillo, a brightly painted colonial town. Exhausted from the trials and tribulations of Peru and with Bron battling a head cold, we spent most of our 2 ½ days in Trujillo sleeping, leaving our hostel for meals and brief bouts of entertainment. It was actually delightfully relaxing! Feeling rested we continued on towards the border, to a town called Piura. We planned to just stay there one short night and get to Ecuador the following day, but a farmers' strike blocking the border thwarted that plan. It turned out to be fine, as Piura was a bustling little town with a nice plaza and an interesting market (live turkeys!) The next day we boarded a bus to the now open borders, and with a wistful adios we were finally on our way to Ecuador!

Sandy climb to the summit, Huacachina

Sea lions on shore, Islas Ballestas

La Catedral rock formation, Paracas Bay

Carbon sand beach, Paracas Bay

Red sand beach, Paracas

Birds!!!!! Islas Ballestas

Seabirds in flight

At the movies in Trujillo!

On our way out of Peru (finally!)

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