Poor Man´s Galapagos
Trip Start
Mar 11, 2009
1
4
28
Trip End
May 06, 2009
Paracas,
Peru
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
"No, it definitely isn't." I agreed, pushing down the door lock and leaning around the passenger seat to see that instead of a radio, there was a gaping hole where a radio could have been...once. And instead of a speedometer, the serene face of Jesus smiled back at me. "No worries, we have Jesus on our side." For a second, it looked like the Big J gave me a thumbs up....too much sun....too much sun.
The last couple of days have been spent in what felt like directly on top of the equator in Paracas. Even though I slathered sunscreen on myself and sat under an umbrella the entire time, I still managed to acquire an entire body full of crispy fried flesh
Haunted Peruvian Hostel
. Leaving the "bright lights, big city" feel of Lima behind, we traveled by bus through what seemed like a desert wasteland. It was a total 180 from Lima. The dusty road stretching for miles through barren, sandy patches of land littered with makeshift tin houses from which hung flapping multicoloured bits of laundry, the only hint at any human occupation. Do people actually live there?? In the middle of nowhere? Aren't they in a constant state of thirst? Just looking at where they staked their claim made me want to guzzle a litre of water for fear of my throat drying up like a brown patch of grass. (Of which there wasn't any.)
Paracas is the victim of an earthquake that shook up its dust a year and a half ago. It seems to still be recovering and there is debris and destruction everywhere. But finally, we were at sea and hopping over jellyfish and minature stingrays, I promptly stuck my feet in the salty water and.... ahhh´d. Tammy and I both agreed we need to own houses on or very near the ocean.
Islas Ballestas was full of birds and the sound of the sealions roaring in conversation had a strange, unsettling affect on me. It sounded like they were drowning
Haunted Insides
. Seeing a baby seal made the nightmare sound all worth it and the candalabra mystery was also an interesting experience. Discussing it later, Tammy and I came to the conclusion that it was, indeed, creepy and just couldn't be explained. So we stopped thinking about it. Tomorrow is our domestic flight to Cusco where we expect to be awed and inspired by the majesty of Macchu Picchu and hope to not acquire any dilapitating altitude sickness. We will be in Cusco for the week and hope to also find a jungle adventure to satisfy our swinging-from-a-vine-lust. We´ll keep you posted.
We haven't even been gone a week and yet it feels like longer, isn't strange how that works? Maybe it's because of the heat...making us think we're in summer. In any case, sending all our love and hope all is well.
xox
K & T
Comments
ooh, I've been there too!
Hi Kristin - glad you're having a good time so far. Paracas and the Islas Ballestas was definitely a fun part of my trip.
In Cuzco, if you go to the top of the hill, there's apparently some good, cheap horseback riding, if you like horses. And the altitude isn't that bad - open your shampoo carefully, though, becuase any container you've brought from sea level will explode.
The only hard part about the altitude is walking around Cuzco, because someone built the entire city on a hill! I only had to walk 1/2 block up to my hostel, but it was exhausting