PISCO, Peru - 30th & 31st August

30th August, Wednesday - Once again we had a very early morning start as our bus to Pisco was at 8.00am. Had a quick breakfast at the hotel room and walked with our bags to the Bus-stop, which was a busy place with many buses leaving for Lima and other destinations. Tried to buy a few loaves of bread on the street, but for one Sol (30cents) we ended up with a huge bag. Kept a few and gave the rest to an old lady. We had seats upstairs on a double -decker bus with great suspension. The inside of the bus was very neat; almost felt like a flight. Most of the passengers were for Lima. We were to get off at a place called San Clemente, on the Pan-American highway and then find a collectivo to the coast, to Pisco.


The road to Pisco was once again very spectacular, with the highest point that we crossed at 4740mts with ice on the ground. We were a little uncomfortable however a lot more acclimatised to the altitude. As we got closer to the coast the descent was sharp and the views most incredible. Just before San Clemente, where we had to get off, the bus stopped for the lunch.

After about an hour we got to San Clemente had to get off in a rush, collected our bags and realised that we were dropped off, right on the highway with no taxis or buses in sight. As we were attempting to cross the main, busy Pan- Aemrican highway, with our bags and Letay in tow, a share taxi on it's way to Pisco, stopped for us, bundled us and our bags in and we were off to Pisco for a ridiculous total of 60 cents (didn't even want to haggle that down).

In the next 15 minutes we had reached Pisco and checked in at the "Posada Hispania Hostal" - a neat, cosy little hostel with a lot of character, very close to the main plaza. The place was run by a Spanish man from Barcelona and his Peruvian wife from Lima; Juan and Pilar. They were a very warm and caring couple who just wanted people to love their place and to feel at home.


Pisco was once considered for a capital by the Spanish before they moved to Lima, 3 hours away. It is now a convenient stop enroute to the Nazca Lines, to the Paracas National Reserve (our reason) or even to Chile. The city's focus of activity is the Plaza de Armas (with San Martin's statue - he fought along side Bolivar) and the adjoining walking-street Jiron Comercio, where its crowded every evening with people walking, socialising, dining. Pisco, a strong grape brandy (more like Italian grapa), which is the main ingredient in the cocktail Pisco-Sour, gets it's name from this town. The ACOREMA Centre (www.acorema.org) located on the once posh Avenida San Martin leading west to the Pacific, is very active in its campaign against the local tradition (now illegal) of serving sea turtles.

We got a very quaint room overlooking the street, changed and by 5.00pm we were out, having walked to the plaza and checked out the tours to the National parks and islands in the region, where we intended going the next day. After a fishy dinner, we walked down the boulevard and had coffee and cake by the street watching people. Next morning we were to go to San Andreas, the Ballestas Islands and then to the Paracas National Reserve, to see the wildlife. The waters around here are rich in fish life and plankton and as a result attract a huge population of seals, sea lions, dolphins and even five different species of whales, including the Mesoplodon Peruvianus discovered here in 1988.

31st August, Thursday - Had a quick early breakfast by 6:30am in the quaint restaurant in the hotel. From the sleepy looks on the other guest in the restaurant it was obvious that they weren't early risers but were up to catch a tour as well. Walked down to the Plaza to be picked up for our tour. The group consisted of people from Australia, Italy, Germany, England, Israel and Peru. We drove along the Pacific shore of Pisco, which is not a pretty sight, not being kept clean. Drove past the old port of San Andreas and the resort of El Balneario. Here is where the wealthy Limenos have their beach bungalows.



We were dropped off at Playa El Chaco Wharf to board the speed boat. The pelicans on the beach are in plenty, very photo friendly and ever ready to pose for a fish.

Once on the speed boat called 'Penelope', we had to really rug up as the wind was extremly chilly. We were taken to the Ballestas Islands, enroute passing the famous Paracus Trident. This is a massive 128-mt high and 74-mt wide candelabra carved on the hillside. Nobody has come up with a definite theory for it's existence. It is close to the mysterious Nazca lines but there does not seem a connection between the two.


We went on ahead towards the Ballestas Islands often called the Guano islands as every bit of the islands is covered with bird droppings and looks white. Great bird watching - pelicans, terns, cormorants


and the small endangered Humbolt penguins.




Further ahead the seals and sea lions were in plenty - so very cute, sunning themselves, sleeping on the rocks or all in groups on the beach. After satisfying ourselves of images of these lovely creatures we went back to the wharf. Had great fish burgers and coffee at the cafes by the water, in the cold and waited for the bus to take us to the Paracas National Reserve.


At 11.30 we piled into a bus to 'go to The National Reserve. It's bleak 117,000 hectares of pampa is always lashed with strong winds and sandstorms. "Paracas" means "raining sand" in Quechua. This unique desert is also a sanctuary for many endangered and migratory bird species, some from as far as Alaska. We drove through here to see the pink Flamingos - but from the viewing platform saw, at a distance, just a few lone flamingos. Not really worth the walk up to the platform in the dusty cold wind. From here we drove towards the cliffs by the ocean to a point where there is the spectacular cathedral cave (La Catedral) - a rock formation on the beach below, that has high vaulted ceilings lined by bats. We walked along the edges - very precarious. It was awfully windy and cold here but the views were wonderful and that made up for the discomfort.

At lunch time we went to the nearby fishing village of Laguna Grande where we once again had a fishy lunch........and Rossini had his first Peruvian beer.

The drive was quite spactacular thru the desert park with high dunes. Got to know some people in our group well, especially Davide from Italy, near Venice. Jessy, a Peruvian girl from Iquitos who lived in London. She was back in Peru with her English fiancee (Stephen ?) to get married in Iquitos the following week. She was a vivacious person and certainly a livewire - her liveliness reminded us so much of Merlyn. We also met Emma and Simon, from near Sydney in Australia - we would meet them again in Arequipa, Cusco and Copocabana.

We were back at the hotel by 4.30pm. We had agreed to meet Davide for dinner at 6.30. At the main square while we waited for Davide, Rossini tried Salchipapas, which is really diced spicy sausage on hot potato chips - great cold weather snack. With Davide we went to a busy, noisy with live Andean music, restaurant for dinner. Had a few Pisco-Sours and an okay dinner. The waitress was so stressed that she brought our orders in reverse, desert & drinks first, soup last but it didn't bother us too much and we ate them as they came. Later Davide came back to our hotel with us - we put Letay to bed in the room and sat downstairs at the cosy cafe drinking Pisco-sours.