After a wonderful night of blissful sleep, Larry and I boarded the shuttle bus to Paracas...a 25 minute bus ride along the Pacific coast. The Crown Princess docked in the desert bordering the Pacific Ocean. It was desolate and dry as well as out in the middle of nowhere. We had to buy an excursion or take a taxi out of this place...it was the only option unless we wanted to spend the day on the ship. Hey...We are in Peru and we had to go see some of it so we purchased tickets to get into the closest town...twenty five minutes away.
Paracas had a nice oasis on one side of town with tall palm trees and some green grass and modern looking buildings. Our bus passed this area and then motored into the center of the little town. It had a moderate square with a few park benches. Larry and I passed through the square and headed toward the waterfront. Restaurants and shops lined this area with a view of the bay....but just one block over, very poor housing existed. Local Peruvian Indian women sat on the ground in the shade making beaded jewelry. We saw them when we arrived and they were there when we left at 3:00...they only shifted their seating to follow the shade. Small booths lined the waterfront with a few nice restaurants.
We had decided that we were going to try to get a boat ride to the Isle of Ballestas...the Peruvian Galapagos Islands. It was a National Reserve that protected the wildlife that lived there. We found a young man who sold us tickets for $25.00 each for two seats on a boat for a 30 minute ride...11 miles off shore. The day was gorgeous. Perfect temps and sun that sometimes went behind a cloud or two. When we got to the dock to board we were told we had to pay an additional $4.00 each for the National Reserve Park Fee and a $1.00 each for pier tax, oh well everybody gets to share the wealth.
We boarded the boat where they immediately made us put on orange life jackets. The boat ride was delightful. Smooth waters and lots of beautiful offshore island scenery. We passed hundreds and hundreds of pelicans. Some were feeding around the anchovy fishing boats that were pulling in their nets.
Birds of all kinds scaled the cliffs of the coast. We were amazed to see one of the Nazca Line Drawings made by the Incans hundreds of years ago. It was the shape of a candlelabra. How did they lay these stones that were so enormous to symetric scale way back then?
As we crossed the calm Pacific Ocean we began to smell a most unpleasant odor. What could it be? It was the Ballestas Islands.The smells were from thousands of sea lions and bird poo.
The islands were a remarkable area of incredible land formations...caves and hollowed arches washed away from the ocean waves....very pleasing scenery to the eye.
We saw the cutest Humbolt penguins hopping around the rocks and swim out into the waves...perhaps for a midday snack.
We saw sea lions swimming and laying around the rocks. We went to an area called Maternity Beach...Sea lion pups were all over the place and we enjoyed watching them swim with their mothers. One mother actually helped her baby climb the rocks by picking it up with her mouth.
A local fisherman proudly held up the octopi that he had dived for earlier in the day.
We saw all kinds of birds...terns, cormorants, turkey vultures, some birds nesting with babies peeking out. It must have been a paradise for the animals because there were thousands of them everywhere.
It was so enjoyable to sit back and watch it all. We had a fabulous ride back to the dock.
After lunch and a local Peruvian beverage we boarded the bus at 3:00 and arriving back at the ship at 3:30. The boat pulled anchor at 5:00 and we moved slowly out to sea. What a fantastic day...our first of two days visiting Peru. We can hardly wait to see Lima tomorrow!
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