Islas Ballestas

We took one of those 2 hr turned - 4.5 hr bus rides from Ica (sandboarding!  - post to come)  to Pisco  on the 22nd.  The bus doesn't actually go to Pisco, however, so we got off to shouting hoards of taxi drivers and managed to find a shared collectivo - jam-packed with people who eyed our backpacks and looked ready to push us out of the bus at the slightest provocation.  Pisco doesn't have all that much to speak of, as it turns out.  There was an 8 magnitude earthquake which lasted 2.5 minutes back in 2008.  Much of the town still has not been rebuilt, and except for the Plaza de Armas, it feels rather like a ghost town. Hearing reports of crime and skethcy hostels, we stayed in a bit more upscale place, Hotel San Isidrio, whose lovely owner Caria, made us feel totally welcome.

After exploring what little was open in Pisco, we hit us the supermarket to buy meals for the next couple of days and went back to the beautiful hotel to chill by the pool.
As we made our dinner that evening, the night guard had a couple of his friends over (?!)  to drink a couple bottles of wine (?!) haha.  Which was probably not  the most secure thing, but we watched then end of the Giants with them and talked about sports and miami and, as one of the guy's dad was the owner of a winery, the wine business in Ica.

The next day we rose bright and early to visit the Islas Ballestas, sometimes called the Poor Man's Galapagos.  You could smell the sea lions well before you could see them. But! so cute and so so fat.  There were more than 3000 on the islands, and we were lucky to be there just after the birthing season, so we saw lots of babies too.  And of course, there were thousands of birds of over 20 different species everywhere you looked (we were rather grateful for our hats).  Grandma would have loved it.

In the afternoon , we went to the National Reserve of Paracas, to a museum and to several magnificent lookout sports along the coast. Learned all about the fascinating Humbodlt current (allow me a quick Env. Science nerd moment, would you?), which brings cold Arctic waters to clash with warmer Pacific seas, creating upwellings which bring the oxygen-rich water from the bottom of the sea to the surface, creating a marine environment full of plankton and subsequently other marine life.   We also learned from our guide about problems the Coast Guard has with people fishing with dynamite!  It seems hard to beliece but basically these illegal fishermen make homemade dynamite sticks and thros them off the boast, and then just collect whatever floats to the top... when buyers ask in the market why the fish might be missing pieces, they simply tell them , "  a sea lion tried to bite it ..."   hmmm.