Week 1- Paracas, Ica, Huacachina, Nazca

Hola! So I have officially been in Peru for one week and it has flownnn by. I feel as though I have seen and done so many amazing things that I never really thought I would ever do! Kevin and I have taken a boat to the Islas Ballestas, sandboarded in the deserts of Peru, and flown through the sky to look down at the Nazca lines. Here is a map of where we have been so far:

http://www.mysteryperu.com/esp/images/map_paracas_nazca_3dias.jpg

It is so incredible because every adventure is different than the next and has something new to offer. Starting with the Islas Ballestas: We arrived in this tiny, sleepy beach town called Paracas with not a whole lot going on but it was just so peaceful and authentic. There were very few tourists when we arrived and we basically just walked around and took in the sight of the beach and the local Peruvian culture. We booked our ticket for the tour of the Islas and for the Reserva and were told to be at the office at 7:45am sharp. We were there not a minute late only to find out that we would have to wait until the clouds cleared to go on the tour. We waited for over 3 hrs but fortunately, we went to a little cafe and enjoyed some cafe americano (surprisingly if you don't ask for cafe americano, you only get instant coffee which does not fly with me). When we finally got on the boat, we zoomed across the ocean to the incredible floating islands COVERED in sea lions and different types of birds. It was completely unbelievable. Now I love the Baltimore Aquarium and think it's fascinating, but it cannot hold a candle to seeing these amazing sea creatures in their natural habitats!

Los lobos del mar (sea lions)

Birds covering the rocks (fun fact:there once was a mine on the island to mine the birds' excrement for fertilizer)

When we got back to land, we took a little van with some other South American tourists to the Reserva de Paracas, which is basically just a big desert with the ocean as its' border. The pictures speak for themselves!

La Reserva de Paracas(above)

From Paracas we headed south to Huacachina, which is a beautiful pueblito (little town) set on a lagoon and surrounded by desert, where we did the scariest thing I think I have ever done in my life: dune buggies and sandboarding. Those of you who know me know that I am not the adventurous type (Wilmerdings- think back to the swings at the MD Fair) and I can get nervous prettyyy easily. Well,with these adventures, I definitely went outside of my comfort zone. We boarded a dune buggy with a very careless driver. Yes, I sound like a loser, but we were going SO FAST and he wasn't even wearing a seat belt AND he was listening to headphones while driving--made me a bit nervous! I think my poor friend, Kevin, might have permanent fingernail marks in his arm from me grabbing onto him so tightly. At one point I even grabbed the driver which caught him off guard, I think...but anyways, the thrill was exhilarating and the views were breathtaking.

Sandboaring! (below)





The next day we went on a tour of different bodegas in the Ica region of Peru. Peru not only has many bodegas de vino (vineyards), but it also has many bodegas de Pisco, the national drink of Peru, which is basically liquor made from grapes. We went to three different bodegas and tried quite a bit of different types piscos and wine. We also got to stomp grapes which is a very interesting feeling!


Grape stomping in the bodegas

Last but not least, we took a bus to Nazca which is another little town with not a whole lot to offer besides the INCREDIBLE Nazca lines. I had read about the lines when substitute teaching Spanish at Boys' Latin a few weeks ago so I was excited to see them in person. Although a valid attempt, the description in text book c0uld not do these forms justice. Perhaps one day when I am hopefully a Spanish teacher, I will just have to take my students to Nazca to be sure that they truly appreciate it :)












Triangles (above) A condor (below)

The Nazca lines were created in about 300 BC by the Nazca people and it is a mystery as to why they made them, although there are many different theories (to honor the gods, for astrological purposes, etc). They formed the many different shapes by moving the darker colored rocks away from the sand so that the light sand would then form a shape which can only be seen from an aerial view. We had to take a tiny plane (a 4 seater) and flew around for about 45 minutes admiring all of the different lines. I just could not, and still can not, get over the fact that the shapes were made so long ago and
are still completely recognizable in 2011!!!


Tonight we head to Cuzco on a 14 hour bus ride (not so thrilled about that) so that we may acclimate ourselves to the elevation in preparation for our big 4-day hike to Machu Picchu on March 8th!

To see more pictures, check out facebook in the next few days!
http://www.facebook.com/edefwhitman#!/album.php?id=28502098&aid=2075249