Pisco to Huacachina to Nazca, Peru

Huacachina Sand dunes Lori
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2009-01-11

There was a tour offered in the morning to go to Islas Ballestas, but it was advertised as the poor man’s Galapagos. As Lori and Ian felt they had already seen everything the island had to offer, they decided to save their soles and sleep in. They joined the rest of the group a little after 10, when their mini bus that would take them to Nazca picked them up. Their first stop was about two hours away at Catador, which was a winery for the drink Pisco. They were given a tour of the area where the guide explained that the grapes were harvested in March and a festival occurred where a Queen stomped on the grapes. The grapes then went through a series of being pressed and distilled. The body was then used to create Pisco, which was fermented for twelve to fifth days. They tried several kinds of Pisco, ranging from a sweet wine taste to a digestive, cleansing taste. After being spoiled with the wines in Australia, Lori and Ian decided that this was not one to add to their favourties list. The group decided to have lunch there as it was the only place where you could have Carapulcra con Sopa Secu y Yuca (Combinado), pasta with pesto and chicken and baked beans with yucca. Lori and Ian both ordered it and it was tasty. After lunch, they had a thirty minute drive to Huacachina, which is an oasis surrounded by towering sand dunes. The group was offered a dune buggy and sand boarding trip for $15 a piece, which Lori and Ian decided to go on. Unfortunately, Lori’s sunglasses broke for the second time right before they arrived, so during the first part of the dune buggy, she kept her eyes closed, which was a bit unnerving in the back as they went over the dunes. Luckily, the driver lent her some glasses for the rest of the trip. Part of the excursion included boarding the dunes. Lori was a bit nervous as she laid down for her first run on the board on the dune, but the anticipation soon changed to excitement as she slide down the dune. Ian enjoyed it as well, but thought that Lori looked far more graceful going down then he felt. They managed to get three trips down before boarding the dune buggy again. They drove through the dessert some more and the group was able to convince the drive to let them have one more go on the boards. This time, Ian stood up for his trip down the dune. For never snow boarding before, he managed to make it down quite well, but had a pile of sand in his jeans to prove it. Lori, less adventurous, stuck to riding the board face down. As you can imagine, they were full of sand by the time they finished the trip, but luckily the place where they joined the trip had a pool, so they were able to rinse off and relax for a bit. They had another two-hour ride to Nazca. They stopped at the mirador (lookout tower) before reaching Nazca to get their first glimpse of the Nazca lines. The lines are across 500 square km of land and form a network of 800 lines, 300 geometric figures and some 70 animal and plant drawings. As the lines can only really be appreciated from air, they were not discovered until 1939, when North American scientist Paul Kosok flew across the desert. No one really knows when the lines were drawn and their reason; there are various theories ranging from an astronomical calendar, giant running tracks, and extraterrestrial landing sites, to connect to a water/fertility cult. They were not only treated to the tree and hands lines, but a gorgeous sunset over the mountains. They arrived at Hotel San Marcelo, unpacked and had dinner with the group. As there were a lot of us, it took awhile for the drinks and food to arrive. Ian decided to play Black Magic (for those of you who have read the Galapagos Island journal, you will remember they played this on the boat) with the group. Alex, managed to figure the game out with a few turns, but everyone else remained baffled at their “magic”. Steven and Amelia had a few other games, which they played as well until their food finally arrived.

The lines are across 500 square km of land and form a network of 800 lines, 300 geometric figures and some 70 animal and plant drawings.

Huacachina Sand dunes Ian
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2009-01-12

As the only way to see more of the Nazca lines was by air, Lori and Ian decided to take a flight excursion to see them. It was a bit costly ($65 per person for a 30 minute flight), but they figured they would not be returning to this part of the world any time soon. They boarded a six-seated plane from the Aeroparacas company with Dirk, Paula and Steven shortly after 10 am. The pilot was really good at pointing out the various figures that included: a whale, triangles, trapezoids, an astronaut, a monkey, dog, condor, hummingbird, spider, alcatraz, parrot, hands, and a tree. He also pointed out other various figures and banked both ways so everyone could get photos of it all. Lori was glad that she had read in the book not to eat the morning of the flight as with the bouncing around and the heat of the plane, she felt a bit queasy as they landed. Back on the ground, Ian and Lori were both happy they had done the trip and were able to see the scale of the lines. They had lunch when they arrive back at the hotel. They were hoping to enjoy the pool and the sunshine in the afternoon, but the clouds rolled in, so they relaxed in anticipation of their first overnight bus trip that evening. Lori had Cuban rice, which was a fried egg, white rice and boiled bananas for dinner. By mixing it all together, it tasted a bit like fried rice and Lori really enjoyed it. Ian had lomo saltado that was made from beef, onions, tomatoes, chips and rice. The group left the hotel at 9:30 pm and went to the main bus station. Unfortunately, the bus was running late, so they had an hour and a half wait at the station. Back to the Future was on TV, so they were somewhat entertained. The double-decker bus arrived around 11 pm. As they boarded, they took a video of us, they are assuming for security reasons. First class was downstairs and to your right, and economy, which was us, was upstairs. The seats were black leather and reclined back, but not fully. Even with Ian’s big legs he was able to stretch them out. The bus set off. Neither Lori nor Ian slept that much as the road was very windy and bumpy as it headed through the mountains.

Corn Kernels
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