Travel Blog for Fredrik and Gunnhild

Nazca

Nasca – Lima

Fredrik 28 June, 2008 Lima, Nazca

We were picked up by our guide Leo at 6.30 am. It was a bit foggy so we went to visit the Cantallo aquaducts, which are still in working order and essential to irrigate the surrounding fields. We also had time to see how the local miners are working before the sky cleared up and we went to the airport.

We had a 35 minute flight over the Nasca lines in a small Cessna (3 seats + pilot). We heard that this flight could be a rough experience, but our pilot was excellent and we had a smooth flight.

Spider, Nasca Lines

Our guide took us for breakfast in a very local restaurant, we said goodbye an had some time to walk around Nasca city centre and relax in the sun before taking the bus back to Lima at 2.30 pm. We had the front seats on the upper deck, the so-called panorama seats.

We’re very pleased with the tour from http://www.peruadventurestours.com and both our driver and our guide (Leo Reyes) were great!! We got to see a lot more than was originally included in the tour, and the knowledge of the guide was impressive.

We arrived in Lima quite late and went straight to the hotel.

Our bags are packed and we have a few hours in Lima before we are going home. We will be in Norway tomorrow (Sunday) around 4.30 pm.

Fredrik 28 June, 2008 Lima, Nazca
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Ballestas Islands – Nasca

Fredrik 27 June, 2008 Nazca

We were served breakfast in the room in Paracas before heading to the harbour and meeting our group for the boat ride to Ballestas Islands. We were approximately 30 people on the boat, and our great guide Leo Reyes made sure we got good seats. On the way out we saw a large group of dolphins, lots of large peruvian pelicans and other birds. We also got plenty of wind and salt water in our hair.

Ballestas Islands have many arches and caves and the number of birds are overwhelming. They produce nitrogen-rich guano (seabird droppings) which is used as a fertilizer. In the mid-19th century guano was Peru`s principal export! We also saw lots of sea-lions, crabs and penguins. On the way back we saw the Candelabra geoglyph, a gigantic figure etched into the sandy hills. And then we ran out of gas…

- Peru - 2008

Safly back in Paracas we continued our private tour to Ica where we went to a small bodega (winery). We had a very interesting tour of the winery which still used old techniques like pressing the grapes by foot. Afterwards we got to taste different wines, piscos and marmelades, and ended up doing a little shopping.

The next stop was Huacachina, a small oasis in the desert. We attacked the sand dunes in a small dune buggy and stopped a couple of times to sandboard down the dunes. Fun!

Huacachina, Ica

We had lunch and a walk around the oasis before we hurried towards Nasca to visit the Palpa and Nasca lines watch towers before sunset.

We stayed at Hotel Majoro, previously a hacienda founded by the head chief of the valley. Most of the evening were used to try to get rid of all the sand in our clothes, hair, ears etc.

Fredrik 27 June, 2008 Nazca
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