Marian Johns' Journal of the Desert
Explorers trip to Peru in 2002
Images by John Page unless otherwise noted
Day 4,
September 7, Saturday
Pisco to Nazca See Map
Sept. 7,
Saturday – Got up early 
to have a continental breakfast and then drove
ourselves down to the Paracas port 
for the Ballestras Islands boat trip.
We pre-paid for this trip while in Lima at Victor’s hostal. Victor’s
mother, who lives in Pisco, went with us and directed us to our guide and
boat. On the outward boat trip, we first followed the coast south a short
way to see the Candelabro, a huge trident-shaped geoglyph 
scooped into the
sand hill above the ocean cliffs. It is not certain who made this or what
it signifies. From there, we motored on 
out to the islands to see a myriad
of sea creatures and birds. The government allows the collection of bird 
guano once every seven years. This was last done two years ago, so not
much has accumulated yet. The islands are very rugged – riddled with
caves and arches. They don’t appear to have any access, but somehow
strange-looking piers 
that hang out over the thrashing water have been
built. We saw lots of sea lions 
(called ‘wolves of the sea’ by
Peruvians), birds 
and a few penguins. We watched in amazement as sea
lions, with only their clumsy flippers, managed to climb out of the water
and up onto near-vertical, jagged rocks 
.
Back on shore, we continued down the Panamericana to Ica where we had lunch at a nice restaurant. Most of us tried the special which was a hunk of veal with a bean sauce and another hunk of yuca – a starchy sort of root that reminds me of a cross between a potato and a plantain – a very good meal.
Also in Ica, we went to the Museo Regional de Ica that has displays of locally-found Paracas, Nazca, and Inca artifacts – mainly textiles, pottery, mummies and examples of trepanned and deformed skulls. The latter were purposely deformed. Evidently it was considered becoming to have a pointy, flattened head.
We took a short side trip to
Huacachina, a touristy place built around an oasis 
which in turn is
surrounded by sand dunes. It’s an attractive place in photos, 
but the
water is actually rather murky and not very inviting, but the locals
don’t seem to mind. 
Locals also come here to go sand
boarding 
.
Just north of Nazca, the next
destination, we stopped at the mirador (observation tower) and climbed up
to see a couple of the mysterious Nazca Line figures – a tree and
hands 
.
These huge ancient figures and geometric designs are etched into the
desert surface and visible only from the air or heights such as the mirador.
In
modern Nazca, we stayed at the Hotel Alegría. 
It’s a busy place - with
lots of other tourists here too. Charlayne and I are on the third floor
and no elevator. Yikes! Two doors down from the hotel, we found an
inviting restaurant where we were serenaded by a group of six Andean-style
musicians. I had “potato salad” – four thick slices of potato in a
cheese sauce. And then a main dish I can’t remember, except it had
potatoes too. The musicians were hawking CDs for $10 US. Some of our
people bought them. I already have two at home that I got in Seattle and
at the L.A. County Fair.
