Boot, Bus, Buggy, Board

Good thing I was in bed early yesterday, because today I have a lot on the agenda again! I start with a coffee and a juice and set off for the boat trip from the port of Paracas to the Islas Ballestas, the "Peruvian Galapagos". We drive out of the port at around 50 km/h, make a first stop at the edge of the nature reserve and see the first highlight: El Candelabro de Paracas - a candle holder in the sand of the desert. Its origin is not entirely clear. One theory says that it was "painted" in the sand by the Nasca people, like the Nasca lines in the town of the same name. The way this geoglyph was made speaks against this: It lies on a slope, was painted in sand instead of stone and shows little connection to the Nasca lines, which I will see from the plane. A second theory suggests that sailors used the candle holder to communicate with each other - for what? Uncertain. In any case, the candle holder was created over 2000 years ago and measures 180m. The fact that this geoglyph painted in sand still exists today is due to the subsoil. Only the top layer is fine sand, and the candle holder extends another 50cm into the firmer sand and rock layer below, making it more resistant to erosion. It probably also helps that it rains about 2cm a year in the desert region, meaning that hardly anything can be washed away by the rain.

Let's continue our boat trip to the Islas Ballestas. There we see lots of amazing animals: first and foremost the Humboldt penguins (the third smallest penguins in the world), Peruvian boobies, numerous colorful crabs, sea lions and bird species that are native here. Since the sea is much warmer than the penguins and sea lions like, there have been much better and "fuller" times on the Islas Ballestas. Nevertheless: seeing this diversity in its natural environment was simply incredible! But the Galapagos Islands are still on my bucket list!

After the boat trip and breakfast, I get back on the bus - three hours to Huacachina. The trip doesn't actually take that long, but with the Peru HOP we stop at a winery for a wine and pisco tasting and have lunch together. As in Lima, I would have liked to have done the tasting at a different time than 1 p.m. in the desert, but what can I do? When it comes to wine, I'm sticking with European wines: Due to the long dry season and constant sun in the region, the wine is very sweet and reminds me of port wine from Portugal. I meet Michelle on the bus and we talk about our further plans. She was still unsure whether she should do a tour of the Colca Canyon or not. After a few stories and pictures, I convinced her to book the 2-day tour, which is coming up in a few days.

The destination with the Peru HOP today: Huacachina! A small tourist oasis on the edge of the Desierto de Ica. Legend has it that the oasis was created by a young woman mourning the death of her lover in the desert, whereupon the Inca gods transformed her tears into a sacred oasis. There will be a picture of the oasis in tomorrow's post, as I hardly have any time when I arrive in Huacachina. I check in, take my bandana with me and set off with Michelle and the rest of the group for the next adventure: driving a sand buggy (unfortunately only as a passenger this time) and then sandboarding in the dunes followed by a sunset. After the jeep tour that I was able to do 1.5 years ago in the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan, this was a completely different experience. Our driver takes every little dune and dome with him, drifts with us through the sand and gives us a natural rollercoaster ride through the Desierto de Ica. We then drive down a total of four sand dunes before we sit down on one, bury our feet in the warm sand and enjoy the sunset. For dinner we fortify ourselves with a few sandwiches and then shower off the desert sand. In the evening I walk 200 meters to the hotel in town and see my group from the last two weeks again! I take them back to my hostel and we spend the evening together: trivia night, happy hour and after-party with far too little sleep. On the screen above the bar I see the review of yesterday's Formula 1 race, which Lando Norris won for McLaren, and I get to know Joe and Chris from McLaren - coincidences happen and I also make a good deal: they are accompanying the existing Wasen group in Stuttgart in the fall and I get McLaren merch for the accommodation - thanks in advance for that! So the Huacachina oasis can be seen tomorrow.