Ecuador-Quito

After a very lazy morning we wandered toward the historical colonial centre of Quito. We were amazed at how many people were out and about on bikes and wandering through the beautiful parks. It was a lovely site. As we reached the colonial centre we realised it must be a special day as there were performances in each of the main squares of local dancing and music. We simply just explored the streets and absorbed the atmosphere as we return to Quito a couple of times before leaving Ecuador.

It was no more than a couple of hours after we started exploring when the sky decided to open so we made our way back to the hotel and watched a movie before heading to our next “pre-departure” meeting to meet our new group and guide! Unfortunately this didn’t happen as our guide called in sick.

Ecuador-Quito

We arrived in Quito around 3pm this afternoon and after settling into our hotel we set out to explore the area around it. The hotel is seemingly located in the new central area of Quito... or at least that is the impression the map gives. Being a Saturday afternoon not much was happening but we did manage to find a gorgeous big park with some local markets in it to explore :-). We then found a supermarket and bought some essentials before heading back to the hotel as it started to rain.

Peru - Lima

This morning we had a little sleep in and then met for breakfast with the rest of our group so we could say good bye to our guide. It has been a really fun 35 days but all good things come to and end.

The five of us wandered into see the changing of the guard at the presidential palace but instead we witnessed the comings and goings of a few foreign diplomats and the ceremony that accompanied them. We then found the Museum of Inquisition which unfortunately was all in Spanish but as it is in the building that was the home to the Inquisition between 1570 to 1820 it was still interesting to see.

We then made our way to the Monastery of San Francisco and its Catacombs. The Church was completed in 1774 and still stands despite being on fault lines. It has survived many earth quakes because it was constructed with bamboo and mud so is flexible. The library was absolutely amazing and holds books from the late 1400’s. The catacombs were also really interesting and were the only public cemetery of that time so have the remains of an estimated 70,000 people including the 3000-5000 people who were executed during the inquisition.

After finishing at the monastery we made our way back to our hotel wandering through some artisan’s markets and different streets of Lima and then chilled out for the rest of the day before bidding farewell to Jess, the first of our group to depart. 

Peru - Ballesta Islands

We took a boat ride this morning out through the Ballesta Islands which are a picturesque group of Islands in the Paracas Bay off Peru’s coast. They are the home to many different bird species, including Humboldt Penguins, Pelicans, Cormorants, and Boobies, as well as a large Sea Lion colony. The Islands are also the source of ‘guano’ or bird droppings which is collected and exported to Europe as fertiliser. On our trip we encountered a number of Dolphins which were in the bay waiting for the fish waste from the trawlers. 

We then enjoyed an early lunch of fresh fish before catching a bus to Peru’s capital Lima.

Before dinner our guide took us to the ‘Circuito Magico del Agua’ which means the Magical Circuit of Water and is a park in the city which is full of fountains of all shapes and sizes and also puts on light show within one of the fountains. It was very cool and is a nice example of how with the right direction a city can change its image (our tour guides words). Our group then enjoyed its last dinner together followed by a Pisco Sour (cocktail) at the hotel in which it was invented.

Peru - Huacachina Oasis

This morning we were picked up from our hotel in Nazca in a couple of old American cars, a Dodge and a Chevrolet, to drive along the Pan American highway to the Huacachina Oasis approximately 2 hours down the road. On the way we stopped off at the lookout point from where we could see two of the Nazca line formations, the Hands and the Tree.

At the Oasis we went cruising through the dunes of the Ica Desert on a dune buggy intermixed with some sand boarding. It was not quite as fun as Namibia but still a great way to spend the morning. After getting up close and personal with the sand we had lunch and chilled out by the pool for the afternoon. We then caught a local bus to Pisco, the home of the famous alcoholic drink, where we would spend the night.

Peru - Nazca

We arrived in Nazca around 0630 this morning all feeling a little tired after the night bus journey, although thankfully we were able to check into our hotel as soon as we arrived.

Nazca is a small town in a valley surrounded by mountains in the Ica desert. It is famous for its “Nazca Lines” for which there are many theories about how they came about. They are thought to have been etched in the sands by three different pre-Incan civilisations: The Paracas people, 900BC-200BC; The Nazca people dating from approximately 200BC to 600AD; and the settlers from Ayacucho around 630AD. However really no-one actually knows when, how, or why these lines were formed. 

After a rest and shower we travelled to the airport for our scenic flight over the famous Nazca Lines. The flight was around 40min and was a brilliant way to see these phenomenon as each one measures anywhere from 32m to 300m in size which makes them impossible to appreciate from the ground.

We went into town for a traditional Peruvian lunch of Ceviche (a raw fish salad, similar to T.I. namis), leche de tigre (milk of the seafood - the juices from the marinade process of the Ceviche served in a glass), and Arroz con Mariscos (a seafood Paella type meal). It was all delicious. After lunch we returned to our hotel and relaxed for the afternoon to the sounds of the waterfall running into the pool.

Peru - Colca Canyon

An early rise this morning to drive further into the canyon to see the local population of Condors. We arrived at “Condor Crossing” at around 8am and were fortunate to see five Condors at different times soaring through the canyon. It was amazing to see these magnificent birds moving through the air at up to 70km per hour.

We had a long bus ride back to Arequipa and spent the afternoon relaxing in the sun waiting for our night bus journey to Nazca.