Islas Ballestas and Huacachina!!

 

We still have about 5 places left on our bucket list in Peru.  But we were able to cross off two after Christmas!  All that's left now is Machu Pichu, Iquitos/Amazon, and Colca Canyon - but we probably will only make it to the first two :)  Colca canyon looks incredible, but it's a very long trip and difficult.  The other two are much simpler!  

We wanted to see the Islas and Huacachina because they both offer something very unique!   The Islas Ballestas are home to a lot of marine life - seals, penguins, sea lions, Blue footed booby birds, and more.  You take a boat around the island and they tell you everything you're looking at, you get pretty close up, and, if it's the right time of year, you can see quite a few animals.  Huacachina is famous for two things - for their oasis in the middle of the sand dunes and their sand boarding and buggy rides.  I guess that's three :)  Between the two places, I think the consensus was, we would absolutely return to Huacachina...las Islas? eh.

We left Lima at 5am so that we could be at Las Islas for our tour no later than 8am.  I hate waking up that early. lol. It's so dark!

It took 2-3 hours to get there and we stopped on the way for breakfast.  Once we arrived at Paracas, our guide let us take some nice pics while she checked us in to our boat tour.  

We got there right when a boat was leaving, so we didn't have to wait around long!  The guide spoke English and Spanish, which was neat.  Here is a short video that shows the boat and how we traveled around the Islas.  You can also hear the guide in the background.

Have you heard of Guano?  We actually learned about it in Ella's Peru History class this year.  It's a HUGE export and has been for a very long time.  All of the "white" that you see on the rocks?  That's guano.  What is guano?  Basically, poop.  But I guess it's really good poop lol :)  

At this time of year, we were supposed to see a LOT of animals - but we mainly saw birds.  We also saw some Humbolt penguins and some sea lions - but not as many as we thought we'd see.

pelicans

sea lions

We had nice weather and the ride was enjoyable.  It wasn't exactly what we had been thinking, and we probably wouldn't pay to go again...but it was worth going once :)  Here are a few more pics from the experience...

this is an example of the Nazca lines found in peru.  The guide called this a "cactus", but it had more significance than that.  I can't imagine how long ago this was carved into the mountain - and it would be very interesting to know exactly why.  Besides cleaning it off during sand storms, it hasn't been touched.  

so many birds!

"Elephant" rock.

After we finished up at Las Islas, we got some snacks and took the 1-1 1/2 hour ride to Huacachina to the sand dunes!

Yes, Gemma took the trip with us :)  Our guide said other pets had made the trip and assured us Gemma would be ok :) 

While snacks were bought, Ella found a newborn teeny kitten to snuggle ;)

We arrived to Huacachina and met our buggy driver, Emilio.  He obviously liked to have fun, cause he totally let loose as he drove us up the sand dunes! lol.  That was terrifyingly fun :) It honestly was like riding a roller coaster - but in a buggy on sand!  Here's a video of all the fun we had on the dunes...

Both the sledding and the buggy ride were awesome.  The Oasis was beautiful and such a rare sight to see in the middle of the desert.  You can read about how it was formed here.  After we finished, we were very thirsty, so we bought some cold drinks and then headed back to the car for a late lunch/early dinner.

Oasis is behind us :) 

My niece/nephew <3

cold snacks to cool off :) another niece <3

"fueling" up before driving the 3 hours back to Lima!

If you are looking for a fun trip to DO something with your older kids/teens - I highly recommend these two places.  Especially the dunes!  We could've easily taken two tours there and spent another 1-2 hours.  And if we did this again, we'd probably skip the Islas and stay half day at Huacachina.  They had places to eat, a pool to swim in, we could've relaxed by the Oasis, etc.  Overall, another wonderful experience here in beautiful PERU! :) 

A few more pics to end with...

all 4 of my sweet nieces and nephew :) 

Our fun driver Emilio!

Wedding and "Peruvian Typical Flash Dance"!

 

Ella in her "Caporales" costume.

Ella and her dance partner David :)

We are currently living in Ayacucho, Peru and the Principal's daughter (at our kids' Christian school) got married this past weekend.  For the wedding, she wanted some of her friends to do a "Flash dance" with typical Peruvian dances.  So, about 20 youth/young adults got together and learned 5 different Peruvian dances.  The cool thing they did with these dances, was to, in typical "Flash dance" style, add in people with every dance.  there were five dances with 2 couples in each dance.  So, the first dance was the Marinera dance with two couples.  The second dance was 2 couples, but then the two previous couples joined in...and so on.  So, at the end, all 20 were dancing :)  Each dance took about 2 minutes so the total time is around 10 minutes.  The video is embedded at the end.  Before that though, there were some fun and neat things that happened in the wedding that I had never seen before - and really liked!  I love seeing new wedding traditions...well, new to me :) 

There were 3 groomsmen and 3 bridesmaids - but they didn't walk in together.  They all walked in separately - with different responsibilities.  One bridesmaid was the ring bearer and one was the flower "girl".  The bride's sister walked in by herself.  The three groomsmen had other responsibilities...

The first groomsmen brought in a sign that says "God" and then "Brian and Sherida" underneath.  The pastor announced, as he walked up the aisle, that this new family had been formed "under God".  Very cool!

The second one announced the entrance of the "Novio" (Groom).

The last groomsman brought in a sign that said "Here comes the woman you asked God for" <3 How sweet is that??

Also, when the groom and bride walked up the aisles, instead of being escorted by a parent(s), they walked alone, and were met halfway by their mom/dad.  It was sweet to watch :)  

Something else I had never seen before, was that they had "guards", which we would probably call "escorts".  They escorted the couple to the reception, and entered the church at the end to lead them out.

I do not know if the above things were something the couple thought up on their own, or if it's done here a lot.  I have only seen one other wedding here.  At both weddings, for the couple's first dance at the reception, the grandmothers threw rose petals on them while they danced.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a pic of it happening - just of the petals on the ground afterwards :)  It's a neat tradition.

Now to the dancing :)  Before dinner, some of their friends (also in the Flash Dance), did a fun little dance to help kick things off.  Ella, my daughter, is the one on the far right in the red/silver :)  If you want to see the video directly in youtube, here is the link.

After dinner, we saw another tradition we hadn't seen before.  Here, people bring up their presents one by one...kind of like in a conga line :)  And the presents?  Wow.  Holy Moly.  Cabinets, furniture, refrigerator, one set of parents gave land (!), and a motorcycle!  They just kept coming!  It probably lasted 30-40 minutes!

After the gifts, and after the group of youth got changed into their costumes, they did their dance.  Here it is!  The five traditional dances are Marinera, Valicha, Tahumpa (music from the Selva/jungle), Saya, and Tinkus.  I'm not sure how big the video will appear in this blog, so here is the link if you want to see it directly in youtube.

We also learned that weddings here are ALL day events!  We arrived at the wedding at 10 and left after the dance at 8pm...and they kept partying until midnight! lol

Thanks for following along in our journey here in Ayacucho!  God bless!

In Christ,

The Juarez Family

No, I'm not looking lol

I had to include these two pics 😂 While we were at the wedding, we took Gemma to be groomed - so she wasn't home alone all day and we didn't have to take her with us.  Plus, she realllly needed to be shaved and clipped.  But they put jewels and bows on her! 😂  We couldn't believe it when we picked her up! lol

Lake Titicaca - Los Uros - our adventure! (and happy birthday Paul!)

 

If you're looking for an amazing trip to take with your friends, spouse, family - this is it!  Something you, and they, will always remember!  Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the WORLD!  It sits at 12,500 feet.  In comparison, Cuzco is 11,500 feet and the top of Pikes Peak is 14,000.

For each of our birthdays, we plan to go somewhere new and fun.  For Ella's, we went to las Aguas Turquesas, this one was for Paul.  For mine, we're hoping to go to Iquitos.  For Noe's birthday, Ella had her dance for the wedding so we didn't go anywhere, but we did do a later trip in December to Las Islas Ballestas and the sand dunes!  

We flew first to Lima from Ayacucho.  As I mentioned in a previous post, most departments (like Ayacucho), can only fly to Lima.  No where else.  So, in order to go to Juliaca, we had to fly to Lima first.  Seems a little backwards if you look at the pic...but that's how it works here :)  Ayacucho to Lima is only 45 minutes.  Lima to Juliaca is a little over an hour.  We had a 2 hour layover in Lima, and a one hour drive from Juliaca to Puno - so the entire trip took about 6 hours (plus the 2 hours we waited in the airport before we boarded).  To drive from Ayacucho to puno would've taken over 20 hours...so flying was definitely worth it!  

Since the Ayacucho airport is so small, we walked out to our plane - no breezeway.  Ella thought that was pretty funny.  It is kind of weird the first time you do it!

We stayed overnight in Puno the first night and set up our day tour to Lake Titicaca/Los Uros from there.  They came and picked us up at 7:15 in a van and took us to the Puno Port.  From there we met our guide - "Fausto" - and got on our boat!

While we rode to the first islands of Uro, Fausto explained the geography, history, and culture of the islands.  It's pretty fascinating.  There are hundreds of islands on Lake Titicaca and Los Uros are a big part of those.  The Inca took over the islands a loooooong time ago and some of the natives were ok with it - and learned their language of Quechua.  Some islands were against it, and kept their own language - Aimara.  The islands have no police as they take care of their own people and problems.  Many of the islands are "floating islands".  They are made out of reeds and the roots/riverbed - six feet of each.  More reeds are added every two weeks, except during the rainy season, when it's every week.  It's someone's job on the island to collect them.  They work 7am-8pm gathering reeds.  The guide took us to two different islands.  The first one was part of Los Uros and we were greeted by the community!

Much of their economy is based on tourism, so they have a program planned for each group that visits (they get as few as one per week and as many as 3 a day).  The tour groups alternate islands so that each one gets the benefits of tourism.  Pictures are encouraged - they actually asked us to please post them to help them advertise :) 

This is the "President" of the island.  They elect a new president every year.  He is explaining how the island is built.  The block of dirt you see behind him, is the 6 feet of roots/riverbed underneath the 6 feet of reeds (that he is standing on). 

view of the island from the top of our boat

one of the huts on the island and family blankets for sale

a family took each of us back to their house to show us how and where they live and what they make and sell to the groups. we bought one of the boats!

The girl is holding up a family blanket that she made in school.  It tells a story of their life.

Speaking of school, the kids are taken to school in a "schoolboat".  They make different kinds and sizes of boats using the reeds.  They took us for a ride on one!

cool boat! i can't imagine how long it takes to make one of these.  They told us the boats last about a year and then they have to make a new one.

one of the local girls liked my hair and braided it while we rode their boat lol.

view of the floating island from the boat.

The video above is of the kids on the island singing us a song in their language of Aimari. :) 

After visiting this island, we went to a land island called Taquile where we ate lunch, stuck our feet in the water, and were greeted by some locals who taught us about their culture.

This lady did a weaving demonstration for us and then we were able to buy some of their products - again, tourism is a huge part of their economy, so they put on a show for the "tourists" so we can see how they live.

This gentlemen showed us how he made homemade "shampoo" to clean the fur/hair/yarn they use in their products.

two men (yes, men!) sewing hats like the ones they are wearing.

They also danced for everyone and then invited us to dance with them :)  Noe and I did, but the kids wouldn't budge. lol.  They did take videos of us though 😂 (no, i'm not posting those lol)

We walked to a nearby house/restaurant where they fed us delicious quinoa soup and rice/fish (I don't eat fish...nor do the kids, so they gave us an omelet).  That was the first time the kids have eaten quinoa soup though - and they liked it!

Afterwards, we got to put our feet in Lake Titicaca.  If you're wondering why we didn't swim - it's because it gets down in the 30s at night on and around the lake and only up to the 60s/70s during the day.  So, the water is a constant 45 degrees all year.  On the beach, where it was shallower, it wasn't quite as cold...but our feet still got numb after a while! lol

After that, our tour was over - but we had decided beforehand that we wanted to get the WHOLE experience as this is a once in a lifetime trip.  So, we were dropped off at one of the Uros Islands to spend the night!  We could have stayed with a local family...but since we live here in Peru, that didn't seem necessary.  Instead, we stayed in a hotel owned by a local family.  It was very lovely!  

"Papa Mario" picked us up at the church behind us in the picture, and took us across the lake to his hotel. "Mama Leah" (below), greeted us as we arrived!

Two huge beds that were quite comfortable!  There is no heat so we each had around 4-5 heavy blankets to keep us warm at night.  Plus, Mama Leah brought us hot water bottles to keep at our feet while we slept :) 

the beautiful view! (and noe ;) lol

Here's a little tour of the island we stayed on :)  I'm talking softly cause it was early and the kids were still sleeping :)  It's funny, the island right next door, that is attached, can't be walked to - you have to get in your boat and row 20 feet! lol.  Papa Mario told us that they ware moving sometime in the next year across the lake (by the church where we were dropped off), because they want a better location for their hotel.  How does he do that?  Well, he pulls up his 8 anchors, detaches the island from the surrounding islands, and has it pulled right across the lake :)  Easy peasy!

At the end, Mama Leah and Papa Mario brought out some traditional clothes and said we needed to all take a picture! So we did :)  He said - post them on social media and help us advertise :) so we are!

The hotel had solar panels that allowed us to charge our cell phones and have lights!  The only thing it didn't have was a working toilet.  It was an "ecological" toilet...so when you go to the bathroom, you put sawdust on top when you're done.  It seemed to function pretty well!

After our stay, Papa Mario took us back to Puno.  We had a few things planned to do there, but neither worked out.  So, we chilled much of the day in the hotel.  We were tired so that was fine :)  Noe walked around a bit to see some sites, and I went to a supermarket where I found mac and cheese, baked beans, and ranch dressing :)  lol score!  The altitude is so high, that I got really exhausted just walking the half mile to and from the store.  So, resting all afternoon was fine :)  Here is a time lapse video of part of our boat ride back to Puno with Papa Mario.

It was a really neat experience and I hope you put it on your bucket list!  Totally worth it :)   Here are just a few more fun pics from the trip...

One hour van ride from the airport in Juliaca to Puno :) 

the Plaza in Puno

This guy was in our hotel...is he not the spitting image of Groot?! lol what is Groot doing in Puno?!

One of the dancers on Taquile

There was a lot of algae near the shore - it looked so thick it looked like you could walk on it!  There are some pigs in this pic - most of their meat comes from fish (seems obvious), but they do have some pigs and chickens.  We also saw some cows on the big islands (not floating) 

beautiful sunrise from our hotel

Hope you enjoyed the pics and blog!  Thanks for following along on our adventures with us :) 

In Christ, 

Laurie and the Juarez's