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! :)
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