Lima to Paracas to Nazca

The orientation for the G- Adventures tour took place on the Sunday evening - we each introduced ourselves before Yuri went over some key points about how the tour was structured as well as reviewing arrangements for the following day. With the formalities out of the way, we headed to El Parquetito for a group dinner on the edge of Kennedy Square. This evening we tried another Peru speciality - beef heart!

Departure time on the first day was 10.00 am - Yuri was breaking us in gently before some very early morning starts later in the trip. Today the destination was Paracas some 270kms south east of Lima. 

When leaving Lima, the size of the city was reinforced by how long it took for us to leave the city proper. It was hard to tell where the city ended and the countryside began because of “squatters’ rights” - rather the boundary was a blur. The coastal desert plain is a hostile environment, except if you don’t have a home. An individual or family could lay claim to unoccupied land by starting to erect a building. This has led to thousands of partially built homes. The best way to explain this housing phenomenon is to quote from a paper from MIT

"In the 1960s, overwhelmed by an influx hundreds of thousands poor rural migrants, Peru’s government unsuccessfully attempted to stop the influx or accommodate them by conventional means. Arriving in cities without viable housing options, the migrants devised clever strategies to find shelter. They organized overnight invasions of government lands on the outskirts of Lima and other cities. Knowing that land laws at the time protected individuals claiming use of land from eviction—if they demarcated the plot and started building a house. Homesteaders immediately built shelters of discarded materials. Government, recognizing this as a viable large-scale and low-cost housing policy, authorized and legitimized the invasions. 

Over time government, continually collaborating with the community organizations, introduced infrastructure, services and transport. Simultaneously, secure in knowing they would not be evicted, settlers began building and improving their homes. By joining forces with the poor and legalizing their affordable approach to housing themselves, “pueblos jóvenes,” or “young towns” became a major part of the national housing policy. Within four years 188 pueblos jóvenes were settled, accommodating approximately 1.4 million inhabitants, each with elected community representatives. Forty years later these settlements are fully consolidated and integrated as municipal districts of the city."

We were struck by the desert conditions along most of the route, except for the occasional patch of intense agriculture wherever a river could reach the coast, “surviving” the coastal desert conditions. Rearing chickens seems to be possible, even in the middle of the desert, which is probably just as well given the Peruvian appetite for "pollo"! The desert, a conglomerate for the most part, rather than sand, was not bereft of economic activity - mining for precious metals, a vital element of the Peruvian economy, as well as cement, oil and natural gas extraction were in evidence. In an interesting twist, the oil is exported to Venezuela because Peru lacks refining capacity.  Shortly before reaching our destination for the day, we passed through the town of Pisco which gives its name to the national drink [see previous blog post]. In 2007 a major earthquake, 8.0 on the Richter, struck the area with its epicentre at Chincha just northwest of Pisco. Tragically, Ten years later, many, many buildings remain in the state they were on the days following the earthquake. If you are "into" earthquakes, you will want to read this paper

After checking into Hotel Emancipador in Paracas, we went for a walk around the harbour area where we had a meal focused on ceviche, what else when there is so much fish off-shore. The sunset this evening was reminiscent of the sunsets we enjoyed when living in Western Australia.

It was an early start in Paracas - leaving the hotel at 7.30am to beat the crowds heading to Islas Ballestas Reserve National noted for the number and variety of sea birds including the blue footed booby, oyster catchers, tendrils and Humboldt penguins all dependent on the rich marine life in the adjacent waters. Between the port of Paracas and Islas Ballestas we passed an industrial facility which mixes the salt from the Otuma Salt Flat with the abundant sand before exporting it in bulk to Canada and the USA to be used on the roads in winter!

The flocks of birds which depend on the rich marine life create lots of“guano”, or bird droppings, that convert the rocky islands from their natural red colour to shades of white. Guano, excellent fertiliser, could be sold for up to 40 dollars a kilogram. Early in the 20th century Guano collectors flocked to the islands to eke out a living, scraping off its 2 meter deep white blanket. But as often happens in these situations, the resource was soon exhausted. Now, harvesting guano is strictly regulated on a 7 year cycle. Still, a few select people reside on the islands making their living from collecting this material. It is no easy task these days, as the best bits are on the cliff sides. Their job can become life-threatening when they use ropes to drop over cliffs or lean over ledges to scrape off the guano. The smell of guano permeates the air, despite the wide open spaces. I’m pleased to report that no one on our boat was on the receiving end of any flying guano!  In addition to the birds, we saw some sea lions, but not as many as anticipated. Nor were they as big as the ones we see at Race Rocks off our shoreline in Victoria, BC.

When cruising back to port we passed a massive geoglyph, knick-named “The Candelabra”, whose true meaning and origin are still a mystery.

We had to find our land legs pretty quickly, because it was on to the bus and off to El Catador Winery where pisco is the main product. After a tour of the facility, it was time to complete a tasting led jointly by the winery tour guide and Yuri. We were glad that we had “dedicated drivers” freeing us to taste with abandon! To learn more about wine making in this desert country you can find it here

It was back in the bus for the hour plus bus ride to Huacachina - a city bang in the middle of massive sand dunes. Everyone but us opted to do a dune buggy ride; instead, we chose to walk around the town; although a “tourist destination”, it has little or nothing to offer, other than a dune buggy ride. The town itself is a bit of a dump. There is a small lake in the centre of town - it is, after all, an oasis in the desert, but the water is polluted and little has been done to make it attractive.

We then drove to our destination for today, Nazca arriving at our hotel Casa Andina at 6.45 pm On Yuri’s recommendation, we all ate at Cafe Rustico across the street [Calle Lima] from our hotel. Very convenient at the end of a long day. It was at this point I discovered I had left the spare camera battery and charger in Hotel Antiqua in Miraflores. 

We had the luxury of a late start the following morning - getting on the bus at 8.30am, and we had the benefit of staying at Casa Andina for a second night, so no bags to pack! The started with a bus ride to the archaeological site at Chauchilla where Ilda was our enthusiastic, energetic and knowledgeable tour guide.

On leaving Nazca one is immediately back into the conglomerate desert which has dominated the landscape since we left the environs of Lima. A few kilometres south of Nazca, we left the paved road, driving some 20 minutes down a gravel road across a desert that didn't seem capable of supporting any life, although our keen eyed guide pointed out a couple of birds that were extremely well camouflaged.

The archaeological site which dates from the pre-Inca periodis best known for its mummies which were buried in a very different fashion from those in Egypt. Unfortunately, grave robbers have been active since the site was re-discovered in 1920; the good news is that the sites that remain are now protected. Families were usually buried together, always facing the rising sun. When a person died, the tendons were cut and the body fluids drained; the skin was treated with herbs and oils; the body wrapped in cotton and tied with rope; sometimes feet and hands are exposed. The body was bound in a seated foetal position. Some graves are multi-layered, as much as 2m deep. Shaman seemed to have very long hair which has not lost its colour over the many centuries.

Our next stop was to see how pottery was made by the Nazca people dating back to 200BC to 600AD. The pottery was made without the aid of a wheel using llama bone for shaping the clay. It was painted using mineral compounds and finally polished using sweat and oils from human skin. It was fired in an oven with the pottery on the bottom and wood on top. The end result was pottery that was extremely strong and versatile making everything from simple pots to flute pipes, before the Inca used wood for the flute.

By now we were running really late heading for the airport for a flight over the famed Nazca Lines, designated as a UNESCO site. While it was impressive to see the Nazca Lines and marvel at how they were designed and constructed without the aid of an overhead view, the actual lines were hard to see. The group were of the opinion that had the flight been earlier in the day, rather than close to midday, the shadows from the early morning sun would have made the relief of the lines easier to see. Some shapes were easier to see than others - these photos were taken with an iPhone S which is a pretty good advertisement for a smart phone camera!

In the evening, we had a group dinner Wasipunko Lodge on the outskirts of Nazca; we would never have found the place on our own. The road became ever narrower and in worse condition the farther we went. However, it was worth the drive. We experienced a “pachamanca” or a meal cooked using hot stones, similar to a ma’a in Tahiti, the Fijian lova, Maori hangi or Samoan umu. Typical of traditional Peruvian food, there were lots of potatoes and corn. We were the only people there which was a shame - the event could have been improved with the inclusion of some music, dancing and story telling - IMHO!