Pisco doesn't have to be sour

Islas Ballestas aren't called the poor man's Galapagos for no reason. They are located close to Paracas which is on your way if you're heading from Arequipa to Lima and the cost of a visit is about 20 dollars instead of several hundred. Our day trip to the islands and to the Paracas national reserve was 50 soles (14€) per person. You won't get to bathe with the sea lions but you'll see plenty of them, as well some penguins, dolphins and literally shitloads of birds, in a spectacular landscape of course.

But you won't be the only one taking a tour to there.







Big birds of the harbour don't seem to mind the crowds of tourist though, so why should you.












Safety first. Or I'll push you off the boat.















First exotic animal sighting only two minutes after our boat left the land. The little girl next to me (not referring to Erik) was convinced it was a shark but it could've been a dolphin too.









Old mystery drawings in the sand stone, and bird poo giving nice colour. There's plenty of more where that came from too...












"Excuse me miss, I've started seeing penguins!"




Sea lions don't seem to full of energy. Or well, fat is actually energy. (Have to remember that next time I feel particularly energetic after a big dinner)





Paracas reserve offers some nice views too and since the weather was nice even the bus breaking down a few times wasn't much of a problem. If you're into paleontology, you'll enjoy the about 45 million years old fossils, and bird people will like the flamingos even though you can't get too close to them. Some bastard tourists had decided to take a walk right into the shore to get a closer look at these pink babes four days before we arrived and the scared animals were only starting come back little by little after staying away for three days.









Who needs railings when the drop is only a few metres!












I wanted to get a pic posing on the bit on the right but then I noticed than it isn't really completely attached to the rest of the cliff anymore. A big earthquake in 2007 gave these rocks a bit of a shake and the seven metre high waves did the rinsing afterwards. Not nice.




Swedes like queueing but they haven't got anything on these dudes. That restaurant must be nice...

I had only seen white and black sand beaches on this trip , but I didn't realise there was still something missing: red sand. Matches my hair, I like it.


Here you are! Next ones are kind of special entries, less travel related.