Pisco & Ballestas Islands - March 2012

The beauty of travelling with a tour group (Intrepid) is that you can just sit back, relax, and let awesome things happen all around you while barely lifting a finger. No organisation, no booking buses, hostels, reading guide books, struggling with language barriers, hell I barelly even know where we’re headed half the time! Plus, Intrepid already know the best things to do, especially when it comes to breaking up long bus trips. That’s what Pisco & The Ballestas Islands were I think, a good way to break up a loooooong trip to Nazca.

Pisco is (arguably) where the alcoholic beverage, Pisco, was created. The first pic above is of the cocktail “Pisco sour” and often comes free before meals, or maybe that was just another Intrepid perk. Either way, it tastes pretty good. We didn’t do anything in Pisco, except sleep, but the following day we went on a scenic boat tour of the Ballestas Islands in Paracas National Reserve.

Apparantly referred to as the ‘Galapagos of Peru’ the islands are a haven for wildlife, and we were lucky enough to get to see pelicans, red-footed boobies, sea lions and penguins.

 It was a really special trip, and just one of those times I have to pinch myself to beleive what I’m doing, and where I am. I just asked Rory what else I could possible say about the Islands and he replied “Teaming with life” haha a regular David Attenborough….