Worrall Travel R's

Worrall Travel R's
Roz and Russ

Worrall Travel R's - Kicking the Bucket List

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

BIRDS! Sea Lions, Humboldt Penguins - AMAZING!





Monday, March 21, 2016 WTRD 73

I don't often use the word amazing because when used too often, it becomes glib.  Perhaps,  I have traveled enough that I have developed an internal rubric for experiences and try to express with other adjectives ways to describe what I see so that I don't overuse a word that truly means to amaze.  But today I was amazed!  







Per our itinerary, early in the morning we were aboard a a large speed boat with 40 passengers heading out to the Ballastra Islands off the coast of the Peruvian desert.  The sea and the wind are calm early in the morning.  

We marveled at the sandy coast line and indigenous art still etched in the stone just under the sand.  The exact age of how long the sculpture has been here is unknown, however it was first observed and recorded by European ships in the early 1800's.



As the desert heats with the rising sun, the hot air lifts and the cold air generated over the cold antarctic Humboldt current in the sea drops and fills the vacuum of the rising desert air, creating strong winds that keep the desert cool and dry during the day.  

Opposite of what is usually expected in a desert (hot in the day, cool at night) when the sun goes down, this desert temperature rises as the surface temperature of sea and land equalize.  The daytime wind ceases, and the warmth that is blown away during the day, sleeps calmly during the night.
We need to leave early, while the water and wind are calm and return by 10:00 am to port or the water becomes too rough. I expect to see birds, sea lions and maybe penguins once we get to the islands, but what was amazing was the volume of birds and sea lions.  

The volume of the Humboldt penguins was small, 


but the volume of other creatures was overwhelming: 10's or 100's of thousands of birds, nesting, and flying overhead like war time planes on a bombing mission.  


Never ending migration of birds

In fact, some of us did get bombed; hundreds and hundreds of seals and hundreds of babies

Only one of numerous colonies

and lucky us about a dozen Humboldt penguins.  
Mamas teaching babies to swim.


Our guide told us there were at least 10 species of birds: pelicans, vultures (2 kinds), boobies, cormorants (2 kinds), and terns 2+ kinds.

Boobies on the Rocks





When we visited Rapa Nui, we learned that the Peruvians enslaved the Rapa Nui for about 20 years to scrape and mine the guano that had accumulated over thousands of years on these islands.  The guano was filled with  nitrates which the Peruvians sold for gun powder and fertilizer.  Mining guano was the primary revenue source of Peru until the late 1800's when the guano supply finally dwindled. Rapa Nui's population had been severely diminished by slavery, starvation on their own island, and disease from Europeans.  The remains of the guano mining still remain.








Today, almost two hundred years of "newly" deposited guano  is an assault to the nose as we pass down wind of the island. i cannot imagine how awful it would have been to be a slave mining this sh@! Several people on the boat became nauseous from the smell and the increased wave action as the sun rose higher in the sky.  



The rocky islands were awash with increasing wave action
Within an hour we had gone from fairly calm seas to 2-3 meter waves thrashing us around like a washing machine in between the small islands.  One wave coming toward us towered over our heads.  Our captain gunned the motor, turned on a diagonal toward the wave and climbed over the top before it crested.  Phew!  Kudos to the captain.  It was time to turn back.

Both leaving and coming back to port, we passed the opposite shore of the bay where a gigantic etching in the sand dune still remains from the indigenous people.  Our guide told us the first recorded mention of this etching was in a ship's log in the 1800's. There were no indigenous people left who could explain the meaning or assign a time frame for when it was etched into the harder rock base beneath a veneer of sand. With less than 20 millimeters of rain a year (less than half a pinkie finger nail), there has been little erosion.  The contrast of blue sky, blue water and desert sands tinted red and black from iron ore has a unique and stark beauty.



Once we were aboard our bus, we continue heading south.  Our first stop is at winery where we learn about the process of fermenting the grapes that produce Pisco, both the Chilean and Peruvian drink.  Of course, tasting the Pisco is the best part of the tour.  The Pisco we taste is anywhere from 12-41% alcohol.  A few of our group by a big bottle to share, and we buy a small bottle of cream Pisco with fig, a very nice after dinner drink.




Our second stop is at a desert Oasis.  Surrounded by sand dunes, there springs a sweet water lagoon.  It is a tourist attraction, and in every sense of the word, it is an oasis in the desert.  





We stop long enough to buy lunch on the fly to eat while walking around or taking away to the bus to eat on our way to Nazca area where huge mysterious drawings, similar to the one we saw earlier today, rest in the desert flats.  Russ and I plan to  take a plane ride over the area to  get a better look at the drawings. 




Late afternoon;
After a long, twisted ride along the coast then across mountains eastward, we arrive in Nasca late in the day.  It is windy and hazy from the blowing dust.  The sun might be at a good angle for shadow contrast on the drawings, but they will be difficult to photograph in these conditions.  We board a small six person plane, the men up front the women in the back (for weight balance), and I get stuck in the back seat with a small, crackled smudgy window from which to look out.  Long story short, this was one of the most disappointing air flights we've taken.  The setting sun created a a crackled glare, the window so small I could barely see.





What we should have seen, were line drawings of birds and animals hundreds of yards long.  Many of them so big that we could only get a glimpse of a partial figure.  I think had our altitude in the plane been higher, the entire figures would have been easier to see, but the haze and glare from the sun would have obscured them anyway.  I have yet to edit the photos, so I really don't know what I snapped.  One of our group is taking a private flight in the morning, she has promised to share some of her photos.  If I post any here, they will most likely not be ours.





These drawings are a bit a of a mystery as they are etched on flat land and the only way to properly see them is from a bird's eye view, leading some to speculate that alien beings created them to see from their space craft. There is even one drawing, that I think Russ actually did get a photo of, called the astronaut.


My personal theory, is that since birds and fish are abundant and migrate over the barren land, the indigenous people living along the sparse water lines in the desert may have thought they were magical creatures that lived in the air and attributed some religious beliefs to these birds as god like and with powers of fllght, abundance, and the ability to "watch over" and possibly protect them.  In response to these beliefs, they may have been trying to communicate with or appease or glorify these creatures.  Anyway, I think it is a more likely scenario than alien spacecraft.


Spaceman - Astronaut


Hummingbi












After our air flight we took a small van out to our hotel.  We turned off the main road in the middle of nowhere on to dirt road that looked like it also was going nowhere.  Were we being abducted? The road was dusty, littered with trash.   Shanty shacks and shabby buiidings dotted the road.  





Ten minutes down this road and we follow a shabby wall making one last turn and coming to where the wall meets a large green gate. 



The gate opens, the van pulls in and we find ourselves in vast hacienda-like complex with lawns, swimming pool, peacocks, orchards, outdoor living areas, indoor living areas, covered walkways.  It is the nicest hotel we've been in for a while.  It would be a great place for wedding or reunion venue.  Wow!  A gem in the desert.  Unfortunately, we arrive at 6:00 and are leaving at 6:30 for necessity shopping (snacks, atm, etc.) for our 10 hour bus ride to Arequipa.









Then we go to dinner.    By now it is dark.  There is a full moon.  Once again we are on a dirt t road going somewhere, but where is only known by the guide.  Initially, the bus driver passed the road and had to back up to find it.  How do these tour companies find so many off-the-beaten track attractions.  Of course, this is one of the reasons we keep booking with Peregrin and Intrepid tours.  We like the path less taken.  

We come to a another well maintained establishment where the local family has prepared a special meal called a pacha manca (Mother earth pot),  It is a hybrid traditional Andes celebration of food, cooked in a pit with embers and hot rocks, then covered with desert dirt.  Peter and Dainne in our group are selected to be the "god parents".  They scatter Coca leaves over the dusty pit (locals read the scattered leaves like tea leaves).  


Our guide tells us the signs are propitious.  Then the couple pours wine over the pit in thanks and with a shovel takes the first two ceremonial shovels full of dirt off the mound.








The family uncovers the mound.  Leaves and vegetable matter separate the layers of vegetables and meats that have been slow cooked all day. We feast on melted corn husk covered cheese, beef ribs, chicken, corn, sweet potatoes, and broad beans.  There are marinated onions, and both mild and hot sauces to use on the food.  We drink beer and enjoy the meal and our surroundings, returning to our hotel around 10:00.  We are exhausted.  It has been a busy day.  The internet is not working, so this post will go out tomorrow.

We shower, wash some clothes, and go to bed despite our desire to try out the swimming pool.  We are out of here at 8:00.  Too bad, I could stay here a couple of days as long as I didn't need to leave the property.

All is Well With the Worrall Travel R's in Nasca, Peru.



Sunday, March 20, 2016

Off to Paracas National Reserve






Sunday, March 20, 2016 WTRD  (Spring Equinox in Northern Hemisphere, Fall Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere)

Today is the first day of fall here in Peru.  It still feels like summer.

Up at 6:00 am, we did a bit more packing adjustment as we will only take the small bags with us for the next 14 days, and leave the larger duffle at this hotel as we will return here before flying to Quito.  We take a few extra travel medications, packs of coffee and tea, make sure we have some warm clothing for the high elevations, cool weather clothing for the lower elevations.

By 8:30 we are on the bus, a beautiful 30 person bus for the ten of us...everyone gets a window seat and lots of room to spread out.  We are on our way out of Miraflores District of the Lima Region of Peru.

Each district in a region governs itself.  This one is rich and the environment reflects the money it collects from tourists and residents.  Nice malecon, luxury apartments, green landscaping, police security.  We see the changes as we travel from one district to another and away from the beach and inland just a little bit.  















The sea attracts money, the dust and dirt attract all of those poor folks who have little or nothing.  They can get the dust and dirt cheaply and can build a shanty, but there is no water, electricity, plumbing, or roads.  Just a piece of dust and a place to call their own.  It looks and feels like Tijuana and perhaps a few steps below.  Dismal.



The contrast and income disparity is stark.  Even in the gated communities of more wealth, the next door neighbors live in the dust with no plumbing or water.  I am glued to the windows of our air conditioned bus photographing the contrasts.

Our first pit stop around 10:30 is a convenience store still in the Lima Region.  The Ruta 97 store in the middle of the desert, rivals the best convenience stores at home.  We buy some sodas, Planters peanuts, Diamond almonds, and bags of M and M's to make a trail mix For 42 sols, about 11 USD.  Then we are on the road again heading south. A gated beach house community is advertising houses for $59,000.

There is a subtle change in the composition of the dust.  It appears to have more sand. A house here is advertised for $28,000.  One wonders if it has any plumbing or water.  There doesn't seem to be any building codes.  

We descend slightly into a valley.  Immediately we begin to see a little more green.  They must get more rain or have access to aquifers.  There are crops and banana trees.  Between lush green belts we are  once again in vast stretches of desert, small little houses on squares of land that are being constructed from blocks and bricks by the government.  Apparently there are no takers.




Just add a thatch roof!  Why on earth would anyone want to live here?  There is no water, no greenery, and no obvious signs of employment anywhere.  Ten kilometers further down the road we see gas/oil refinery and a dust grey block house city.  Many of the houses, if not most are vacant.  I think the government thought this would be a good place to house the homeless.  Testimony to the intelligence of poor people, the houses are vacant and decaying in the dust.

Politicians take advantage of the walls and buildings of these ghost cities to paint campaign slogans.  Vote for So and So for Security and Opportunity.
Ha!  On the outskirts of a green belt we see miles and miles of long thatched roofed chicken farms.  Many look vacant, but many are crowded with chickens in cages.  Roast chicken is Peruvian dish.  Poor chickens.  They are better dead than living here.

A new freeway interchange is being built and we detour around a few construction sites.  The interchange is built above a green belt where we spy standing ground water.  About 11:30 we finally leave the Lima region and enter the city of Chincha and the Chincha region known for pisco (stilled wine), vineyards, and wines. 

Chincha is not the Napa Valley.  It is a poor agricultural city.  It is known as the black city where many African slave descendants live.  The specialty menu in this town is cat.  I am glad we are not stopping for lunch yet.

We move slowly through heavy traffic on the two lane Ruta 97 through the town.Known as Tuk Tuks in Thailand, the non-licensed, three wheeled taxies are called motobikes here and they squeeze in and out traffic.  



How do you wash a car with little to no water?



There are many of them and it is cheap and possibly dangerous transportation for the locals.  A trip all around the fair sized town of Chincha costs about 2 sols, less than $1.00.









After passing through Chincha and Pisco, we arrive in a desolate desert seaside area of Paracas, 16 degrees south latitude of the equator.






We are in the northern edge of the driest non-polar tropic desert in the world, the Atacama.  The Atacama's central area is in northern Chile and extends into Peru. Our guide Luis with extensive knowledge and a good sense of humor explains this phenomenon, and turns a very "dry" topic into one of extreme interest.



Rock Salted Road Bed




In this nature preserve, fossils over 300 million years old have been found.  We saw some of an ancient seabed, 30 million years old.  Human remains of the Ica have been dated 6500 years BC.  The only living creatures we see are the sea birds that live right on the ocean front.  We saw nothing growing nor evidence of any critters in this barren place.

Tomorrow, we rise early and take a boat offshore to an island that is considered to be a mini Galapagos where we might even spot a penguin...yes a penguin.   This is a part of the phenomenon of Paracas and the cold antarctic Humboldt current that pushes north up the coast creating a penguin waterway.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel R's in Paracas, Peru





Goodbye Chile, Hello Peru




Friday and Saturday, March 18-19, 2016 WTRD 70-71

Our AirBnB Host Bernie took us to the airport yesterday morning.  We bid each other fond farewells, said goodbye to Chile, and made our way to the plane that would take us to Peru.  We are splurging and flying economy premium.  What a treat to eat off real tableware and have room to spread out.

We arrived in Peru around 11:00 am in the morning.  We gained 2 hours flying west. As we approached the airfield, we saw no green fields or obvious agriculture.  The region looks like Baja California, dusty and dry.  The land is filled with industrial buildings.  The sea lines the west coast.  Many of the wave crests are brown foam.  A heavy smog hangs over the city.

Since we are joining a tour group at this point for the remainder of our travels in South America, a transfer had been arranged for us, and as we left customs we spotted our names amongst the fifty different transfer carriers brandishing signs with people's names on them. Our driver speaks no English, but he tries to convey to us when we arrive in the Miraflores district that we will be safe here, which translates to me that the other dusty, shabby, graffiti filled streets we drove through to get here most likely are not safe.




I have developed a head cold and am happy to be able to check into our room and vegetate the rest of the day.  Once again we did some reorganizing of our luggage.  We will be returning here after our 14 day tour so we are consolidating into two our two small bags what will need thinking we can leave the bigger bag now filled with souvenirs and extra gear here and not pack it around.  Russ went out for a short walk while I worked on photo editing. We ate dinner at the hotel restaurant and retired early.  Tomorrow we meet up with our Peregrine Tour group.

Saturday, March 19, 2016, WTRD 71

Handy Crafts of Peru



Colorful Textiles

Peruvian Boots

ART


Silver Jewelry


This morning, we ate breakfast in the hotel dining room and went for a walk that took us to the Inca, Indian, and Peruvian craft markets.  Of all the markets we have visited, these markets are the best.  They are loaded with products made in Peru from Alpaca and baby Alpaca wool, brightly colored sweaters, hats, dresses, scarves, bags, pillow covers, ponchos, capes, and silver jewelry.  

Yes, we did purchase a few items.  Now we need to figure out where to stuff them..We stopped for a pizza and beer before we returning to our hotel where we met up with our tour group at 2:00.  The head cold, the beer, and the warm afternoon make it difficult for me to concentrate.  I think I need a nap.
Pizza Parlor, Old Records for Placemats.
There are nine of us, maybe ten, in our group if another person shows up.  Our tour leader is Renaldi - Remy.  He plans to take us out for a walk after the orientation.  Hmmm.  I still think I will take a nap.  Russ is the designated photographer, while I hang back to rest in our air conditioned room.

Russ returns around 6:00 pm with a few photos and lots of sweat.



He takes a shower and we join up with our group: Peter and Diane, Lorraine and Gary, Jan, Anna, and Peter are all from Australia. Margarite is from New Foundland.  Peter and Dianne are the only ones who will continue on with us to the Galapagos.  Lorraine and Gary, just came from the Galapagos.

We walk downtown to a restaurant Russ and I had passed by earlier in the day while we hunted for a geocache..  Russ goes inside and retrieves the cache from the bartender.  Interesting?  We pick up a new travel bug who is on a race for the most miles and the most caches between January 2, 2016 and January 2, 2017.  We think we can help Gregor along on his race.

Our group gets to know each other a little better over dinner while we share wine and stories.  Tomorrow, we will leave at 8:30 on day 2 of our Peregrine Itinerary.

All is Well with the Worrall Travel R's in Lima Peru