BootsnAll Travel Network



Archive for July, 2005

« Home

Sea life

Thursday, July 28th, 2005

28 Jul, 2005

Having spent a few months inland, it was great to be at the coast. No beaches to speak of here, and no beach weather at the moment, but the trip to Islas Ballestas was a nice way to make us feel like we were back at the sea. Sea lions and a few score thousand guana producing birds, all competing for limited space on some rocks an hour or so from the coast. Oh, and great seafood, too.

Sea lions

An oasis

Wednesday, July 27th, 2005

24 Jul – 27 Jul, 2005

Huacachina is an oasis, 4 km from Ica. Nothing but sand. And all of a sudden, in a depression, a lake surrounded by palms (OK, and some hotels and restaurants, now). Metres from the lake shore, the green just stops.

Huacachina

And what do you do with so much sand? Buggies! Insane, and a hell of a lot of fun. Oh, and sand boarding. Not quite as insane, but just as much of a ball. Although, to do boarding without the buggy would be a lot of work. Climbing soft sand dunes takes a lot out of you. Where are the chair lifts?

Sandboarding
Lot more friction than snow. This is both a plus and a minus to novices…

Huacachina
Taking a break.

We did have a small earth tremor over breakfast, one morning. The lady at the café just kept going about her business, oblivious to the fact that the ground felt like it had small waves flowing through it. A pot plant inside flapped about in sync with the ground, and the tremor seemed to last for almost a minute, but probably it was much less.

A day trip to nearby Ica had us spending some time in one of the best museums in this part of the world. The rest of the day was in the plonk. Great wineries, and despite the local specialty being Pisco, we did end up with a bottle of white.

Skulls
Trepanned skulls, Ica museum.

Alien piccies in Nazca

Sunday, July 24th, 2005
23 Jul - 24 Jul, 2005 Alien piccies in Nazca. Aliens. Yes, we laughed too. The Nazca lines need no alien explanation for how they were created. The question might be why, but certainly the cultures of ... [Continue reading this entry]

A little bit of deja vu…

Friday, July 22nd, 2005
19 Jul - 22 Jul, 2005 Adamly!!! (In reality, Adam Lee.) How long's it been? 7 years! Vietnam, it was. Sapa, and Dien Bien Phu. Long time, no see, man. Want to join us ... [Continue reading this entry]

Canyons and Condors and Colonial Stuff

Tuesday, July 19th, 2005
16 Jul - 19 Jul, 2005 Arequipa. On the map, it looks like we are getting to the coast. But, it's still 2300metres. Getting lower, but still a long way up. Arequipa. Home of Juanita, "The Ice Princess". ... [Continue reading this entry]

Lakes and islands, bones and towers, and a phallus or two

Friday, July 15th, 2005
6 Jul - 15 Jul, 2005 We found ourselves in and around Lake Titicaca for some time. A day trip to Lampa had us in the presence of bones dragged up from the catacombs below and decorating the walls of an aristocratic ... [Continue reading this entry]

Our Inca Trail – Choque Quirao

Sunday, July 3rd, 2005
28 Jun - 3 Jul, 2005 Maybe we would have done the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu if it had been possible to get in (booked out for months in advance), but to be honest, Jo was more enthusiastic than I ... [Continue reading this entry]