Peru 2012, Day 03 Morning

By travelerdon on May 22, 2021

Friday, March 30, 2012

Today we awake to a beautiful morning and we walk down to the boat docks for our next adventure. We board the “Candelabro II” for a trip to the “Ballestas Islands”, nicknamed the “Galapagos of Peru”. The boat holds approximately 30 people and we are in rows of seats with a middle aisle. Our first sights are of the parked fishing boats and a pod of dolphins.

Then we come along our first ancient relic, the “Candelabra”, a carving in a desert hillside speculated to be a navigational tool for mariners.

As we continue out to sea, we get glimpses of flocks of migrating birds, even a Yellow Albatross. We arrive at the Ballestas Islands and enjoy sights of many sea caves and tunnels and the islands are topped with flocks of Cormorants, Albatross and many other birds.

Coming across evidence of humans, our guide explains that the bird and animal Guano is flammable and used to be mined from the islands to be used as fuel. At one point, we even see a couple workers doing something on the ship dock but we never find out what.

We find a group of Boobies (the bird kind, LOL), Seals sunning themselves, a Booby in flight, Inka Turns with their magnificent red beaks and feet, more Cormorants, Pelicans in flight and beaches full of Seals before we arrive back to the docks in Paracas.

Back on dry land and it isn’t even lunchtime. We let our cameras capture a few more tidbits including a man preparing food, a delivery vehicle and the front of Portada El Sol Restaurant. Then we take a short ride to the bus station which doesn’t look like any bus station we have ever seen. It is no more than a large shade cover. Inside, my camera spots and old box of chocolate candy, a name by Nestle that must be made for South America only.