June 10th - Paracas

Hola a todos,

Today I checked out of my place in Lima, and went in search of the sun, down the coast. There's an interesting weather situation in Lima - due to its location, with ocean to the west and mountains to the east and jungle east of those, in the winter it almost never rains there, but instead is constantly socked in with fog and cloud cover. The visibility at ground level isn't bad, but the sky is a smooth and solid grey and the humidity is close to 100% and it's generally a bit cold and gloomy. (Oh, and my hair is huge).

So, I took a 4 hour bus ride down south, and am now staying in Paracas. I had tried to make a reservation on the net, but it didn't work out because I didn't know the word for @ in spanish (turns out it's 'aroba') so they couldn't send me my confirmation by e-mail. Anyway, I went to the hotel anyway, and my taxi driver was asking ¿are you sure you want to stay there? and I said, well I have a reservation. Anyway, it was ridiculous - remote, overpriced and abandoned. So, after I confirmed that they didn't have my reservation, I took the advice of the cab driver and now have a lovely little room with private bath and (theoretical) hot water which is right over an internet place and a tour company and has a view of a playground and the beach. It's perfect.

I just got back from a walk on the beach and a late lunch of ceviche and local white wine (both very yummy), and watching the fishermen bring in the catch of the day while pelicans swooped around trying to get their share. It's really nice here, and I'm so much better in a small village than in a big city.

I have reservations for tomorrow to see the Islas Ballestas and the Reserva de Paracas, so I'm really excited. The Islas are 'Peru's Galapagos', and are supposed to have a lot of interesting wildlife and birds. The reserve has a really amazing archaeological site (the Paracas Necropolis), a museum, and more wildlife. For all of $20, I have a tour of it all. Not bad, eh?

Hasta la proxima vez,

Karen