We started out from Pisco to Panacas, taking a speedboat from there to get to the Panacas Peninsula and the Ballesta Islands. On the peninsula we got a first impression of the drawings of pre-Inka civilisations and on the Ballesta Islands, also called the small Galapagos Island we got to see a variety of different animals. From sea lions, over penguins and cormorans, to vultures we saw lot … and this is only a selection. After that we drove down the Panamericana (highway) towards Ica and Huacachina. The latter one being an oasis in the middle of the highest sand dunes in the world. And what do you do on the highest sand dunes in the world? Right … take a buggy up and a sand board down ;)
Going further on the Panamericana we reaches the Nasca Lines, massive drawings/scrapings made on the ground, some reaching a size of a couple hundred meters. Which makes them the largest in the world. Scientists still struggle for the exact purpose of the drawing … reaching from alien stories, over astronomical calendars to worship of gods. The latter one being the most likely one though.
All this is in the middle of the driest deserts in the world, with only about five minutes of rain per year.

We started out the day with a visit to the promenades and parks on the seaside of the Pacific Ocean. Some parts were secured by guards every 50 meters or so … very secure!?
After that we went on one of the public overland coaches to Pisco. Driving mainly through sesert-like landscapes and seeing a lot of very poor people along the streets. In the bus itself our guide tried to entertain us with “P.S. I love you” (hmm) and the guys running the thing checked our tickets five times in less than four hours (another hmm).
Arriving in Pisco the bus didn’t even make into town, since the road there was hardly usable at all. So we got some smaller local transport that brought us into the city that has been complete destroyed by an earthquake about two years ago. Sadly enough most of it still looked like it has been last week. Only two three hotels, some rich men´s houses and the seven banks on the main square were restored. Makes you think of the luxury you have in your life …

After our pleasant 15 hours of flying and 26 hours without sleep we finally arrived in Lima, capital of Peru. Having a good night of sleep we started our day by going from Miraflores (district we are living in) to the centre of the city, using VERY special local mini-busses. These things are speeding through the streets like crazy … In the afternoon we met our G.A.P. guide and the other member of our group (yes the group has only three members).
Tomorrow we will see a bit more of the city and head towards Pisco, a city by the sea in the south of Lima.

… into our holidays! Well … it starts off with roughly 15 hours in different planes. Going from Berlin, to Frankfurt, to Caracas and finally to Lima, Peru. But after that, three weeks of … hmm!
The figure shown roughly which way we are going …
We’ll see how many Internet-Cafés there are and how much time we want to spend in them to keep this blog updated ;)