I’m In Peru How Aboot You?

We are tied up at the dock in Pisco Peru. There doesn’t appear to be much here. Arad mountains of sand and a city of less than 200,000 are spread out around the bay.

Long before the Spaniards concurred the Incas, and brought the grapes used to make the brandy Pisco the Nazca lived here along the coast from 200 bc until 800 ad.

The Nazca are the people that made the huge drawings in the desert whose purpose remain a mystery today. Our visit only allowed us to see just one of the drawings, the Candelabra…

 

The dry climate has preserved this and the other drawings. The entire 170 square miles of the drawings are part of UNESCO world heritage site.

Seeing the Candelabra was really a unexpected treat as we were on our way to the Isla Ballista’s a marine wildlife sanctuary, and it just happened to be on the way.

The Islands are referred to as the Galapagos of Peru.

Anchovies are what sustain the humans and wildlife. Only locals are allowed to fish, and only allowed to fish by hand.

The islands are a rookery for millions of birds including the endangered Humboldt Penguins.

This is the season for the sea lions to give birth, and thousands of them are hauled out on the beaches.

 

On the island is some housing for park rangers, and the seasonal people that come out to harvest the guano.

This is the most wildlife I have seen anywhere here in South America. It is reassuring to see that the ocean is alive here…

Peruvian Boobie