💎 Hidden gems remaining: 5
Paracas is one of those cities that look like they are still being built and collapsing at the same time. Only one road is tarmack, everything else looks like a sandstorm hit it just yesterday. Despite that, Paracas is a lovely small city built at the edge of Paracas National Reserve and on top of historic Paracas culture.
Located just by the sea and surrounded with desert it really is a special place. It is especially special if you love dogs. Though I think stray dogs are not loved by many. And there are a lot of them ... everywhere. On second thoughts, every single place has at least one.
More than a hundred kilometres away from the famous Nazca Lines, a mysterious geoglyph in the shape of a cactus spreads the face of a sand dune. There are numerous hypotheses about its origin, some of which are borerline stupid (muy loco!)
Hot springs
Trio Adijo
There's an island peaking through the ocean, full of wildlife. Sea wolves love lying in the warmth of the sun. Shining red crabs drabble in-between. Guayanos are ubiquitous. They are responsible for the colour of the island: shiningly white guano in unlimited quantities. This exact guano boosted the Peruvian economy: sold as a fertiliser, it grossed 2.5 billion dollars worldwide.
If you are lucky, you can see cute little penguins swinging around, practising strict monogamy: should their partner decease, they stay alone for the rest of their lives. Furthermore, some endangeroused species love it here.
The looks may be pretty, but the scent of the guano is so intense it becomes unbearable unless there's a breeze.
Penguins
Dripping guano
Sea wolves
Now we know why some boats have two motors. Actually, it is not redundancy as you might think. The real reason is speed.
On our way back, one of the machines broke down. We were able to continue the journey, but we were slow like snails. To mitigate that, the driver decided to become an one-man repair crew and started repairing the motor while the other one was running. A dozen minutes later, we were back at full speed!
I have never seen a boat engine without the cover in my whole life!
all the way to the narional reserve park. We stayed true to ourselves and did not overpay for a taxi to a 6.5 km dislocated archeological museum. Soon we found out why nobody was stupid enough to attempt this feat on their own. Luckily, about a third of our journey was spared by a hospitable local Mike who offered us a lift right to the entrance of the reserve. But not the conventional entrance, but rather the "back door". We were able to enter it without paying the admission fee (already paid it in the morning though). From there we stomped towards the museum along a windy road. In all the possible meanings of the word windy. Previous plan of obtaining stunning shots with a drone turned to dust instantly. We did frame some epic pictures with the camera, however.
El Museo de Sitio Julio César Tello de Paracas has one of the most awesome staff. Like the rest of the Paracas, the museum is new and old at the same time. Julio César Tello was one of the first explorers of this area, colonised by multiple cultures during different eras.
The staff wanted to take a selfie with us. They were enthusiastic and even learnt some Slovenian words!
We need to zoom-in to see flamingoes!
A picture is worth a thousand of words. To protect the nature, it is forbidden to go way off the beaten track. Do not touch the sand!
My hat loos like a Pirate Hat.
It blows really strongly!
Trying to walk straight. Beware, the car is approaching!!!!!
Another promenade, I know. Unlike in Lima, where it is calm and relaxing to walk along, here there is no escaping the numerous screams from various vendors and camareros. Prepare your No, gracias (No, thank you) and continue, while enjoying the breeze on your sun-burned skin.
Some parks are covered with sand. Not this one!
Cheese rolls (taste like fried cheese) and a good soup
Pescado bonito (white tuna)
There is a sea of restaurants next to the sea. But they are all touristy. Instead, we took the paths less travelled by and reached local restaurants. One of them had green tables and big portions (Marko had a tasty bisték). The other one was next to a local shop (tienda). We ordered Coca-Cola as a drink. The waiter nodded ... and then he went to his neighbour, bought Coca-Cola and brought it to our table. Apparently we ordered something that wasn't on the menu ... again 😅
