Peru Hop

Recent weather: 75 during the day, 50s at night, desert weather.
Recent reads: Jeremiah, "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff at Work" by Richard Carlson, "Good Men" and "Good in Bed" by Jennifer Weiner.

As a fun way to head to Cusco for Machu Picchu, this past week I was roadtrippin' on Peru Hop, a hop on/hop off bus that takes other travelers like myself from Lima to Cusco with stops and excursions along the way. A great idea and great way for me to meet people on my travels!

Adios, Lima!

Rule #1: No pooping on the bus.

We all hopped on in Lima and said goodbye to this sprawling metropolis before heading a few hours south. We briefly stopped in Chincha at Hacienda San Jose, one of the oldest homes in Peru with a vast underground tunnel system that had been used to illegally transport slaves from other plantations or as far as the port itself.

In the underground tunnels

The hacienda and church

 From there we continued on to Paracas, a small tourist town that seemingly survives and exists solely on its fresh seafood and location to the Ballestas Islands. The Ballestas Islands, A.K.A. The Little Galapagos, are off the coast of Paracas and home to an endangered species of penguins, a few species of sea lions, birds and other mammals. Also, the islands are rich in guano or poo. Guano is great fertilizer and is extracted from the islands every 5-8 years. Believe it or not, years ago guano was one of the most desirable substances in South America, right up there with gold. Peru, Bolivia, and Chile even fought a war over poo, battling over the rights to the Atacama Desert area and its guano rich territory starting in 1842.

I'm on a boat!

Sea lions hanging out...

Reminding me of San Diego!

From Paracas we headed to Huacachina, a desert oasis town. We arrived mid-afternoon, just in time to hike up the biggest sand dune and catch the sunset.

Walking up for the sunset.  Where am I right now???

Enjoying the view and good company with a brew.

The next day we took dune buggies out to the desert, our driver grinning sadistically as he whipped down steep sand dunes and we flew airborne over other dunes. Once in the desert, completely surrounded by sand for as far as you can we see, we sandboarded down a few dunes. One of my favorite afternoons of my whole trip!

Our next stop was Arequipa, named the white city for its beautiful white-washed Spanish architecture. I went on a two-day trek to Colca Canyon, the second deepest canyon in the world, located a couple of hours outside (and up!) of Arequipa. The expansive landscape views of the canyon were breathtakingly, both overwhelming and serene all at once. Another highlight of the Canyon was the condor zone, a corner of a cliff where condors nest and circle about overhead.

The next day was our final leg, a 12 hour bus ride to Cusco. The past week has been jam-packed with fun and interesting activities but I spent far too much time on a bus. Looking forward to a tough, outdoor hike to Machu Picchu in the next couple of days!