I will get to our stay in Paracas, but it’s worth mentioning our bus ride over with Cruz Del Sur. I’m not typically a fan of buses but they’re the best way to get around South America and they’ll take you anywhere. We got on expecting the standard UK style bus thinking this may be a long 4 hours. We couldn’t have been more wrong – complimentary food and drink, an entertainment system (okay it was all in Spanish but a nice touch) and a leather reclining seat to challenge Showcase Cinema Reading. I had the best sleep since we arrived in Peru and didn’t want to get off. Would definitely recommend Cruz Del Sur for anyone planning a trip here!

Right, enough about fancy buses! We made it to Paracas, but without any wifi to cling onto, finding our nights stay at Kokopelli Hostel may have been difficult. Thankfully, Paracas is a tiny seaside town so I asked for directions from a local tour guide and we were quickly heading in the right direction. Kokopelli was awesome and a definite upgrade from Lima House. They had a pool, free kayaks to use, a decent bar and lots of people! We met some Canadians, Logan and Avery, amongst others, who’d just spent a few months doing volunteer work in Guyana and spent the evening chatting about the regular stuff:

How long are you here? Where are you going? Where have you been?

The next morning we had a early start for a boat trip out to the Ballestas Islands – a wildlife reserve just off the coast that’s host to Penguins, Sea Lions, and what feels like millions of sea birds. A couple of the girls on the boat have booked the same pass as us across South America so we may bump into them again.

Back on dry land and we had a little time before the next activity – a bus tour through the Paracas National Reserve – as you can see from the pic below the landscape here is pretty amazing – it would be a great place to fake a Mars landing whenever that comes around.

Final stop was lunch at Playa Lagunillas where, after snacking on salted corn, I tried some of the Chifa cuisine – a Peruvian/Chinese fusion that’s more common here than I would expect. Jamie went for Ceviche, Peru’s national dish. This is fresh raw fish which has been cured with citrus juices rather than cooked. He wasn’t keen (too lemony). I tried a little and didn’t mind it.

Went went back to Kokopelli to grab our bags and had a drink with Christina, a German girl we’d met earlier on the bus tour, before jumping on the bus to Ica.