Pacific Scary Heights

On the way to Puerto Inka we stopped off to see the devastation left behind in Tsunami that hit this coast in June 2001. This was the first time we had seen the Pacific Ocean and in true Scottish style I went in up to my ankles....it was freezing!!Brrrr!!.

On arriving in Puerto Inka we were to camp on the beach that night and as it was so grey no-one took the offer of going in for a swim. The Inca´s used to get all their fish from this area and would have relay teams seperated 15Km apart all the way to Cuzco so that the fish would get there in less than 24 hours. The sea looked really rough but apart from the grey sky it was a beautiful setting for the night. Some of the guys had a game of football while the others made dinner or like me just lazed about on the beach listening to the ocean swirling around.

After another delightful dinner of fish we sat around the campfire toasting marshmallows (reminded me of the Lake District) and Tubbsy entertained us on his guitar with his exhaustive repertoire until the sun came up the following morning. Most of us didn't bother drinking due to the excesses of the night before. The next day we didn't have such an early start and I waded into my knees again before having my shower. We also had a cooked breakfast courtesy of our tour leaders.


We had a short drive to see Chauchilla Cemetry where there were more mummies and were found due to the grave robbers digging them up. Quite a few of them had most of their hair due to the arid conditions of the desert....now it's time for another Kateism. Wandering around the site she quipped `It's not as if they are really dead' whilst looking at a bunch of the skeletons. We also forgot about her story of trying to increase her alcohol tolerance level before going on her trip by having a tablespoonful of Baileys every night. Kate frequently got drunk on one glass of wine and was also caught with another of the group buying non-alcoholic cocktails and trying to pass these off as real!!

Then we headed out to the Nazca Lines. Our flight was to be in a 6 seater cessna (including the pilot) and we were first up with Dawn, Mark & Kate. Kate was petrified of flying so being the brave me I opted to sit in the back seat with her (big mistake on Kate's part). Chris was in the front. We got up in the air between 500m and 1000m and everything was fine until we did the first figure of eight - I started to get that feeling of being on a roller coaster and started to feel rough - only 12 more to go I thought!! Two minutes later I had to extract my hand from Kate's and started to throw up (into a bag)....and on the left a monkey (puke) and on the right a condor (puke, puke). Poor Kate was more worried about me and had no option but to look out the window. After getting off the flight I couldn't even cross 2 mins to our campsite. I sat for ages and then it took me at least 3 hours to recover from the ground spinning which meant I couldn't take up the offer of the delightful swimming pool. Needless to say Chris loved every minute of it and would have done it again had he had the chance. Several others in the group also had a rough time but managed to keep their composure unlike me!.


That night we had bangers and mash thanks to Sharpy and his crew and it was delicious. A few of the guys decided to go into town for a drink....Chris went but I stayed and had an Inca Kola (it does taste a bit like Irn Bru honest!) with a few of the others. Chris said that I didn't miss much as the town wasn't that great.

Up early yet again to visit Toby`s ceramic workshop. This guy was a champion cyclist and he had some sense of humour. He showed us how they hand made the ceramics and used oil from their hair and face to polish them. He constantly chuckled throughout his explanations at his own jokes and this made it even more amusing.

There was a problem with Jock (our truck) so we then went to a gold refinery, with another hilarious guide. When explaining how the gold was crushed he kept doing a hip swing thing which had us all in stiches - he did this throughout the talk whether talking about the refining or not. The contraptions, which were a huge rock boulder, were swivelled backwards and forwards by the individual whilst water and mercury were poured over to remove the rock and leave the gold. They didn't look that safe but each person did 5 hours and had a radio to keep them moving in time with the music. Had we been there longer Chris and I would have done several days to help improve our waistlines.

We then headed to Huacachina famous for sand boarding. After the previous days antics both Chris and I declined the offer and sat having a few drinks (including a Pisco Sour) with Helena (who ate the biggest bit of chocolate cake I've ever seen) and Louise. We also wandered down to have a look at the oasis (yes it was a desert we were in). When the guys came back Jonathon was definitely the worse for wear - I don't think there was any part of him not covered in sand (including his eyebrows) ....the group all raved about it and had an excellent time.

That night we stayed in the town of Pisco (this is where the drink got it's name from - they used to ship it from here to Spain) and had a hotel which was sooo comfy. We all went out for a group meal together, the food was nice but in keeping with Peru's custom it took ages for all of us to get our main courses and we were all served at different times.



Another early start (our last for the trip) and we all took the boat out to the Ballestas Islands. We saw dolphins on our way out of the bay (thanks to Chrissie and her lucky dolphin t-shirt). We then headed to the islands where we saw sea birds, sea lions, seals and the last of the remaining penguins. Despite it being a grey day we had a great time and got up really close to see the wildlife. We even managed to get a picture of a star fish and a crab on a rock. There are apparently 42,000 sea lions in the islands. Back on the mainland we stopped at Johnny and Jennifer's restaurant - so we had a mug of coffee whilst thinking of the Lawsons.