Islas Ballestas, Paracas (day 3)

The video pub turned out to be a bust... if there were crickets in Pisco we would have heard them chirping in this place. We headed over to Las Tres Balcones (a tourist trap) for some Pisco sours (not bad) at an exorbitant price of 12 soles each (not good).

Tuesday morning brought us to the Islas Ballestas with Ballestas Expeditions. My suspicions were confirmed that all the tour companies were pretty much the same... we had originally signed on with Zarcilla Tours but it seems they didn't have any English-speaking guides. Several people were shifted around between tour companies. Overall the tour was nothing special, but it is almost impossible to get to the islands without joining one of the tour companies in Pisco. We saw some Humboldt penguins.. these little guys are endangered and are very cute. We also saw a large number of sea lions and Peruvian and red-footed boobies. This guy seemed to enjoy the photo op.

The boats all return to the beach town of Chaco before the tour heads on to the Paracas peninsula. Unlike the Isalas Ballestas, this area can be seen on one's own, so we ditched the tour and hired a taxi to Lagunillas Bay, where we knew there was a great cevicheria. We passed through some of the Paracas desert on the way - I kept expecting to see C3P0 wandering through the dunes...


There are a number of cevicherias in Lagunillas; we went to Tia Fela and had a great ceviche mixto and chupe (cream soup with shrimp). Several colectivos (small passenger vans) make the trip between Pisco and Lagunillas per day, we opted for the 1:30 colectivo and headed back to Pisco.

We grabbed an absolutely terrible frozen pizza from El Catamaran (yet another tourist trap - stay FAR AWAY) and watched some music video DVDs while waiting for our bus to Ayacucho to depart. Classics such as George Harrison's ¨Got My Mind Set On You¨ make me wonder why video killed the radio star...

Overall Opinions:
Isalas Ballestas: 9. Having to ride in a tour boat is a drag, but the wildlife is fascinating. Tour costs s/20 per person.

Lagunillas Bay: 10. arriving before the tour buses is a key factor, you get the place to yourself.

Tia Fela Restaurant: 10. Great setting, great ceviche. Lunch for 2: s/35.
Pisco: 6. Not much to see here, and the town is over-run with tourists booking trips to Paracas and Nasca. Air quality is pretty bad due to diesel fumes.
Hotel La Reserva, Pisco: 7. Clean and adequate mid-price lodging 1 block from Plaza de Armas. Double w/bath: s/50.