Land of the Incas
Day Ten – October 8 – 9, 2011
Weather: Sunny, very warm
The hotel must know I was working on a night of lost sleep. The wakeup call was ten minutes early again. I put my alarm away and 20 minutes later, my luggage started to beep.
Don’t you just hate that?
Even more when you’re at the airport explaining why your luggage is beeping.
The breakfast buffet was much better given the sanity of the hour. We had to pick out our luggage and show it to the porters so that we could be assured that our luggage was loaded.
Then it was off for Paracas again. The drive took about an hour and we pulled up to the Ballesta Island tour pier just before our 8 am departure time. We had time to hit the washroom as the boat is open and the only way you can “go” would be over the edge.
Which would be easy for some. Not so easy for others.
When I finished, I wandered out and was greeted by puppies.
Cute factor. *zing*
The boat carried about 50 people. We were joined by a family with about 6 screaming kids.
Well, only one was screaming. Sounded like 6.
We put on our life jackets and were off. The sun was out, the wind was low. Beautiful day!
It takes about 30 minutes to reach the islands. Half way there, the boat slowed along some cliffs along the edge of the Paracas peninsula and we could see some pelicans.
Then above it, the Candelabra came into view. It’s not one of the Nazca Lines. Pottery in the area was carbon dated to 200 BCE and unlike the Nazca Lines, it can be seen from the ground. It was called the Candelabra of the Andes because it looks like a candlestick, but some think it was a trident. It can be seen 12 miles out to sea.
Impressive.
Then the boat sped up and we passed an island with a fog around the tops of the mountains. They said it was a pirate area.
Oh, yeah. Lets go in the other direction, please.
We kept going towards the islands in the distance and as we got closer, we could see huge tunnels and caves.
And millions of birds.
Yes. Millions.
Apparently it’s the largest single location of seabirds in the world.
The sky is full of pelicans and Peruvian boobies flying in formation.
More than 150 species of marine birds are in the area including pelicans, humbolt penquins, boobies and cormorants.
Even condors visit the area as well as hundreds of sea lions. The boat could get very close to the shore.
The boat did a slow troll around the islands so that I could snap almost 300 pictures including a minute long video of three seals having a disagreement.
One island was black on one side and light on the other.
The black was nothing but birds.
Yup. Millions.
On the far side of that island we saw people on top of the cliffs and hundreds of bags. They were scrapping up bird do-do for fertilizer.
They waved at us.
After about an hour trolling around the islands, the boat started back but hesitated near a massive area of birds sitting in the water with others coming in for a landing. Seals and penquins were bobbing in the water as well.
Back on shore, I went looking for the puppies to add to the 300 pictures I had taken.
Then it was off for Lima.
First it was lunch. We pulled into a roadside restaurant and had tables reserved for us. Cesar had circulated a list of choices for lunch. I went for the soup and beef tenderloin.
What a meal. The soup had a chunk of roast beef in it, with some gigantic corn and other vegetables. Only in Peru will you need a fork and knife to finish your soup. The beef tenderloin was chunks in onions with French fries.
Do the Peruvians know how to do beef?
Do they ever. Tender, juicy and full of flavour. Absoluely delicious. Not a single meal has disappointed on this tour.
I didn’t like the ice cream for dessert. It’s made from a local fruit that I don’t like. No problem. I got an Inca Kola from the gas station next door.
Then it was off for our last shopping stop. It’s a shop run by Japanese Peruvians.
Yes. You heard that right.
We pull down this dusty road up to a wall with two garage sized doors. The bus honks its horn and two Japanese men open the big doors. The bus pulls in and Cesar leads us into the shop.
A little oasis in the middle of a desert. It had a bit of everything with good prices and authentic alpaca products. I got a couple of scarfs, leather bookmarks, t-shirts, fridge magnets and two big chocolate bars for my cat-sitters.
Only $150 in the end.
Oh, and another Inca Kola.
It was 3 pm by the time we left the store and it was an hour and a half to Lima. En route, Cesar pointed out the gas station where we had broken down. He told me after that he had met up with the driver of the bus that had broken down and that he had driven the hour and a half to the depot with no problem. Not that we were willing to try given that there is so much empty desert after that spot, but it was good to know the driver got back no problem.
And Cesar also reported that his bag was recovered at the airport. He got a call from the security who found it in the parking lot and they said the papers were inside. Cesar guessed the thief checked the bag, found only paperwork and turfed it. Guess he was figuring he was grabbing one of our bags with money and camera etc.
Joke’s on you, ^$&^#%$*.
I gave Cesar his tip en route. He had asked that we say “farewell” before the hotel as thieves tend to watch and if they see us giving him the tips, it makes us and him a target. I gave him extra given that I know a certain one or two are going to stiff him.
Overall, the three primary guides on this tour were exceptional. Cesar is not as outgoing as Luis or Rosaria, but he got us where we needed to go, gave us all the information we needed when we needed it and was very helpful. In one case, one tourmate tripped and gashed his knee. Cesar had a wheelchair waiting for him at the next stop and had a doctor ready to give him stitches (the most medical attention he had gotten for $20, he told us later). Cesar also arranged to have the dressings changed en route a couple times. He was an incredibly patient man.
On arrival, he gave us our room keys and we were off. My transfer was at 8:15 so I had a few hours to spare. I went up to the Indian Markets 5 minutes up the street to get a few more things.
I got back at 6 and packed everything then took my luggage down and left it with the front desk while I attended the farewell dinner. Cesar couldn’t attend since he was doing one of the transfers at 3 am. With only an hour, I had to eat and run. The potato soup was exceptional, but the risotto was so spicy (unusual here) that I couldn’t handle a second bite. Milk mousse for dessert was delicious.
Then I joined the six others leaving with this transfer. Best part is that this company doesn’t just send a taxi to pick us up or drop us off. It sends a guide with a vehicle. So, no drive down a dark, rainy road at 160 kph for me. (See my Russia tale for that story).
In fact, I got the same guide that had picked me up. She got us to the airport and arranged porters for us at their cost. Inside, my porter brought me to the LAN counter and lined me up behind a hundred people.
*groan*
As I waited for the porter to come back with a smaller cart, a Japanese man in the line-up fainted and smacked his head on the floor right at my feet with a *crack.* He had missed my cart by inches (though if he had hit my luggage he might have been okay). As it was, he got a huge bump on his head. The airport staff were there to attend to him quickly, getting him a wheelchair, cold pack and a doctor to check his functions. They wheeled him off.
And I shuffled through the line, and an hour later, I get up to the counter and get a sweet young attendant named Joseph.
Yes. I was at that counter so long, I was on first name basis with Joe.
He asked for my confirmation number when he couldn’t find anything under my name. I didn’t have it (I had given it to Cesar and said I didn’t need it back). Eventually, he asked for my boarding passes from flights to Peru and I actually had them. He was able to check my status and he said I was scheduled for the AA flight at 12:20 am. He said I would have to check through them.
I looked down the terminal to see a line up twice the length of the one I had just spent an hour in and gave Joe my puppy dog eyes and asked if I had to stand in that line again. He said hold on and went down to the AA desk himself.
While he was gone, one of the 20-somethings at the next counter fainted. The ticket agent was telling buddy’s friend that he couldn’t fly…as buddy leaned on the counter, his eyes rolled up into his head.
He got a wheelchair too.
What is it with this airport?
Joe eventually came back with a sheet of paper and said he got me on the LAN flight. He checked my luggage through to Toronto and gave me the boarding pass for Lima only. I have to check with AC in Miami.
No problema.
I tell Joe thanks and head off for the gate. By now, I have about 70 minutes to my flight. I get through security pretty quick and pass all the stores.
Yes, as I’ve learned, always find the gate before shopping because you just never know what is between you and the gate.
In this case, about 300 people and immigration control.
*groan*
I had a piece of paper laid in my passport on arrival and I spent that last 12 days watching that carefully as it was needed to leave the country.
The lineup moved faster than the check-in line. I was through by 11:15 and headed straight for the gate and straight into the line for my row number and straight on the plane.
I didn’t even get a chance to buy an Inca Kola.
Not that it would have made it beyond the gate. They search the carry-ons and removed all liquids, even if you bought it inside the terminal.
Nice pile of unopened drinks behind the counter.
Wonder if they resell them.
I got seat 17D – centre section, aisle with the bathroom next to me. Not that it mattered. I could be sitting at the 50 yard line of a Pat’s game and I’d still sleep.
The LAN plane puts AA to shame. In seat video and cup holder. So nice to be able to have a cup of water and not have to have the tray down. That’s all I had. They served dinner right away but I was already asleep. The flight attendant woke me to ask if I wanted dinner. I took the water and promptly went back to sleep.
I woke again at 2:30 and 4:30 then at 5 as we came in for landing. Not too shabby. Four and a half hours sleep will keep me functioning.
I went through passport control and skipped the baggage claim, hoping my luggage didn’t skip a step. I walked all the way down to the Air Canada desk only to learn that it doesn’t open until two hours before the flight. But there’s an earlier flight, so I can go anytime after 8:30.
But I found a plug for my laptop in the check-in area whereas I couldn’t find one after the gate before. So, I sat and typed this tale.
At 10 am, I sauntered down to the Air Canada counter and there was no line-up. I got a really pleasant man who took interest in my checked luggage, but everything seemed okay. I have to check it in again in Toronto. No problem. My Aeroplan prestige status gets me and my luggage into the Executive class line-up.
I went through to Concourse H / J and found some shops and McDonalds. And lots of plugs! Cool. Concourse D is the one that had none. I typed some more and played with photos, bought a Miami t-shirt and sweatshirt (it’s so cold in this airport, I might be hauling that on soon).
Back at the gate, I hear my name being called.
Upgrade to first class perhaps?
Nope.
Something better. My luggage has made the flight.
Woohoo.
I go to the window and watch a luggage handler drive up to the plane and drop both my bags off. Then I watch them get loaded on the plane.
Something reassuring about that.
The flight left on time and I couldn’t keep my eyes open. The flight is less than 3 hours and I slept for half of it. I went through the usual customs stuff in TO but this time, I had to take my luggage to the check-in counter and dropped my luggage off there.
The security people had had a work-to-rule campaign going on the last couple days that backed up people 3 to 4 hours or more. Luckily, it was resolved the day before and I got through security in a mater of minutes. Dinner at Coyote Jack’s and on the flight by 7:30. A nice smooth flight in to St. John’s (which is unusual for October). A forty dollar cab ride later, I’m at home.
Go to Table of Contents