PERU AGAIN – ILO, NAZCA, HUACACHINA AND LIMA

6. July – 14. July 2011

After a great time in Bolivia and a short stop in Chile we went back to Peru. I had just booked a flight back to Europe, leaving from Lima. But we still had a week to explore the south of Peru. First we went to Ilo at the coast for a night. There was absolutely nothing to see or to do. Still, we enjoyed eating seafood after weeks far away from the coast and good seafood.

From there we went on to Nazca. We stayed in a very nice (but still budget) hotel with a great, big room with balcony. The morning was spend relaxing and in the afternoon we took a tour to the Chauchilla cemetery near Nazca. There are ancient mummies can be seen in their original graves. Strange but interesting. The next morning we went on a sightseeing flight over Nazca with a tiny little Cessna. Around the city are the famous Nazca lines, old geoglyphs created by the Nazca culture. It was interesting to see these 1500 years old figures from above. The lines are figures were created by removing the upper red soil to show the lower layer of white soil. It is amazing that after such a long time, it is still possible to see these figures.
The next days we spent in the beautiful village of Huacachina – a small lagoon surrounded by sand dunes. We took a tour with sandbuggys (you have to do this) and tried sand-boarding. I wasn't very successful but it was fun anyways. We next day we walked up one of the dunes and relaxed at the hostel pool.
On the way to Lima we stopped in Paracas, where we went on a short boat trip to the Islas Ballestas. Unfortunately there was only one sea lion but we saw thousands of birds and a few penguins.
Back in Lima we enjoyed Starbucks and a few relaxed days before it was time to say goodbye.