Tuesday
We have to be up and packed by 7:50 so we can catch a coat tour to the islands off the coast. We don't have breakfast has s10 each and probably typically little. We walk to the dock and get aboard the open tour boat. The tour is about 1.5hours. We see sea lions, birds and penguins amongst the rocky islands. Researchers live there for months at a time and they remove the excrement 4 yearly. It used to be a billion sol trade selling it back in the day. We see an ancient engraving of what they call a candelabra in the side of a hill. It looks like it might low away, but apparently, it receives little wind and is very hard.
We take a small tour bus to a winery where traditional pisco is made. A very simple process: stomping (by feet) and pressing (wooden press) grapes, store in clay jars for a few weeks or more, boils juice and store alcohol refined, non alcoholic juice discarded. Apparently is very sweet and high alcohol content. They make their wine by adding pisco to grape juice. It surprises me that they continue to run in such a general state of disrepair.
They also grow pecans, mangos and avocados.
We have lunch at the winery restaurant; a nice salty asparagus soup, noodles for me and rice and egg frittata like thing for Mal.
The afternoon plans are sand boarding and buggies. I nap on the way there. We have to wear covered shoes so I change. The sand buggies are thrilling. It reminded me a little of a roller coaster. The dunes are huge and at the top is a great view of more dunes and a small down smack in the middle. It is very hot. Sand boarding is fun- if you have a good board. I don't risk the standing option, but have super fun sliding down steep hills face first. A few others quit standing and join our lying down option. I think it's the most fun and takes no skill.
We return very sandy and have showers at the hostel/operations base before continuing on by bus to our next destination.
We arrive about 8pm to Nazca where we stop to buy some food at a grocer. It's a little complicated as they have no scales and you have to have a sticker applied elsewhere in the shop for the price. There is little good 'ready to eat food' so we buy bread rolls, fruit and water. I crave something, but I'm unsure what.
We leave the city and head about 20 min out partially on a dirt road to our hostel. It's dark, but it looks large. Our room has 3 single beds, and a toilet with strange red worm things in it (brought to my attention by our neighbour). Thankfully they flush away! We skip dinner back in the city with the others and mal has some bread and fruit. Fresh mangos from the property. I'm looking forward to shower and bed!