Leaving Nazca, we made our way up towards Pisco, stopping at Huacachina (an oasis in the Ica desert) for lunch, followed by a buggy ride and sandboarding at the sand dunes. The buggy ride was a good adrenaline rush, rather like what we had in Natal - only with much meaner machines, and much more aggressive driving! I attempted to take a few video clips of the more harrowing stretches of the ride but unfortunately the video does not quite pick up the speed of the ride nor the steepness of the inclines as we rushed down the near vertical walls of the sand dunes! Sandboarding was fun, although we went down on our bellies rather than standing - per our drivers' instructions, given that we were novices.

Our next stop was at a pisco factory, where we were given a tour of the pisco manufacturing process and also got to sample the many varieties of piscos and blends. There is a longstanding dispute between Chile and Peru as to where pisco (a liquor distilled from grapes) originated from, and as to who produced the better pisco - I honestly cannot tell the difference.

Our hotel at Pisco was idylly located right on the water, well actually the garden is separated from the Pacific ocean just by a walkway - it was the perfect spot to enjoy the sunset.

We took the 30 min boat ride to the Ballestas Islands the next morning - they are a group of rocky islands, a haven for pelicans, boobies, cormorants, penguins and sealions..... together they made for a smelly, noisy bunch, but which kept us pleasantly amused for a good hour before we headed back to shore.