From Lima we headed south by about 4 hours to a small town called Pisco, on the coast of Peru. It was here that we embarked on a five day actioned packed itinery along the south coast of Peru. Pisco has two key claims to fame - the Ballestas Islands and the Pisco Sour. The Ballestas Islands lie about 30 minutes by speed boat from the coast and are considered to be a credible alternative to the Galapogos Islands of Equador. On the way there we were able to view one of the first Nasca lines, which in this case was shaped like a Candelabra. People don't know how it came to be imprinted on the side of the hillside, but records of the 150 foot high imprint date back 150 years. People belive it is related to the much larger and numerous Nasca lines further south, but there has been little investigation into this claim. The wildlifeon the Islands centres around the sea lions (or sea wolves as they call them here) thousands of birds and a few penguins. The penguins were something of a surprise this far north but we learned that there is a cold current that comes up from the Antarctic, along Chile and up to Peru. This creates a specific set of climatic conditions on this part of the coast which makes the coastline and the nearby reserve the perfect habitat for many indigenous birds and animals that are not found in any other part of Peru. It also means that consensation of the sea is difficult meaning that rainclouds cannot form hence the vast desert area in this part of Peru. On the islands themselves we saw caves full of the sea lions - Chris was quite impressed by their society as one male will have up to 15 partners (and no need to buy them expensive presents). The males are enormous and all of them together make an horrendous noise, particularly as it reverberates around the caves. We just couldn't imagine what the first explorers made of their find when they stumbled on the islands - if we thought the howler monkeys were loud this was something else! The islands also have thousands upon thousands of birds - the output of which (no we are not kidding) gave rise to a local industry. Yes, bird crap is collected from the island, bagged and exported as fertilizer at a cost of 12,000 dollars per ton. In fact in the 1800's the Peruvian government paid an outstanding debt to the British government in what they politely term Guano! The Guano can get as deep as 1.5m after 5 years and about 300 people are employed locally to process it. Fancy putting that on your CV! Following this we went onto the Paracas National Reserve to learn more about the ecology of the area and how the Peruvian government are aiming to educate people on conservation. The area is pretty much a desert landscape for as far as the eye can see but is home to a weath of marine and bird life that depend on the area. The small town of Pisco itself is centred around the fishing industry. For the local area and for a town of this size we thought is was pretty lively at night. People don't have tv's etc. as we do in the UK so there is much more of a community feel and everyone comes out into the main square (it doesn't matter what City you are in it is always called the Plaza de Armas!) to meet their neighbours. We discovered a really nice little bar which had a series of balconies overlooking the Plaza and got to try the local Pisco Sour, whihc is made from the local Pisco grape into a type of grape brandy and is mixed with sugar and lime juice - it tastes a bit like a Margarita and a lot like the Brazilian Caiparinha. Nearly all restaurants here also serve the Peruvian national dish Cerviche, which is slices of raw fish marinated in lime juice and chili and is absolutely delicious. Both of us really enjoyed the trip to Pisco particularly after the big city feel of Lima. It was nice to kick back here for a day or two.