Today we got up early and took a tour to Paracas and the Islas Ballistas. Paracas is a sleepy little fishing village about an hour away. It is known for the small group of islands off the coast that are home to a very large marine reserve rich with birds and sea life. It's also known as a mini Galapagos or a little taste of it for those that can't dish out the thousands of dollars you need for the real thing (like us)!

The day was beautiful and the sea was calm so we went out on a speed boat with about 20 people. After about 20 minutes we slowed down beside a mountainside on the coast to see a huge geoglyph in the shape of a candelabra (El Candelabro) that was carved into the mountainside around 200 BC. It was quite impressive and reminds you a bit of the Nazca lines because of it's design and size and the fact that you could only make sense of the shape of it from quite a distance. They speculate that it was made as a marker for sailors and fisherman but they don't really know.

We continued on out to sea for about another 15 minutes until we got to a group of white, rocky islands that have been carved and shaped by the waves and weather. The rocks were covered with thousands of birds. There are blue footed boobies by the thousands, tendrils, huge pelicans, Humboldt penguins (not too many and they were quite shy) and lots of sea lions sunning themselves on the rocks. It was really beautiful and fun to ride around the islands watching all of the birds' activities and inactivity as far as the lazy sea lions were concerned.

After we got back to shore we stopped on the seafront promenade for a plate of fresh fried calamari. I would have liked to have a huge seafood meal but since it was only 10:30 in the morning we settled for this snack. Delicious! We got back to Huacachina about 12:30 and spent the rest of the day relaxing by the pool. We managed to connect with Sivanne who had just returned from her trek. she had a great time, said that it wasn't too hard except for the day when they made the tough climb over the 4750 meter pass. It sounds like she will head tomorrow to Mancura beach on the north coast for a little sun and fun.

Later in the afternoon we hiked up to the top of the highest dune and watched the sun set. Nice end to a great day.