Ballestas Islands and Lima
We had an early start from Pisco, as we had a boat trip to the Ballestas Islands, known in Peru as "the poor man's Galapagos". When we arrived at the little port, there was time for a coffee before our 8am departure, so we sat outside a little cafe and watched two men throwing pieces of fish to two large pelicans sitting on a low wall, and charging people money to take photos. It must have been almost impossible to take a decent photo, as the pelicans swallowed down the fish in a split second and then made a strange grunting noise! The coffee was, as usual, horrible instant coffee with sweetened condensed milk, luckily Tony seems to like it!
The boat was a speed boat, so we held onto our hats, and kept our heads down to avoid the spray, as we raced across the bay to the islands. On the way we stopped near a fishing boat, to watch them haul in their huge catch of anchovies. They were also being watched by a large group of seals, who were rewarded for their patience with a few handfuls of fish. We also saw lots of pelicans gliding by, really low over the water, next to the boat.
We had been told that you can't land on the islands, and when we got there we realised why. They are actually just huge arch-shaped rock formations, (the name 'ballestas' means 'crossbow'), that rise up vertically out of the sea, and they are absolutely teeming with sea birds. When they come in to land, they have to aim for the tiniest amount of space - its amazing that they don't land on top of each other. Each island is covered with a thick layer of guano, and it is harvested for three months of the year and exported as fertiliser. The stench was indescribable! We saw quite a few penguins, which looked really comical as they hopped up the rocks, using their outstretched flippers to balance themselves. But because of the smell, it was actually quite a relief when we headed back to port!
We set off on the truck, for the very last time, heading towards Lima. As we got near to the outskirts, we started to see occasional signs of affluence, such as a development of large white 'villa' style houses and a golf course, on one side of the road, whilst on the other was the usual expanse of dust and wooden shacks. We also got a surprise when we got to our hotel, the Maury, as it was REALLY classy - 1930's style, very elegant, with marble floors, lifts, and a BAR! Excellent news, as it seemed to be 'cocktail o'clock'! We found out later, that in it's heyday, the Hotel Maury was famous for its Pisco Sours. Luckily for us, 80 years later, they still seem to have the recipe, as they were definitely the best Pisco Sours we'd ever had. 
Before we knew it, it was time to meet up with everyone for our last ever group meal. We reminisced about the various highlights of our mammoth 42 day journey of over 9,000km - all the way across South America from Buenos Aires to Lima. Everyone would now be heading off in different directions, to various corners of the globe, starting with our Aussie friends, leaving at 3am for an early flight to Sydney. Martin and Marsha had a day to recover from the stress of 42 days with us, before they had to set off again on the same journey, in reverse, with a brand new group! 
Luckily, some of us didn't have to be up early, so we rounded off the evening with a few more drinks, back in the bar of the Hotel Maury, including a round of Tequila shots which turned out to be not actually tequila at all, but some kind of Peruvian whiskey!............ Goodnight.