Monday 19th March 2012:

Mixed bag today... We started the day off with a speedboat cruise to Ballestas islands and saw dolphins, Peruvian boobies, cormorants, inca terns and sea lions but sat on wrong side of boat and captain wouldn't turn it around. We were lucky enough to see our first Nazca lines on the way to the islands as well - the Candelabra which is huge and carved into the side of a cliff. Apparently it is between 50cm and 1m deep, 100m high and 80m wide.

Then we went sand buggy riding and sand boarding down steep dunes which was loads of fun. The buggy got airborne a few times and I lost my stomach each time we nosed ofer the edge of a dune. I have sand EVERYWHERE from the sandboarding, but was happy I faced my fears (it looks a LONG way down a very fast steep slope) and had loads of fun doing it. Followed that with a gorgeous desert sunset seen through the windows of a speeding taxi down winding roads while singing at the top of our lungs before taxi was stopped by mining protest. Then we had a spontaneous (read wrong shoes with buckles tucked under feet) 5km walk carrying all our gear (25kgs for me at last weigh in) while getting cat calls and comments from the miners as we walked through what looked like a war zone. Spiky trees, large rocks and broken glass all over the road. Nice obstacle course in the dark. Oh yeah and backpack is f@&$d. Hip straps wouldn't tighten and whole thing kept slipping down below my butt. Oh well, tomorrow is another adventure. Not sure if we will be able to get out of Nazca yet.

Tuesday 20th March

Update from the warzone: walked the 6km or so to the airport this morning for flight over the nasca lines as the roads are still blocked with the miners protest. - totally worth it! We took a plane ride over the desert to see the lines (this time the pilot turned the plane so each side saw the lines and we ALL had windows YAY). I was apprehensive about having to be weighted before the flight for balancing purposes, and even though I do weigh more than the other 2 girls I have lost a few kgs which is nice and I weighted less than the French guys we shared the flight with. BTW what is with French guys not usin deoderant??? The BO in the enclosed cockpit was horrendous! The lines soon made us forget the stench though as we flew over the whale, triangles, trapezoids, monkey, astronaught, spider, hummingbird, alcatraz and a few more. Hopefully the photos will be clear enough to make them out when I upload them.

On the way back to the hotel we had to take an alternate (longer) route as police from Lima and Arequipa had arrived and were using tear gas etc on the protesters. Tried to take a taxi part way but were threatened with rock by irate protestor who started making phone calls to other protestors when our local guide and driver tried to insist we continue. Final result we walked through farmers fields (of cactus no less) to avoid all roads. Back to hotel safe and sound and hit the pool. It was a tad surreal drinking cocktails by the pool while listening to gunshots not very far away (Im hoping they were using blanks or it was just the tear gas being deployed). As well as miners protesting in Nasca there are transport workers striking /protesting in Arequipa so we are staying here overnight again. Tomorrow we will go to Arequipa if we can for flight to cusco. If not we will head back to Lima and fly from there.

Wednesday 21st March

The roads are cleared but for how long noone knows. We got a last minute offer from G Adventures tour group to share their private bus to Arequipa. We opted to take them up on the offer and in 10 min we were packed (not easy when we had basically emptied our bags!), checked out and boarding the bus. There were a couple of tense moments when the bus stopped in lines of trucks but it turns out that they were only toll gates and checkpoints and we made the 12 hour journey without incident. It wasnt the most comfortable trip as Fabio and I had the 2 seats at the back of the bus which dont recline at all and have limited leg room.Plus the roads were pretty bumpy and windy especially through the mountains. They way some people drive (overtaking on lind corners etc) its no wonder there are shrines everywhere along the roadside. It was very nice to be out of Nasca though.

Checked into the hotel about 7.30 this morning and we crashed for a few hours of sleep before heading out to quite a tasty lunch and a wander through Arequipa. I really like this city. The architecture is beautiful and it has a really nice feel to it. The transport workers are still protesting here but its all very civilised with marches and banners etc. They even play some cool music!

Anyway time for a shower before a well earned massage. Less than $15 for 1 hour. Happy days!