Absolutely amazed with Parque de la Reserva (the park with the fountains). Was such a scary adventure going there by myself, unable to speak much Spanish and taxi to/from dropping me in the wrong spot, having to barter prices and thought I was being kidnapped on the way home but all was ok and so worth it when I saw the fountains with the coloured lights and lasers!!
Next day I had to check out of my hotel room and meet my new roomie. So excited and anxious. I knocked on the door to meet this lovely German, named Lena. Got chatting and decided to go exploring the city together then the phone rang and I was given the wrong room number and she wasn't my roomie!! I was devo but then Jessie-Mae opened the door half asleep yet bubbly as and from Rocky!!! Instantly clicked and so the three of us when to explore.
We explored more of Lima then met up with our group for orientation. There was 20 people already on the tour from Ecuador for the past three weeks, 10 new people either going to Rio or Santiago & 8 people going to La Paz. 38 of us in total on two buses but 30 on one and 8 on the other!!! Mostly Aussies and Kiwis with a handful of Brits and other European plus an American.
Everyone seemed quiet from the new people and the old group weren't very social as most of them were sick.
Some of us went to dinner in the main square to get to know one another. We went to the same place I went to on the first night and the waiter remembered me. Was a good night and I was excited for the tour to start (so excited Jessie-Mae and I stayed up talking until 2am giving us only 3hrs sleep).

We set off for Huachina, first stop was at a seaside town for an optional tour to the Ballesta Islands. This is known as the cheap version of going to the Galápagos Islands. On the speed boat ride out there we spotted some dolphins just near our boat and saw Nazca line carvings into one of the islands rock faces on a random island on the way to the Ballesta islands.

You could tell we had arrived as the islands were covered in birds and stench of bird poo was over powering!
We spotted many types of birds and penguins then went in some caves and spotted sea lions including a male bull.
On the way out of the cave some of us were showered in bird s***....me the main culprit!! Oh well I took it as good luck for the rest of the trip. We visited more islands and were astounded by the amount of wildlife on these islands. We got up close to the sea lions and they didn't even seem bothered by us being there.

We headed back to shore for some lunch. The sun was blistering hot and it became apparent I had sunburnt arms however not in a spot on my left arm where I mustn't have wiped away the bird s*** properly! Who knew bird s*** had UV protection!!

Back on the truck to continue to Huachina. Huachina is a beautiful desert town with massive sand dunes and an oasis in the middle of the town. I will have to get photos from some of the others as I didn't want to get my camera sandy. (3 people's cameras broke that day due to the sand).
All of us had opted to do the dune buggys and overnight in the desert. The buggys seated 10 & we were strapped in very tightly. It was soooooo much fun! The driver wasn't taking it easy on us, he was going very fast and flying over the sand dunes even getting air. It wasn't too rough though. It felt like we were on an awesome rollercoaster!
The first time we stopped he slammed on the brakes on a really steep dune just as we had passed the top and had us facing downward. It was so scary as I was surprised the brakes could hold us in the sand. Quick photo stop then we went sand boarding...well once I saw the starters dune I chickened out. It was way too steep and I couldn't even stand near the edge let alone push myself off the side!
Looked like a lot of fun but I just watched and had more buggy rides to go collect everyone. They rode down three dunes then we headed to the highest dune to watch the sunset which was just stunning. Afterwards we went to where we were having a BBQ dinner and camping under the stars. We drank pisco sours and mingled with the group around the camp fire. We were in the middle of a valley so every time we needed to go to the toilet we had to hike up a dune! Not so great when you're drinking but the views back over the town lights was beautiful.
It was super hot during the day but without the sun it got very cold at night, which may explain why Jessie-Mae wanted to spoon all night.

Next morning I woke up with a tummy ache...Peru belly had got me early but there was no way i could go in the desert in daylight! Lucky we headed back to town very early. Along the way we kept stopping to check footprints, at one point the driver didn't put the handbrake on properly and our buggy started to roll down the dune with no driver! We all screamed like a bunch of girls and one of the girls took her belt off and was ready to jump out when the guy sitting next to the driver finally pulled on the handbrake!! Scary stuff but made for a funny story.
We later found out that one of the guys went to go to the toilet through the night and a fog set in and couldn't find his way back to camp!! Poor bloke was lost in the desert for about 3hrs before we found him when check his tracks.
When we got back to town there was only one toilet and it became apparent fast that I wasn't alone, more than half of the group was sick!!! Not much fun when it's a half day on the bus to get to Nazca.

When we arrived we were told we could upgrade from camping to a hotel room for $6, best $6 I've ever spent considering there was only one toilet between all the girls and it was on the other side on the hotel to where we were camping. I shared a room with Laura (another amazing chick and she's from the hunter valley). The hotel was quite nice with a pool but unfortunately we were too sick to do anything but rest. I was on cooking duty that night which was horrible considering I was sick but at the same time it was good to get to know some of the others.
Got an early night and had to cancel my flight to see the Nazca lines as the planes are very rough ride which I didn't think I could stomach. Such a shame but you can't help these things.