That was our first couple days in Peru. On the third day we were taken to the Bus depot and put on a bus (In First Class) to Paracas. Paracas is a coastal town a ways south of Lima. It had been damaged quite badly by an earthquake several years ago but was in the recovery mode. Paracas is famous for two things. The Balistas which is a series of rock islands just off the coast that are inhabited by millions of birds and thousands of seals. There is a company in Japan that comes to the Balistas about every five years and harvests all the bird poop (Guana) that accumulates on the islands. The seals are there just for kicks. The other attraction is Paracas is the closest city to the Nasca lines. The Nasca lines are huge carvings in the desert that resemble creatures in flight or just standing around. By huge I mean miles long and wide. The desert between Lima and Paracas is one of the oldest in the world and has a thick crust (about 6 – 12 inches thick) covering it. The Nasca lines are carved through this crust exposing the white desert sand below the crust. No one really knows who made them or how they got there. My theory is that someone from space came and put them there and they mean something to someone. Anyhow. Here’s Paracas, the Balistas. and the Nasca lines.
A Desert Storm on the bus ride to Paracas 
Our Bus at a Rest area 
Our Hotel in Paracas (It was very nice and very modern) 
The inner court yard of the hotel 
A Very importand part of the hotel – the bar 
Prove we were there 
The next morning they picked us up and took us to the airport – Here’s our Pilot (right) and our guide (left) 
Inside the plane … It had single seats down each side and carried about sixteen people 
That’s us … Nancy made me sit in front 
The Landscape below 
Crops in the desert 
Pur Desert 
I think they raised some kind of stock (chickens or pigs) in these shelters 
This was our guide. He was to put us on the airplane and pick us up when we returned. I asked him how many times he’s been up to see the lines and he said “Never … A flight cost more than I make in a month”. Nancy bought him a ticket and off he went. The young man was ecstatic! 
Here we are 
Many of the lines are just long straight lines … miles long 
A Dried river bed 
Lines 
A City in the desert 
Geometric shapes 
Lines and shapes 
Irrigated farms 
A Lake 
Some kind of mineral processing 
Back in the hotel 
Suculents 
The Ocean 
The Harbor 
After out morning coffe we decided to walk downtown via the beach 
A LARGE Jellyfish 
During our walk on the beach and saw many of these large jelly fish. This one was upside down 
Birds on a fence 
A Sea Cucumber 
they might look the same but each picture is a different one 
Nancy was asking me what I thought they would taste like! … Jelly? 
Interesting transport 
Houses Along the Beach 
Downtown Paracas 
The Shops 
Relaxing After a Long Walk and a Day of hard Shopping 
View From The Refreshment Stand 
Taking a Boat out to the Balistas 
Our Captain 
The Coastal Desert 
Pelicans … MANY Pelicans 
This is one of the Nasca Lines but is carved in the banks along the coast … It points towards the inland lines 
By the Pelicans are the other birds that occupy the Islands … Some kind of sea bird 
The Balistas 
The Dark area is all birds! 
Penguins 
Seals 
The Ramp for loading the bird poop (Poop shute!) 
Seals 
Baby Seal in Trouble shouting for Mom 
Mom to the rescue 
Birds aloft 
Flamingos 
The Rest area (These are a little out of order) 
From The Air 
Rest Area 
Sunset in the desert 
A Nasca Monkey 
A Spider? 
A Bird 
A Spaceman? ET Maybe?
The last few pictures of the Nasca lines, the figures, I downloaded from the internet. The ones I took from the airplane were of the same figures but much poorer quality because of the windows, movement, and my camera. They really do look just like this and are huge. Look’em up!
