Chiclayo, Ica (Huacachina), Nazca and Arequipa Peru

Hello! We're hoping everyone has been doing well.

We have lots to catch you guys up on. Peru had some amazing things to do and see but the towns itself weren't worth hanging out in. We found ourselves traveling to a destination, taking in some sites and the very next day we were leaving for the next destination. We have to say even though Peru had lots to explore; we found this was not a favorite country for us. The overall view of Peru was dirty. We traveled by bus throughout Peru and unfortunately the highways, streets and cities were lined with trash. But on a positive note... We loved the bus lines. Our favorite line was called Civa. We traveled "VIP" class as often as we could. Depending on the bus lines VIP cost a little more but with fantastic upgrades. Civa had the true "Cama" seats. Meaning the seats reclined 190 degrees and made into a bed. Waitress served us dinner and breakfast since we traveled mostly at night and made sure we were comfy.

Here we're just partially reclined.

When the lights went out; zzz's were caught by all.

Our first overnight stop was in Chiclayo. Chiclayo is the 4th largest city in Peru and is known for the colonial architecture, warm climate during the day and cool ocean breezes in the evenings. There were ruins, beaches, and mercados to explore. Since we were only here for one night and a full day we opted for the beach and mercado scene. We took a collectivo to the Pimentel area where we heard there were spectacular beaches and awesome waves for surfers (of course during the "season"). The beaches were far from spectacular, more like so-so. They went on for miles and miles but they were littered with trash. This little town has so much potential with a boardwalk already built. Restaurants and shops can be found up and down the strand and some really nice apts lined the area. Maybe one day the Peruvians will figure out the purpose of a trash can and find the beauty within their country.

Church on the Plaza de Armas square.

Pimentel beach with nice apartment buildings and large beach Boats were dried docked up and down the beach.

These little boats are still being used by the local fisherman.

They are called Caballito de Tortora.

They are tiny and can't be comfortable but they have been used to fish for more than a thousand years. From Chiclayo we had a 12 hour bus ride to Lima. (You see why we need the "cama" seating.) We spent no time in Lima before boarding another bus to head to Huacachina which was another 4 hours journey. The bus lines may be cool in Peru but their terminal system is horrible. Traveling thru Peru would have been a little easier had there been a "terminal" with various of lines to chose from. But no, we had to walk thru the streets to find a line that was heading to our next destination. Fortunately the various bus lines weren't too far apart, mostly just a few blocks between each other, but carrying all our luggage a few blocks can be inconvenient. Huacachina was our next destination, which was located on the outskirts of the town of Ica. Huacachina is basically a tiny little resort town built around a real life desert oasis. It was really amazing. I had never seen so much sand. The oasis is surrounded by towering dunes that went on and on. It was beautiful. We only spent one night and a full day in this town. Our whole purpose of this destination was to partake in the sandboarding and dune buggy ride.

Strapping in for a little adrenaline rush.

Here we go! We were flying thru the dunes. Up and down, peeling out. It was a blast

The dunes just go on and on. Never seen anything like it.

We made our way to the top of hills where we would get out and

sandboard down.

This is my "ready" position. Heck no, I'm not standing up. Belly all the way down.

Bob had the no guts no glory attitude. He is quite capable snowboarding & said the sand

doesn't compare to snow. The board is very hard

to carve making turns almost impossible, at least with

the bottom barrel equipment they provided for us. So he gave up trying

to actually "board" after the first hill & followed the rest of the pack by

proceeded to fly down the rest of the hills on his belly.

We boarded about 6 hills. Some were more steep than others. Bob had the fastest

& furthest runs on 2 of the hills & had the bruises on the inner thighs to prove it.

The combination of the location of the bindings on the boards & the bumps

toward the bottom of the runs created a very unfriendly friction & therefore leaving

unwanted souvenirs that lasted about a week. But well worth the pain, as

the adrenaline rush was just awesome. Now I wasn't quite the daredevil & keep

my feet in the sand to create a primate braking system to control my speed.

I did let loose my fears & did get up some good speed till the last run. I

can't really explained what happened, but I guess all those fears

just came pouring back, cause on the last run I just freaked out & must

have just dug in my legs in the sand as I was like a snail coming down that hill.

I'm actually surprised our camera still worked with all the sand exposure. We took several videos but I couldn't get them loaded. Probably a good thing. My video...I am screaming the whole way down.

We know how loud that video would have been.

This was the beautiful oasis lagoon that the

town of Huacachina was built around.

It was beautiful.

Our next destination was Nazca which was only 2 hours away from Ica. There is absolutely nothing to do in this desert town but to see the famous Nazca Lines. We decided we'd take the tour by Cessna plane, eat some lunch and then catch the evening bus out.

5 passenger Cessna

Co-Pilot

Bob is probably thinking... Why does she always get to ride shotgun?

Nazca Lines are a series of geoglyphs in the Nazca desert.

These are believed to be dated back to 200BC - 600AD.

We're told the lines are actually shallow and were created by removing the pebbles which

reveled the white earth. Since the weather is dry, virtually no wind and stable climate

helped preserve the lines to this date.

Our photos didn't come out all that great but here are some that were a little more clearer.

Among the 13 different geometric shapes we saw were the Whale, Monkey, Condor,

Spider, Astronaut the Humming Bird seen below.

The Nazca lines remain a mystery. No one really knows the real purpose of these drawings but some say it may have been an offering to the Gods.

Next was our bus ride to Arequipa which was about 9 hours. Which of course we bussed at night. Why pay for a hotel room when you can sleep on the bus.

Arequipa was a very nice town and we hung around here for a couple of days. They call their city the "The White City". We had been to Popayan in Colombia and that was truly a "white" city. Arequipa wasn't quite like that. Most of the buildings were built out of volcanic stone "siller" which gives off this iridescent look. It was a beautiful city to explore.

The city is surround by several volcanoes and the small capped peaks

of the western Andes made for amazing views.

Hiking expeditions into the highest elevations of this volcano area

have unearthed several children well preserved by the continuous

freezing temperatures.

The most famous child is the mummy of Juanita.

She was sacrificed at the age of 12- 14 yrs and considered The Chosen One.

Her body was found in 1995 in almost perfect conditions.

Today, you can see her in Museo Santuarios Andes. She's in

a glass freezer. Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures of her. She was beautiful.

Volcano El Misti (5825 meters high/ 19,000 ft)

Tourist often trek up this volcano over a few days period.

More power to them!

Pedestrian walkway.

We visited the Monasterio de Santa Catalina.

The monastery was built in the 16th century.

This is a city within a city. The compound is 210,000 sq.ft.

has cobblestone streets, numerous fountains, a church and a small cafe.

A few nuns still live within this compound but otherwise its mainly a tourist spot.

The grounds were immaculate. And check out this Rubber Tree.

I've never seen one of this magnitude. It was beautiful.

You are seeing this photo correctly.

The moon is bright. Time was approx 5:00 p.m.

I thought these were fun photos.

Kids were having a blast feeding and chasing the pigeons in the town square.

The White City made of Siller.

Las Plazas de Armas.

(which means main square)

We have much more to blog. Hope your enjoying.

Stay tuned for Cusco and Machu Picchu.

Hugs,

Bonnie & Bob