South America Day 21: Nazca to Paracas

January 2012

Up late to leave at 9:30 am. We stopped at the Nazca viewing lines to get a different perspective of the lines.

 We drove for about 3.5 hours to get to Ica, a oasis in the middle of the desert.

After a lunch of sandwiches, DH took a buggy up into the dunes for sand boarding.

We drove for another 30 minutes before stopping to taste different varieties of Piscos.

Due to Pisco being hit by a large earthquake a few years back accommodation is best sought at nearby Paracas.

We had dinner near the sea that night, Inca cola, sole ceviche and avocado salad while DH had the grilled sea bass.

We visited the Paracas hotel to try Pisco sours in there lounge, realising that anything we had tried previously had been heavily diluted!

Stay

Refugio del Pirata, Paracas

Eat

Huaca chinero, Ica
Cebicheria El Chaita, Paracas

Do
Viewing tower, Nazca

Sand boarding and buggy in Ica

El Catador – Tony Labis for Pisco tasting, Pisco

Pisco Sours in the Hotel Paracas

South America Day 20: Arequipa to Nazca

January 2012

We slept ok on the night bus from Arequipa arriving around 7:30 am and automatically noticing the change in weather and landscape.

We checked into our hotel, which had run out of hot water, before stopping to look at the pre-Inca cemetery and mummies.

 

 We went to the airport to check in for our scenic flight over the Nazca lines, the main reason for this being a stop in our trip. It was hard to really get a feel for the scale of the lines at such a height, but gave you great viewing of the many different designs.

We had a late lunch, which was a buffet of food that they cook in the ground. The tamales and chicken were my favourite (DH was not so keen on the tamales).

We got back to the hotel at around 6 pm, exhausted from our bus trip and long day.

Stay

San Marcelo, Nazca

Eat

The only place I didn’t get the name of – big regret

Do

Flight over the Nazca lines
Chauchilla cemetery