My first day off from working in the heat where Haydee will let me do anything and decided to head to the Islas Ballestas. Known as the poor man's Galapagos, this collection of islands are situated no more than a 20 minute boat ride away from the coast of Peru and contain the most diverse collection of marine bird life in Peru. The islands are also covered with various sea life, including sea lions, penguins (my very first) and various smaller marine life.
Because of this, it is also famous for another thing ... guano (bird droppings that make the best natural fertilizer - name comes from the Quichua word for droppings). Because of the sensitive nature of the island's ecology, harvesting of this "white gold" is only allowed every five years. During that time, a group of workers move out to the islands for a few months and with hammers, picks, shovels and brushes (yes, they use brushes to help pick it up....it really is worth that much) they collect the guano on the island to be sold around the world. Since the workers are only on the islands every five years, the docks and buildings they use are very rundown and give the island a haunted town kind of look.
The journey out to the islands started at 7 in the morning, when I was supposed to be picked up by the tour group. Well it turns out that things run on time here like they do in Ecuador. The bus didn’t arrive until 7:45, and we still had to run around Pisco to pick up some more people who were joining us on the trip. The bus then took us to Paracas where the boat would depart for the Islas Ballestas. (Paracas is also the beach were José de San Martín landed in 1821 to liberate Peru from the Spanish, one of the last countries to be liberated from Spanish control).
On our way out to the islands, we sailed around the Península de Paracas where there is a large geoglyph built into the sand measuring about 150m high and 54m wide and 1m deep. The geoglyph is in the shape of a candelabra, and there is some discussion to be had about who built the design and what it actually is. Some believe it to be built by the Nazca culture and be a type of local cactus. Others believe that it was built by pirates and sailors to provide them a point home, and that it has some significance to a constellation. Others even believe that some of San Martín’s fellow liberators built it as a sign of victory. Either way, it creates a wonderful sight and somewhat of a mystery to try to figure out.
The islands themselves were white rocks that were covered with birds, in fact some places were black from the number of birds walking around the island. We drove the boat all around the islands, poking into coves, going under land bridges, listening to the sea lions and watching the thousands of birds fly around us and walk on the island. I was particularly fascinated with the penguins as I had never seen one in the wild before. They are quite small and rather cute. Sadly there is no way to describe the wildlife and beauty of these islands, only pictures can do it justice, and even then it isn’t enough.
Upon returning to the mainland, we hung around the waterfront of Paracas before getting in a bus to head back to Pisco, where I spent most of the afternoon helping Haydee build a modulo in her backyard where she intended to live in order to make the house available to more volunteers who she was expecting in the coming year.
Because of this, it is also famous for another thing ... guano (bird droppings that make the best natural fertilizer - name comes from the Quichua word for droppings). Because of the sensitive nature of the island's ecology, harvesting of this "white gold" is only allowed every five years. During that time, a group of workers move out to the islands for a few months and with hammers, picks, shovels and brushes (yes, they use brushes to help pick it up....it really is worth that much) they collect the guano on the island to be sold around the world. Since the workers are only on the islands every five years, the docks and buildings they use are very rundown and give the island a haunted town kind of look. 
The journey out to the islands started at 7 in the morning, when I was supposed to be picked up by the tour group. Well it turns out that things run on time here like they do in Ecuador. The bus didn’t arrive until 7:45, and we still had to run around Pisco to pick up some more people who were joining us on the trip. The bus then took us to Paracas where the boat would depart for the Islas Ballestas. (Paracas is also the beach were José de San Martín landed in 1821 to liberate Peru from the Spanish, one of the last countries to be liberated from Spanish control). 
On our way out to the islands, we sailed around the Península de Paracas where there is a large geoglyph built into the sand measuring about 150m high and 54m wide and 1m deep. The geoglyph is in the shape of a candelabra, and there is some discussion to be had about who built the design and what it actually is. Some believe it to be built by the Nazca culture and be a type of local cactus. Others believe that it was built by pirates and sailors to provide them a point home, and that it has some significance to a constellation. Others even believe that some of San Martín’s fellow liberators built it as a sign of victory. Either way, it creates a wonderful sight and somewhat of a mystery to try to figure out.
The islands themselves were white rocks that were covered with birds, in fact some places were black from the number of birds walking around the island. We drove the boat all around the islands, poking into coves, going under land bridges, listening to the sea lions and watching the thousands of birds fly around us and walk on the island. I was particularly fascinated with the penguins as I had never seen one in the wild before. They are quite small and rather cute. Sadly there is no way to describe the wildlife and beauty of these islands, only pictures can do it justice, and even then it isn’t enough.
Upon returning to the mainland, we hung around the waterfront of Paracas before getting in a bus to head back to Pisco, where I spent most of the afternoon helping Haydee build a modulo in her backyard where she intended to live in order to make the house available to more volunteers who she was expecting in the coming year.
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