The South Coast... the final stops

My long journey throughout Peru has finally come to an end. We wrapped the whole thing up with an unforgettable trip to the south coast. Arriving in Lima from Cusco, we rented a car (not recommended by anyone in Peru) and headed south. I manned up and took the driver´s seat first, which instantly reminded me of my first Peruvian traffic experience in the Combi. After battling about an hour with the most insane driving I have EVER seen, we finally jumped on the Pan American Highway and headed down the coast. After two hours or so we reached the town Pisco, a major port city with a significant amount of history. Two years ago an earthquake with a 7.5 rating on the richter scale destroyed this place leaving the town in shambles and people with literally nothing. Well, we decide to ¨stop by¨and check it out. After an hour of battling motorbikes for the ¨right of way¨and turing down dirt alleyways with crumpled buildings covering half the road, we barely made it out unscathed. The day was long, we were tired, and desperately needed a place to crash. We drove into a town called Paracas, famous for its tours to nearby inlands that are home to hundreds of thousands of birds and many sea lions. After almost completely striking out for sleeping accomidations, we discovered a hidden gem right on the beach (name and location undisclosed). This place was almost too good to be true. The only amenity that this fine establishment could not priovide on this momentus Saturday, was an ESPN ticker of College Football scores. However, I was still able to root the Dawgs to victory from my dad´s iphone (updates every 30 seconds.. not cool).

The next day included visits to the towns of Ica and Huacachina, known for two things; wineries and sand boaring, we did both. Finally, we ended our tour de Peru with a stop in Nazca, famous for its crazy glyphs of animals and strange figures on a large desert plateau. We stayed in a place that I will never in my life forget, Hotel Contayo. The ¨resort¨was located in the middle of nowhere behind the project housing in Nazca. This place was a giant compound with tight security and a gorgeous interior. It was strage to suddenly find out the we were pretty much the only occupants of the entire hotel, other than the live in staff. We were the only ones drinking at the bar, and certainly the only ones Eating dinner. This place was a complete ghostown. To make things even more interesting, Contayo was a ranch with tons of livestock. The peacocks howling in the night sounded like children yelling ¨hellllllllp!¨ Our experience was a cross between the The Shining and the Island of Dr. Monroe. Leaving Contayo far behind, we headed to town for an airplane tour of the Nazca Lines and then made the long drive back to Lima. Goodbye Peru, you are a truly beautiful place with amazing people (except for the one that stole my iPhone). Tomorrow I head to Bogota, Columbia for a day, then on to Buenos Aires, Argentina!!!

Unnamed hotel in Paracas. A great ending to a very, very long day.

A male Sealion standing tall at the Islas de Ballestas.

Sand Buggying and Boarding at Huacachina. Huge Sandy Dunes 3 hours south of Lima.

Dad and Ryan getting ready for the Pisco tasting at El Catador in Ica.

The Spaceman figure at the Nazca Lines, just plain weird.

More at Nazca. The Pilot and my dad barely fit shoulder to shoulder in the front.

Sandboarding on the dunes. Ryan eats it to start. Ha. This is not as easy as you think.