Well, today was quite a day.

Today I continued on the Peru Hop tour down the Lima coastline going from Paracas to Huacachina and we had so much stuff.

I had mentioned a couple of blogs ago how much I tried to avoid tour groups because they’re always go, go, go with no time to catch your breath and do things on your own.

That’s how I felt today…

Ballestas Islands

We started the day bright and early with a trip out to the nearby Ballestas Islands.

The islands are 20km off the shore and have been described as a mini-Galapagos island.

We all boarded a speed boat and rode out 40 minutes to get there.

The islands are highlighted by this big stone arches and are home to sealions and even some penguins.

I gotta tell ya, every time I see a penguin, thoughts of an Antarctica trip come to the forefront.

It’s a trip I 100% want to do but keep putting off.   Well, now it’s in my head again…

Quad biking in the Paracas National Reserve

After a couple of hours on the water, we returned to Paracas where immediately the next adventure awaited.

I swear, all I ask for is like 20 minutes to grab some food.

Nope.   On to the next adventure…

The nearby Paracas National Reserve lies just outside the town.

It’s a protected area that spans over 3,350 km² and is home to over 400 species of flora and fauna.

When we signed up for the tour there were a couple of additional add-ons you could choose for this activity.

The default was to just hop on a bus and ride through the park or, for an extra charge, you could paraglide or ride through the park on an quad bike.

Well, I had my fill of paragliding in North Macedonia last year but I’d never driven a quad bike.

So, quad bike it was!

To my surprise and bit of disappointment, everyone chose to just go by bus except for myself and one other person.

I mean, it was only an extra $29US.   It seemed like such a no-brainer.   Who wants to be on a bus all day when you can ride freely on a quad bike?

Oh well, whatever.

They all loaded up on the bus and the two of us went to get our quad bikes.

The thing with driving an off road vehicle like this is that you just wanna go fast however we were being led by a guide riding a motorcycle in front of us.

I would purposely slow down behind him just so I could get enough distance to rev up the engine and speed.
So, we casually rode along into the park.

We made a couple of stops at a couple of beaches and it was here where I was really glad I wasn’t with the rest of the group.

Peaceful solitude for just us.

After a couple of hours riding through the park, we again were headed back into town.

It was 11:45 and, for some reason, I thought our next activity wasn’t until 1:00 which meant an hour for lunch.

I was running on a couple of granola bars and I really wanted to eat something of substance.

It wasn’t meant to be though.

Our next activity was starting in 15 minutes.

So, we got off our quads, joined the rest of the group, and drove off on our Peru Hop bus.

Pisco Vineyard tour

Our next stop was in the city of Pisco where we’d be having a wine and pisco tasting at a vineyard followed by lunch.

We all sat under on rows of chairs in a covered area outside and got introduced to different flavors of pisco.

Pisco, unlike wine that is fermented, is distilled which gives it a high alcohol content up to 42%.

Doing the tasting this afternoon reminded me of the Mezcal tasting in Mexico I had done on a previous trip.

Sipping fruit flavored alcohols in the middle of the day.

Works for me.

After a half hour trying a few different flavors, we were led to a couple big long tables set up in a tent next to us.

Before we arrived here, our guide passed a sheet and menu for us to select which lunch we wanted to have today.

So, like clockwork, as we sat down the servers started calling out names and giving us our dishes.

I opted for Pollo Salado which is chicken with rice and vegetables.

Finally!   Some food in my belly!

By 2:00 we were on our way to our final destination of the day – Huacachina.

Checkin Chaos

We arrived in Huacachina an hour later but there was no time to rest as we were all meeting back up for our next activity in just 45 minutes.

That gave us just enough time to find our hostel, checkin, and head back out.

Huacachina is a very small town surrounded by sand dunes with a little lake oasis smack dab in the middle.

Around the lake are a handful of hostels and restaurants.

Checking in at my hostel was a complete zoo.

Not only had my bus arrived, but it seems like a few others had as well as there were dozens of people in the lobby clamoring to checkin.

Thankfully I was one of the first to arrive so I was checked in about 15 minutes.

Half an hour to relax and get back out there.

When we got off the bus, the sun was in full swing so I reluctantly lathered myself up in suntan lotion.

Wouldn’t you know it though, in that half hour, the sun was now covered by a cloudy sky.

Dunebuggies and sandboarding

At 3:45 our group met up to go on a dunebuggy and sandboarding adventure.

We would be taking dunebuggies up to the top of the sand dunes and then sandboarding down.

The dunebuggies sat 10 people each and, well, let’s just say the drivers are crazy.

We were each strapped in with a race car type seatbelt that goes over both your shoulders and buckles down below.

It soon became apparent why.

The ride up the dunes was like taking a rollercoaster on hyperdrive.

He would speed up a hill and then speed right back down the other side twisting and turning going up to 60km/h.

It was exhilarating even if my stomach was kind of like “oh, I get it, enough already”.

In my buggy was a group of 6 people from America, Switzerland, and Germany who have been studying Spanish in a language school in Lima the past two weeks.

Their Spanish seemed pretty decent and they were a pretty tight knit group.   Hmm, maybe going to a Spanish school is in my future.

Once at the top, we were each given a board and shown how to slide down a dune.

I was wrong when I thought we’d just be sliding all the way down to the bottom.

Turns out we were sliding down a few smaller dunes, watching the sunset and then taking the crazy buggy ride back to the bottom.

As we watched the sunset, I thought how crazy it was that literally just 6 days ago I was watching another sunset on the Uyuni salt flats.

What a cool adventure traveling is.

By the time we were all done and back in town, I was quite sandy.   Turns out that not only did I not need the suntan lotion but it also made the sand stick to my arms and face.

Nothing a long, hot shower wouldn’t cure.

Well, except for the hot part.   Damn, where’s my hot water?!?   Cold showers are the worse!

Now, finally, with all the activities of this hectic day done, I finally had time for myself.

I headed out to walk around a bit and then grab some dinner.

And I got to cross another Peruvian dish off my list – Anticucho de Corazón.

It’s grilled beef heart skewers with potato.

I finally got back to the hostel at 9:00 and I was exhausted.   That was a super long day filled with so many activities.

While I enjoyed all the things we did, I certainly wouldn’t want to travel like this every day.

Tomorrow, I’ll be heading further down the coast to Nazca to fly in a little airplane over the Nazca Lines and then the following day is my final day of the trip.

Some cool stuff ahead, so stay tuned…