Month: March 2015

This experience was as though I was in a live National Geographic Magazine. So many varieties of birds. The ones I was lucky enough to see (and in great numbers) included the Peruvian Booby, Red Legged Cormorant, Turkey Vulture, Peruvian Pelican, Guanay Cormorant, and the Humboldt Penguin. I also witnessed an amazing sea lion habitat. There were beaches where the sea lion give birth. There were rocky beaches where the older (male only) sea lions hang, and plenty of young sea lions on the rocks.
This place is the Galapagos Islands of Peru. Totally protected to the point where no humans are permitted to step foot on the island or the surrounding rocks. I took all my pics obviously from my launch.
The sea lions were the most fascinating. Here’s some info of which I was unaware.  Their gestation period is 11 months and all sea lions are born from January to March. Since I am here in March I was able to see many babies. (see pics) The female usually gives birth to only one baby per gestation period.  In the rare event that two are born, the mother must kill the weaker one since she can only feed one per birth. So rather than have the one unfed baby suffer she will kill the weaker baby.  I found this fascinating.
All the wildlife here feeds from the sea. There are no Orcas of sharks in these waters. Thus, these sea lions usually die of old age.

 

This place was literally crushed by an earthquake in 2007. It destroyed its infrastructure and killed over 600 people. But the spirit here lives on. Pisco is a town on the rebound. It seems to be reinventing itself too; almost as though it has the resilience of some kind of phoenix. In spite of the substantial damage the town remains open. Street venders are almost everywhere. The nearby beach resort is called El Chaco (Paracas). This place, while having several hotels and beaches is more importantly known as the base from which you can motorboat to the Islas Ballestas. Islas Ballestas is an amazing sanctuary for many birds, penguins and sea lions. (See seaparate post and pics)
Pisco shares its name with the national beverage, a brandy like drink made through the region. The area is of historical and archaeological importance as having hosted one of the most highly developed pre-Inca civilizations, the Paracas culture from 700 BC to 400 AD.

As we approach the port fog shrouds the entire place. It takes a little imagination to get beyond the grit of Lima’s first impression. This place is only second after Cairo as a sprawling metropolis. There are over 10 million people living here. The area has, like most cities of this size, areas that are desirable to visit and many that are not. This is Lima.  Shrouded in history, gloriously messy and full of aesthetic delights.  Lima is the capital city of Peru.  Interesting enough however is the fact that there is very little litter present anywhere, however lots of graffiti may be seen all around.
Street venders are ubiquitous; hocking everything from religious stuff to candy to clothes to balloons.  Peruvian people have unmistakable features. Check out the pic of the guard. The people seem friendly even in the rough areas of town.
The food here is awesome. This place has over 3,000 varieties of potatoes, as well as many varieties of fruits and vegetables.  The Amazon is also a source for spices and other esoteric fruits and vegetables.  The fish and ocean sourced items are plentiful. They also boast a substantial cattle industry. The land is very fertile.  So as you can see the sources of food are as varied as they are plentiful. The ceviche with slivers of fiery chili and corn is amazing. Sushi as all around. No surprise that the famous Chef Nobu is from Peru.  The spaniards came here in the 1500s.  But before that Peru’s civilization dates back millennia.  The Incas had a thriving civilization here for thousands of years, prior to the Spanish conquest.