We were late leaving Callao last night as the refuelling barge was late to arrive. We were scheduled for a 6 pm departure but did not leave until 10.30. The captain told us that though it was a relatively short leg, just some 170 nautical miles, he could still make port by 7 am if he upped the speed to 19 knots. There was smooth seas expected overnight so he was confident we would be on time. In the end when we woke up around 6.30 we were already docked!
Once again it is a cloudy sky and only 17 degrees and no wind. There is nothing at San Martin, it is a container port in what appears to be desert. The ships used to dock at Pisco, but that port is closed following an 8.0 earthquake in 2007 which destroyed 85% of Pisco’s buildings and killed over 400 people. A resultant 5 metre tsunami did not help either. So San Martin is the port and it is located in the Bay of Paracas, which is a large bay. A shuttle bus is provided to get to Paracas the nearest town, which is about a 30 minute drive. Paracas is a tourist destination for the NASCA lines and the Paracas National Reserve and tours to Ballestas islands.
We researched it a couple of days ago and were keen to take a speedboat tour to the Ballestas Islands to see penguins, seals and birds. Princess cruises had a tour for $169 pp. On line we found Viator for 40 Australian each but that was from Pisco. In the end we decided to chance it and see if we could pick up a tour locally. We thought it best to head off early and we were on the 8 am bus.
The drive went through some spectacular scenery of rocky sand and sand hills, nothing but desert! This area of Peru receives an average of 1.8 mil. of rain per year. As we got to the town it was like an oasis in the middle of nowhere. As we got off the bus tour guides/operators were everywhere, all with official tourism logos, so we felt pretty comfortable in picking one out. It cost $25US each. We asked how long we would have to wait and were told it was straight away. We were led to the pier where there were plenty of speedboats each accommodating around 44 people. We were first in line. After about 20 minutes when we had a queue of 30 people we were taken to board the boat. As we were in front we had to sit up the front next to the captain. We were well protected from the wind and any spray and could stand and watch whenever we wanted.
Our first stop was the candelabra, a series of lines etched into the side of a hill, we then travelled to the Ballestas and saw Humboldt penguins, seals and various birds as well as spectacular scenery around the rocky islands. The tour took almost 2 hours and was well worth it. We then walked along the shore front and stopped at one of the kiosks and had a Pisco sour. A great way to finish and say goodbye to South America. When we leave tonight around 5 pm we will really feel we are heading home. It is nearly time (4pm) to head for our coffee, we are up on deck 14 overlooking the indoor pool, the sun is out at last and it is 23 degrees.
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