The boat ride to Isla Amantani took one hour and was also very emjoyable. Once we got to shore we were greeted by some of the locals. Tonight we were going to be staying with a local family in their homes. Andrew, Ross, and I were grouped together and we got introduced to our new mama, Norma. Norma spoke quecha and spanish, but not english. This was definitely going to be a test for my spanish skills as I seemed to have the best spanish skills out of the three of us.

Norma led us halfway up the island to her home. The walk back took close to 20 minutes up a steep rocky path. When we arrived at Norma´s home, we were greeted and introduced to her three children; Michael (three years old), Lady (seven years old), and Annette (14 years old). Norma then gave each one of us a special hat to wear for the duration of our stay. Each hat was different and was made of alpaca. We then presented our new family with the groceries that we had purchased in Puno. They were very appreciative of the gifts.

Their home was beautiful. It consisted of several buildings overlooking a central courtyard. The buildings were all made of mud bricks, which later on in the day we saw three men making an entire batch of these bricks. Pretty fascinating. Our bedrooms were on the second floor and we had to climb a sketchy wooden ladder in order to gain access. To our surprise, the rooms were really nice. There is no power here, so later on we would have to rely on candle power and our torches.

Andrew and I shared a room, while Ross took the second room; the pink one. We spent a few minutes organizing our belongings. At 4:00 pm Norma called us down from our rooms. We were to follow her to meet with the rest of our group. We walked with Norma up the steep hill for another 20 minutes where we arrived at the sports complex. Tired from the walk up and the lack of oxygen, many people rested on the benches. After a quick rest and a drink of water, several of us began playing high altitude soccer with some of the local children. It didn´t take long for us to run out of breath and get our butts kicked by the local children.

After playing soccer, several of us decided to climb to the top of one of the mountain peaks located on the island. Pachatata (Father Earth), the peak we climbed, is nearly 4,000 m above sea level. There is also another peak on the island, Pachamama (Mother Earth), but we never climbed it. Pachatata also has an Inca ruin on it´s summit.

The view from the top was spectacular and over lookef Lake Titicaca. The sun was also setting. After snapping several photos, I walked around the ruins three times. It is said to bring you good luck. We then made our way back down the mountain and met up with our families once again. Norma led us back to her home. When we arrived back at the home, we headed to our rooms to put away some things and also to wash up for dinner.

Norma called us to dinner so we headed down the ladder and over to another smaller mud building with a thatched roof. This was the kitchen/dining room. In the corner of the room was a small wood burning stove where Norma was busy boiling some food. Michael was sitting on her lap, while Lady and Annette sat beside them on the floor. We were told to sit at the table, so we did. The room was very dark and was lit by three candles, and also from the small fire in the stove.

It seemed a little awkward because of the language barrier between us. Norma introduced her children and told us their ages. We then took turns in introducing ourselves, by saying our names, ages, and where we come from all in spanish. At this point our dinner was ready. Lady served us our meals. We had kenwa soup, rice, and vegetables mixed with pasta noodles. It was very basic, but the taste was amazing! None of us could finish our meals. I kinda felt bad, but they did not get offended. Instead they took our leftovers that we couldn´t finish and put them off to the side. They would find another way to reuse them, either as food or compost.

After esting we felt the need to help out. After some terrible english/spanish attempt at describing washing dishes, Norma understood and provided us with a tub full of water. Ross washed and I dried. Andrew supervised. After washing all of the dishes I felt the need to entertain the children. When I was younger I used to work in a restaurant. This particular skill that I was about to demonstrate was towel origami. I folded the dish towel and with a quick flick of the towel, I magically transformed it into a chicken. ¨Grande pollo¨ I said. They all understood and laughed out loud, especially Lady. She really thought it was funny. Norma was also laughing, but I´m sure she was probably wondering why there was a crazy gringo in her kitchen playing with her dish towels.

We then got up and followed Annette into the courtyard where she provided us with ponchos. DOning our ponchos and our new hats, we followed Annette back up the steep rocky path to the town hall. It was now time for drinks and dance. Everyone else from our group also arrived dressed to impress. I bought Annette a Coca-Cola and myself a grande cerveza. The band started playing traditional music and we all started dancing.

For the first song I danced with Georgina. At first we weren´t too sure of the dance moves, so we just improvised. Soon enough we figured out the dance moves, as they were very basic. For the second song an older Peruvian lady grabbed me by the arm and hauled me out to the dance floor. Ross managed to film me dancing with the lady before he also got dragged out to dance. The dancing was exhausting, especially at the higher altitude. We spent the next hour dancing and drinking.

Something else that has become familiar to me in Peru, is that every Peruvian band that I´ve seen or heard, plays their own version of El Cóndor Pasa (Flight of the Condor). You may be familiar with Paul Simon´s version.

After our fiesta we made our way back down to our home and went to sleep.

Today we all got to sleep in. I woke up at 6:30 am and to my amazement I had a hot shower. It felt great! After eating breakfast we all met in the hotel lobby at 7:30 am and headed to the local market. Tonight we were going to be staying with a local family on Isla Amantani so we needed to bring them some gifts. Everyone stocked up on fruits and vegetables to give to their family.

After grocery shopping we all headed back to the hotel where our limousines were waiting to take us to the harbour. Since we were only spending one night on the lake, I loaded up my day pack with only the essentials. I left my main backpack at the hotel.

At 8:00 am we went outside to hop in our lims. Hehehe…. These so called limos that David promised us were actually tuk tuks, or bicycle takis. Ross and I shared one.

The journey to the harbour was a lot of fun. In total we had seven tuk tuks cruising down the hilly streets of Puno. It almost seemed like a race. Some of the tuk tuks even had stereo systems blasting out the tunes. One of them was playing Bryan Adams, which seemed a little odd, given the song that was playing (¨Everything I Do¨).

Once we got to the harbour we were escorted by our new guide, Gizcart, to a boat called the Latino. The Latino would take us to our first stop of the day, Isla Taquile. The journey took nearly four hours. I really enjoyed the boat ride. In fact I spent most of the ride having a ciesta on the upper balcony enjoying the fresh air and cool breeze. When I closed my eyes it kinda reminded me of being in a boat back home on the Red River.

Once we got to shore on Isla Taquile, we had to hike up an incredibly steep hill, and then continue on the the other side of the island where the village was located. The hike took around 30 minutes and followed a beautiful stone path. At the village I looked around the market and then went for lunch.

Life on Isla Taquile is very basic. For lunch we were all invited to one of the restaurants. All of the restaurants have the exact same menus and prices. Everything is set. In fact, we didn´t even get to choose which restaurant to eat at. That decision was made for us by one of the community leaders. For lunch I had rainbow trout (from Lake Titicaca), with rice, potatoes, and some vegetables. The meal was very basic, but it was delicious. The trout was amazing! I also learned that the rainbow trout in Lake Titicaca are actually Canadian! Hooray, some relatives! I also had kenwa soup.

After lunch Gizcart gave us an explanation of the local customs. We then were given the opportunity to but some souvenirs. After some more impulse shopping, we made our way down to the lake, where our boat was waiting for us. Our next stop was the next island over, Isla Amantani, where we would be spending the night with a local family. I´ll create a separate post for this.

This morning I woke up at 5:30 am. Can you guess what I did? That´s right, cold shower and breakfast. Today we were leaving the Colca Valley and heading to Puno, which is located on the shores of Lake Titicaca. Lake Titicaca is also the world´s highest navigable body of water sitting at 3,830 m above sea level.

The bus ride was pretty uneventful and took close to eight hours. Once again we had to pass through Patapampa Pass, and then we would be able to take a different road to Puno. I used the time on the bus to catch up on my travel writing. At one point along the way we stopped along the roadside where some locals from the Puno area had tables setup to sell various textiles. I bought a couple of things and got back on the bus.

Once we got to Puno we checked into our hotel, Hotel Pukora, and then David gave us a quick walking tour of the town. Everything that we needed was on Jr Lima, which is a pedestrian thoroughfare.

After the quick tour we went for a bite to eat. I had a pizza with smoked alpace sausage. It was really good! After eating we had a briefing with David about the upcomiong days that we would be spending on Lake Titicaca. After the briefing I checked my e-mail and then went to bed. I had a hard time falling asleep as there was a discotheque next door and the music was really loud. I weventually got used to the music and fell asleep.

Today I woke up at 5:30 am and did the usual: had a shower and ate breakfast. The only thing different about today is that it´s my 30th birthday. At breakfast Georgina gave me a bread roll with a candle shoved in it. After breakfast we all got back on the bus. Today we were going to Cruz del Condor (Condor Cross), which is 1,200 m above the canyon river, to see the giant Andean condors. Once the bus started moving, David grabbed the microphone and made the announcement that it was my birthday. He then started singing Happy Birthday and everyone else joined in.

The drive to Cruz del Condor was simply amazing. The Colca Valley is such a beautiful place. The drive to Cruz del Condor took around one and a half hours. We drove up out of the valley and then along the rim of Colca Canyon, the world´s deepest canyon. There were a lot of other touristas at Cruz del Condor when we arrived. Most of the good viewing points were already taken, so I improvised. I climbed a large boulder over hanging the canyon. What a perfect spot!

Right away I could see eight or nine condors soaring below in the canyon. This morning the weather was cooler than normal, so the condors seemed to be staying lower in the canyon where it is warmer. About an hour or so of little action, our patience finally paid off. A giant condor soared right in front of me! These things are huge! Their wingspans can reach 3.5 m. Watching the condors´majestic flight was quite mesmerizing.

After watching the condors we hiked along the rim of the canyon for the next two hours. As we hiked, more condors soared over our heads. After the hike we got on the bus and worked our way back to Chivay. Andrew, a pharmacy student from Boston, was experiencing severe effects from the altitude. He was also taking Diamox. Go figure. Jesus got out the oxygen tank and placed the mask over Andrew´s face. After sucking back a few Os for a few minutes, Andrew appeared to be feeling better and had regained some colour in his face. This was a good thing.

Back in Chivay we explored the market place. Russ and I each bought a Peruvian ocarina before heading back to the bus. Russ and I were the first to arrive back at the bus and we had a plan. We sat on a bench by the bus and waited for the rest of the group to arrive. Some of the group were walking toward us so I gave Ross the cue. Ross dropped his hat on the sidewalk. We then played our ocarinas and danced like complete idiots. To our surprise we never received any tips. I guess I won´t quit my day job.

Once again we all got back on the bus and headed to our next stop: La Calera Hot Springs. The hot springs were very soothing and it felt great to relax.

We then made our way back to our hotel in Coporaque for dinner. To my surprise, after we all finished eating, a Peruvian lady came out of the kitchen carrying a chocolate cake with one lit candle. I was completely surprised. I never expected to have a birthday cake. Everyone sang happy birthday one more time. After eating birthday cake and drinking coca tea, we all retired to our rooms to pack our bags and get some sleep.

Thanks to everyone who made this a special birthday. I will never forget this day.

At 7:30 am my alarm clock went off. I was quite surprised that I actually got a good night´s rest. I had another cold shower and went for breakfast. Man what a view! Arequipa is definitely my favourite city that I´ve visited in Peru so far. I only wish we had more time here.

Now we were supposed to catch a bus at 8:30 am, but the bus had some mechanical problems, so we waited until 9:30 am for a new bus. I didn´t mind as this gave me an extra hour to walk around, and also to find a bank machine.

At 9:30 am we all hopped on our bus, which would tak us high up into the Andes. We were all feeling the effects of the altitude, some more than others. Most of the group was taking Diamox to help with the acclimitization. I didn´t take any as I wanted to go au naturel. Besides, there is no valid proof that Diamox really works.

For this leg of the journey we had a different tour guide, Jesus (pronounced hey Zeus). David was still with us. Our destination today was a small village named Coparaque located in the Colca Valley. The journey would take seven hours. Although it was a long drive, it sure didn´t feel like it.

As usual the scenery was spectacular. We saw a lot of alpacas, llamas, and vicuñas along the way. We also reached the highest point of this trip, Patapampa Pass. Patapampa Pass sits at 4,910 m above sea level. A few people in our group were having a hard time adjusting to the altitude. I was surprisingly doing really well. In fact I even got out of th bus and went for a quick hike. It was slightly windy and cool outside. I wore my toque and fleece.

The ground here is extremely rocky and there are litterly thousands of stone statues or rock piles called apachietas. It is said that if you create your own apachieta you get to make a wish. I created my apachieta, made a wish, and got back on the bus. From this point on the road was mostly downhill, winding it´s way down into the Colca Valley. We finally got our first view of the terraces used for farming.

At one point we stopped to take some pictures of the valley. A Peruvian lady was there with her daughter and a baby alpaca. Both the alpaca and the little girl were extremely cute. I took some photos with the baby alpaca and the little girl in exchange for a couple soles. The little girl then gave me several rocks in exchange. I hopped back on the bus. A minute later Jesus boarded the bus and asked if we would mind having a couple extra passengers. So we ended up giving the little girl and the baby alpaca a ride to the town of Chivay. The alpaca was so funny on the bus. It kept making baby alpaca sounds. I really wanted to put the alpaca in my backpack and bring it home with me.

We got to Chivay (3,633 m) and said adios to the little girl and the baby alpaca, before going for lunch. After a wonderful lunch and coca tea with a live Peruvian band, we explored Chivay for a bit and then headed to the hostal, Mama Yacchi.

After checking into our rooms, a bunch of us went for a hike up a small peak to explore some ancient ruins. Along the way we passed two little girls from the vilage. They must have known that we were going up the trail as they had a little table setup to sell things to us. We took some photos and gave them some soles. Further up the trail there were two more girls. This time they wanted to sing us a song. They performed their song twice; once in español and once in quecha. It was cute and we also gave them some soles.

We continued up the trail and took some photos of the ruins and the valley below. The sun was starting to set so we made our way back to the hostal just in time for dinner. After dinner Andrew, Elona, Ross, and I all sat around the fire and played cards. Asshole was the game of choice.

At 9:00 pm we all headed off to bed as we needed to wake up at 5:30 am the next morning.

After the long bus ride, I really wanted to have a nap. Instead, after checking into my room I headed to the third floor patio for breakfast. My jaw dropped as soon as I stepped out onto the patio. I could not believe the view, it was amazing! Towering right in front of me were three Andean mountains: Chachani, Misti Volcano, and Pichu Pichu. What a site! I snapped several photos before grabbing some food and some coca tea. I sat facing the mountains.

After breakfast David took us for a walk around the city. I must say that Arequipa is absolutely astonishing and is much prettier than Lima. The streets in Arequipa are not paved, they are made of bricks. The sidewalks are not concrete, they are made of granite slabs.

At some point during our walk we came across a protest. I´m not sure what the people were protesting about, but thankfully they didn´t get violent. The policia were out in full force and were prepared in case things got out of control.

We then walked around the Plaza de Armas and took some photos before heading to the Andean Sanctuary Museum. The museum was quite impressive and had many exhibits, including mummies and artifacts from the Inca Empire. The main exhibit is a tiny girl named Juanita, the Ice Maiden of Ampato. Juanita´s frozen body was found on the summit of Mount Ampato in 1995. Today her frozen body is fully preserved and is on display in the museum. Juanita was sacrificed by Inca priests on the volcano´s summit.

We then went for lunch. Five of us stopped at another restaurant with a rooftop terrace. Andrew and I shared a pizza and I drank another cafe con leche. The rest of the day was spent wandering around the city. We visited many shops and markets. This city is awesome! I wish I had more time to spend here.

For dinner, Andrew, Ross, and I ate at the top of another building. This one was quite higher than the last restaurant. We all noticed the altitude as we climbed the stairs to the top of this building. Once again the view spectacular. Our table overlooked the Plaze de Armas. I ordered the chicken soup again as my stomach still wasn´t 100 percent. I also drank some more coca tea.

After dinner we headed back to the hostal. It was 9:00 pm by the time we got back and I was absolutely shagged. I had barely gotten any sleep the past two nights and I was really looking forward to sleeping in an actual bed. The bed felt like a million bucks. It had a foam mattress and a down blanket. I laid down and within minutes I was asleep.

I really can´t think of anything positive to describe the night bus to Arequipa. This was now my second night in a row that I wouldn´t be sleeping in a proper bed. The bus departed at 11:30 pm and was scheduled to arrive in Arequipa some time around 8:30 am the following morning.

The bus was a double decker with decent seats. Decent meaning that you didn´t need to sleep in them. I sat with Georgina again and we chatted for about an hour or so. It was at that point that we were told to shut up as everyone else on the bus was trying to sleep. Neither of us were tired. So we just turned it down a notch. A while later we decided that it would be best if we both got some sleep.

I shut my eyes, but that´s as far as my sleep went. It was absolutely impossible to fall asleep. The road to Arequipa passes through the Andes mountains, so the road was extremely curvey and steep in some areas. Perhaps it was a good thing that we couldn´t see the road we were travelling on. I´m sure someone would have died of a heart attack if they had seen the road!

To top things off, off driver drove like a madman! I glanced through a crack in the curtains along the front window of the upper deck, where we were sitting, and I could see that the we were travelling in both lanes of the highway. Keep in mind this is a two-way road!

There were even several times when the bus tires would squeel because the driver was going too fast around the corners. Sitting in the upper deck probably didn´t make things better as the bus seemed more tippier up top.

Then sometime around 5:00 am a little kid woke up and started kicking and screaming. Then a while later the kid started singing. WTF! The kids parents didn´t even do anything. Instead they just sang alng with him. Again, WTF!

Finally the sun began to rise and I got my first glimpse of snow peaked Andean mountains. This was the highlight of the bus trip. We arrived at the bus station in Arequipa an hour early and then headed to our hostal: Hostal Solar.

After being released from the hospital, David and I flagged down a taxi and headed back to the hotel. We got to the hotel at around 9:15 am. Everyone was already on board the bus waiting for me so that we could all go to the airport in Nasca for our flightover the Nasca Lines. Obviously I wasn´t ready to go, so David arranged for me to have a private driver to the airport and everyone could leave right away.

I returned to my room, had a quick shower, changed my clothes, and then hopped in the car. The driver took me to the Nasca airport. We sat around the airport for around 20 minutes before it was our turn to get into a plane. Since our group was large, we were split up into thre groups. I was in the third group. Russ and Georgina were also in my group and they insisted that I should sit in the front seat since I had just recovered from certain doom rather quickly. I´m not one to pass up on an opportunity like this, so I agreed to sit in the front.

After a quick take off, we soon approached the first Nasca Line along our flight path: the whale. I couldn´t believe I was actually looking at the Nasca Lines with my own eyes. I was speachless.

Our pilot flew us all over the area, showing us most of the famous Nasca Lines, such as the monkey, spider, hummingbird, condor, and the astronaut. I handled the flight without any hiccups, even with the pilot making sharp banking turns and stomach dropping stalls. It was wicked!

The flight lasted 30 minutes. We got back into our bus where we had a local tour guide named Susy for the day. Susy took us to a local pottery shop where we were shown how traditional Nasca pottery is created. This was really interesting. I really wanted to buy some pottery, but I´ve still got a lot of time left in Peru and I was afraid that it would get broken.

We then headed back out into the desert to a 700 year old cemetary. This particular cemetary had been raided by grave robbers. We saw lots of skeletons inside graves that had been dug out. It was a pretty grim place.

After the cemetary we returned to Nasca town for lunch. I was extremely hungry at this point as I hadn´t eaten in nearly 24 hours. After eating lunch, a few of us wandered around the streets of Nasca before catching a cab back to the hotel. This time I had the opportunity to barter with the taxi driver. At first he wanted five soles, but I managed to get him down to just four soles

We still had a few hours to kill, so I figured I would write a new blog entry and check my e-mail. I also phoned my mother and wished her a happy birthday.

We then met for dinner. This is when I found out that David also got sick. Oh yeah, Russ was also not feeling well either. Both had come down with diarreah. We figured that it could have been from the ceviche that we all ate on Sunday night as the three of us all had the same type of ceviche. Who knows for sure.

I ordered some Peruvian penicillin (chicken noodle soup) and what David referred to as magic tea. At ten o´clock we hopped on a bus that dropped us off at the bus station in Nasca where we would catch the night bus to Arequipa.

David, our trip leader, told us the bus ride from Huacachina to Nasca would tak three hours. Right away we all assumed that it would take longer. Once again we were right. We left Huacachina shortly after 5:00 pm. I sat with Georgina, a personal trainer from Australia. Once again the view from the bus wasn´t too spectacular. Lots of shanti towns, graffiti, and garbage.

This bus that we were on didn´t have air conditioning and it was getting hot. We opened a couple of windows to get a nice breeze and some air circulation. The fresh air felt great, but I still did not feel right. I knew something was wrong.

I felt it getting hotter on the bus and I started sweating heavily. My stomach then got really sore and I felt like I needed to vomit. I felt really weak and I wasn´t able to shout to the driver to stop the bus. I tapped Georgina on the shoulder and told her that I needed to get off the bus right away. She shouted to the bus driver and he pulled the bus over onto the shoulder of the Pan American Highway.

I struggled my way to the front of the bus, desperately trying not to vomit on anybody. Thankfully I made it off the bus. That was a relief. I walked behind the bus and dropped to my knees to assume the position. I immediately threw up most of my lunch on the side of the highway. I´m sure I´m not the first gringo to do this and I´m sure I won´t be the last.

After I finished my job, I hopped back on the bus. I felt like shit. To make things worse, we still had at least another two hours until we would reach Nasca town. The sun was now setting and it was getting dark fast. Now one thing to note about the roads in Peru is that they are vey bumpy and curvey. This did not help me what so ever, especially when it got dark and the roads became more unpredictable to see fom the bus.

My condition was getting worse and David was getting concerned. At some point I signalled to Georgina that I needed off the bus again. We stopped in some small town. I had an even harder time getting off the bus this time. I made it off the bus and I followed David as we crossed the dirt road to the bus station. David begged the counter attendent to let me use the restroom. After some persuasion, the lady let me in the bathroom.

Before I continue with my story, let me set the stage for this next scene by describing the bus station bathroom. So far in my experiences with Peruvian toilets, I have found that toilet seats are a rare commodity. This particular toilet also didn´t have a toilet seat, so not a big surprise. The bathroom had a small sink and a broken miror. In the corner there was a hot water tank, well I think it was a hot water tank.

The bathroom was absoluely disgusting. I don´t think it has ever ben cleaned. The floor was covered wih urine and fecal matter. There was a stained towel that resembled a dirty oil rag used by an auto mechanic. Peruvian toilets also lack toilet paper. You have to supply your own. Luckily most street vendors sell toilet paper. In fact, some street vendors specialize in toilet paper. This bathroom also didn´t have toilet paper. In my books, this bathroom defined shit hole.

Note: This is going to get a little graphic from this point on. If you don´t want to know what happened, then I suggest you read something else.

Now back to my story…

I rushed into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. I didn´t make it to my knees this time and I started vomitting all over the toilet. Most of my projectiles made it into the toilet bowl, while the rest ended up else where. I have never puked so hard in my life. I must have sounded like an animal being slaughtered. My eyes were watereing a lot and this caused my vision to partially blur. The amount of energy I expelled was unreal. I think I actually did some damage to my abs.

I stood there for a minute thinking about what to do next. David interrupted with a knock on the door. He had some toilet paper for me. I grabbed the toilet paper from him and then cleaned myself up. I was pretty embarassed leaving the bathroom as I had left it in worse condition than it was originally in. I tossed five soles on the counter, said ¨graçias¨ and made my way back to the bus.

The remainder of the bus ride was absolutely horrible. I was in a lot of pain and I was completely out of it. Once we got to Nasca we had to travel another 5 km down a bumpy gravel road. Once we arrived at the hotel someone gave me a hand getting off the bus and escorted me to my room, while someone else carried my bags. I remember being extremely cold. I got to my room and headed straight for the bathroom. I spent the next five minutes or so relieving myself through both ends. I have neve dry heaved as bad as this ever. My abs got quite the workout.

Once again david came to the rescue. He told me that we needed to go to the hospoital immediately. I agreed. So David escorted me to the taxi and we headed back into Nasca town. We checked into the hospital and I was then taken to an examination room. The nurse did not speak english, only spanish. Thankfully David was there to translate. Things would have been a lot worse if David wasn´t there.

The nurse checked my temperature and blood pressure while interrogating me. It became evident that my condition was worsening, so they decided to give me an injection that would control my fever and hopefully ease some of the intense stomach pain that I was feeling.

They jammed the needle into my left butt cheek just below my hip.The pain from the injection was extremely painful and it slowly worked its way down my left leg. The nurse massaged my leg to try and ease the pain as I laid helplessly on the bed curled up in the fetal position. Once the pain eased, the nurse took a blood sample and hooked me up to an intravenous as I had become severly dehydrated.

I was going nowhere this night. To make things worse, today was my mother´s birthday and I was planning to phone her to wish her a happy birthday. This never happened. Sorry Mom.

The nurse brought a wheelchair into the room and pointed at it indicating for me to get in. I got off the bed and I was unable to stand on my left leg as it was still sore from the injection. The nurse wheeled me into my room and I climbd into my bed for the night. David then explained everything I would need to know for the rest of the night. He was leaving the hospital to head back to the hotel. I believe it was now around 11:00 pm. David would return at 8:00 am the next morning to pick me up.

The night was extremely long and I didn´t get much sleep. The nurse wanted me to get a poo sample so that they could run some tests. I made my way to the bathroom, which wasn´t much cleaner than the bathroom in the small town. Luckily I had my own toilet paper and I was able to make the biggest toilet paper birds nest possible. There was no way that I was going to touch anything! Anyways, I was unable to get a sample for the nurse, so after all my handy work, I returned to my room. A while later the nurse came to check on me. I pointed to my bum and said ¨no caca.¨ The nurse was disappointed, but understood.

As promised, David returned to the hospital at 8:00 am to pick me up. Although I didn´t get much sleep that night, I was feeling much better. The doctors came by to see how I was feeling and then I was free to go. We left the roach infested hospital and took a taxi back to the hotel at 9:00 am.

Once again we had another early morning. I had a quick shower and headed up to the rooftop restaurant for breakfast. Quita a nice view overlooking a small shanti town and Paracas Bay. I had a good laugh at everyone as they complained about dogs barking all night. Since I was in the dungeon I didn´t hear anything and slept like a mummy in it´s tomb. There did seem to be lots of dogs roaming around again.

After breakfast we headed over to the boardwalk where we would eventually hop on a boat that would take us to the Ballestas Islands. We had to wait for the visibility to improve before we could head out inthe boats, so we spent the next 30 minutes wandering around Paracas. In 2007 there was a massive earthquake that rocked the area. Pisco, the next town over was nearly destroyed. In Paracas you can see signs of damage from the quake.

We finally got on the boat, which seats close to 30 people, and headed out to the sea. Within five minutes the captain stopped the boat and we were able to see lots of dolpphins. After watching the dolphins for a few minutes, we continued to our next objective, the Candelabro.

The Candelabro is a huge drawing carved into a cliff overlooking Paracas Bay. Some say that it is some how related to the Paracas or Nasca culture.

We then moved on to the Ballestas Islands, which are a series of islands that are literally painted with bird shit, aka guano. The islands are littered with birds, including humboldt penguins, red boobies, turkey vultures, and red-footed cormorants. There were even lots of sea lions. Overall it was pretty cool to visit the islands. I found the tour guide rather annoying as he wouldn´t stop talking…ever! I kept trying to take videos to capture some of the audio from the sea and the animals, well that never really happened.

Once back on land we hopped on board a private bus and headed to a pisco winery (bodega) located just outside of Ica. We went on a tour where they showed us how pisco is made. After the tour we were all treated to many free pisco samples. We all left the winery with huge grins on our faces.

We then hopped back in the bus and headed off to Huacachina Laguna, which ia a gorgeous oasis in the middle of the desert. Right away we changed our clothes and slapped on some sunscreen. I´m not sure what the temperature was this day, but it was really hot!

Nine of us then climbed into a giant dune buggy and our driver put the peddle to the metal and drove us all out into the desert. Driving around in the dune buggy was a blast! It was a lot like riding a rollercoaster with speeds reaching up to 90 km/hr.

We eventually came to a stop, took some photos, and then we strapped on our sand boards to tear up the sand dunes. Sand boarding is a lot harder than it looks. On my first attempt down a dune, I cruised for a few seconds with ease, but when I went to make my first carve in the sand, my body instantly went into a flying cartwheel and I went rolling down the dune. Sand got everywhere! Russ and I were the only two to sand board standing on our feet, eeryone else laid on their stomach to go down the hill.

I never really did get very good on the sand board. Im going to blame it on the bindings. The sand boards that we were using did not have the typical bindings used on most snowboards. Instead, the bindings were simply velcro straps. These velcro bindings don´t offer much ankle support and they would come undone everytime I tried to carve. I ate a lot of sand this day.

After sand boarding we tore up the sand dunes some more in the dune buggy before heading back to the oasis. I immediately emptied the sand out of my shoes and hopped in the shower. After a quick rinse and a change of clothes, we all ordered some drinks and food. I had lamb with some type of beans. It tasted great! We sat around by the pool for a while before packing up our belongings and getting back on the bus. Our next destination was Nasca.

I´m going to save this next part for a separate post as it really should have it´s own post.