Pisco, Peru

Our journey continues further into the Southern Hemisphere, where the seas have been mostly calm with fairly easy one metre swells, the breezes have been gentle and temperatures have varied from the low 20s, at sea, to around 30C, when ashore. For the most part we are enjoying very pleasant sailing conditions and comfortable trips ashore.

Our most recent port of call was Pisco (also known as San Martín) which is situated approximately 240 km south of Lima and was established in 1640, by the Spanish, for the export of ‘pisco’ - a type of brandy which is made by distilling fermented grape juice.
Pisco Sour is a very popular local drink.

Our trip ashore followed our usual pattern of taking a bus to a local town, and doing some exploring.
Our chosen destination was the very small town of Paracas - population around 4,000 - which hosts the activities of the local inshore fishing fleet, and is also a rest stop for back packers.
Just off shore their are several small islands which are home to seals, turtles and and a variety of sea birds. Although sightseeing around the islands, via numerous craft in a variety of shapes, and sizes, was available, we chose to wander, explore a little and people watch.

Our plan was to walk for a while, and later, find a shady patio and relax with a beverage of some description. After walking for an hour, or so, we came across the perfect little place at the side of the malecon. By the time we took our seats, around 10:00 am, still quite early, the sun was up and it had become fairly warm, certainly too warm for coffee. As it happened the little cafe had a great selection of local beers and we succumbed to temptation and drank a couple of 8% alcohol IPAs. As you can imagine, we were a little cross eyed when we got up to continue our walk.
All good, there is no work tomorrow.
View from the bus window - this area is total desert and so very arid.

These two little ones were so excited, and very surprised, to be given a Werther’s 
hard candy by Christine.

The fishing fleet in the bay

Refreshment time - a little too early in the day perhaps but very enjoyable.

Ceviche - raw fish and various seafood marinated in lime juice.

Backpacker Hostel, one of several. 

Summertime beach side fairground

Local taxi - modified motor cycle and commonly referred to as a Tuc Tuc.

Typical unpaved side street and warning sign to be aware of tsunami potential.

Comments

  1. Gail Hind31 January 2020 at 14:14

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ed and Christine7 February 2020 at 12:56

    Thanks Gail - pleased that you are enjoying our travel stories.
    Christine asked me to do this for her, and although I don’t always get to it right away, it is fun.
    Take care and keep safe.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Buenos Aires, Argentina - Day 1

Image
Lots to do and lots to see! We are very fortunate to have visited Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina, a couple of times previously and this allowed us to make the most of our recent two day visit. We were out and about on our first day, as soon as our ship had been given clearance, in the early afternoon, by the customs and immigration authorities and on the second day were were on the go by 8:30am. We had two busy days of walking, and busing, in 30C temperatures and high humidity, while covering almost 18km by foot. Buenos Aires is a large city which has a population of close to 3 million people, in the central area, and almost 13 million for the greater metro district. It is a very busy city and, in some areas, has quite large crowds which hinder easy pedestrian progress.  In general terms, I would describe this city as one which has a variety of architectural styles, very wide boulevards bounding areas of very narrow streets, many mature and leafy trees, lots of publ
Read more

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Image
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the home of the Cariocas, as Rio’s residents are known. Locals proudly say that while God made the world in six days, on the seventh day he made Rio de Janeiro - the sensual home of samba, soccer and Carnival. And, now it is also home to the statue of Christ the Redeemer, Sugar Loaf mountain and the famous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 1500s, the area around what is now Rio de Janeiro was occupied by the indigenous people’s of the Tupi, Puri, Botocudo and Maxakali tribes. The climate is tropical with temperatures in the high 20s C and so very humid. The city of Rio was founded by the Portuguese on March 1st, 1565. Today there is an estimated population of  6.5 million and, now, the city is one of so many contrasts. There are hills, there are tunnels, there are trains, buses and cars, there are bicycles and motorcycles, there are horrendous traffic jams, there are pedestrians everywhere, and there is noise, const
Read more

Glacier Alley, Patagonia, Chile

Image
We have enjoyed several busy days recently and although a couple of those days were spent on board while enjoying scenic cruising, they were no less active than our shore days, and I did neglect the blog while being otherwise distracted. It is quite amazing, while spending a whole day on-board, just how far we actually walk, easily logging 4 or 5 km and numerous sets of stairs, while doing our best to counter the calorie intake from the wonderful food we are consuming. After leaving Punta Arenas, we were on our way towards our next port of call, Ushuaia, Argentina, partly by sailing in a westerly direction along the Straits of Magellan and then, turning towards the south east, into a channel commonly referred to as Glacier Alley.   Glacier Alley is an amazing string of tidewater glaciers, which are part of the Darwin Ice Field, arrayed along the north shore of the Beagle Channel and surrounded by snow capped peaks and tidal fiords. Photographs, and words, can never depict the enorm
Read more