Pisco & Nazca

 Yesterday we travelled to Pisco, and went to the Ballestas Islands in the Paracas National Park. Here there are a penguins and seals, as well as a “candelabra” carved into the side of a hill. I’m gonna be honest, the candelabra and nazca lines are in my opinion overrated. Even if we accept at face value they were created 500BCE, it’s clear they’ve been added to and damaged along the way. If you find yourself in this region of Peru, pay the 7sol to go to the viewing platform and save yourself the $130 flight.

The trip commences

 And now I’m on the road for the first of 28 days of an intrepid tour. 

Yesterday I had time to go shopping and found a beautiful outdoor mall on the top of a cliff looking out over the Pacific. 

And that’s 42! Welcome to Peru

As I land in Lima, Peru, I note with much happiness that this is the 42nd country I have visited. Poca a poca I will get to my goal of 100 countries visited!

On the road again

 Today I depart Aruba and head back to San Jose to pickup my larger backpack. This marks the end of travelling with a small carryon only backpack, as now I need to carry hiking gear, including sleeping bag, poles, warmer gear, etc. These are far too large to fit in a small carryon bag, so now I’ll be checking luggage and at the whims of airlines as to whether I get my bags!

Aruba!

 

I’m still alive, I realised i haven’t posted in a week. I’ve just landed in Aruba to meet up with the wonderful person who helped me back in January in Madrid and Bogotá. See the posts back then for the “fun” I had. She invited me to come to Aruba and meet her family, and here I am! 

I will endeavour to post something in a few days, but I’m in Aruba for a week. I gotta get myself a tan!

End of Panama trip, beginning of idle time

Today marks the last day of the Intrepid Costa Rica to Panama trip. It’s been great. I think I enjoyed the Guatemala to Costa Rica better, but this leg was still awesome. 

Tropical beaches are easy to love

Bocas del Tora is a very popular tropical destination in Panama and it’s easily to see why. It’s very beautiful here, and the beaches and swimming is fantastic. While it is expensive here, but only compared to other places in Panama and Latin America. I’ll be in Bermuda in a couple of weeks and I’ll be able to compare the quality vs cost, but I suspect Bocas del Tora at this time of year will come out on top of that equation.

The only sad note is the coral is all dead so while snorkelling is nice, it’s nothing to what it must have been.