The Six Flags of Peru

We started our day before the light of dawn at 3:30 am, we had a whole day ahead of us planned and it started by a tour bus for three hours.

Our first stop on this trip was to drive three hours to the ocean (specifically to Paracas Islands) to go take a boat to see penguins and sea lions. Before arriving to the ocean we stopped at a small breakfast restaurant and got some bread with cheese on the inside. After breakfast, everybody decided to take naps that lasted almost the entire ride because we got up so early. It was hard for me to sleep because I was stuck in the middle seat and I could not find a comfortable position. When we arrived, our guide gave us some time to browse at all the gift shops but really all that caught my eye was the creepy dolls and what I think to be slightly racist.

We got onto the boat which held about twenty people and started making our way to Paracas Islands. This Island is a protected area where visitors can see sea lions, Humboldt penguins, and Guano birds. The ride was not long it was about fifteen minutes and the waters were pretty calm. When we first arrived to the island we saw only one singular penguin standing and then hopping across the rocks, but when we made our way around, we found a rocky beach where there were a large gathering of seal lions. They were very loud and chaotic and some were mating, which was interesting to watch. Other than these seal lions and a few penguins there was not much else but it was still cool to observe.

We made our way back to land and continued on our bus ride for about fourty five minutes to a restaurant in the pisco vineyards. My parents did wine and pisco tastings while my brother and I fed some goats that would eat just about anything you give them. The bigger ones were also super aggressive and constantly head butting the smaller ones for the leaves and stuff we were feeding them.

The final and most epic destination on this tour was about a one hour drive to an area called Huacachina Oasis in Ica. It is an oasis town surrounded by massive sand dunes. When we arrived we had to get changed on the bus into appropriate gear so the sand would not feel like bullets against our skin. After this, we left the bus and was greeted by a bunch of people trying to sell us things like sunglasses and neck gaurds. Eventually, we made our way to the sand dunes where we walked about ten minutes to the dune buggies that were awaiting us. We were divided into two groups and into two different dune buggies, there were about seven to eight people in each buggy. Our driver asked us if we wanted to go fast or slow, and of course my dad made the decision for everyone and told him to go fast. It all started off easy with a few small drops and turns here and there but the driver was wild and did some crazy maneuvers. After the thrilling ride on the dune buggies, it was time to do some sand boarding. Sand boarding was probably my favorite part of the entire day because you are basicaly flying down these massive sand dunes with sand flying into your mouth, it is basically just like a roller coaster but more chill. After sand boarding, we got back into our dune buggies for round two of more driving in the dunes, our driver continued to be crazy and took some really steep dips and turns. Lastly, we went to a bigger hill for more sand boarding, much more steep and faster than the first.

Sadly, it was time for us to make our way back to our bus and begin our long drive back to Lima. Lima has some of the worst traffic in South America so that was about six or so hours until we finally arrived to our AirB&B. This thrilling adventure concluded our stay in Lima.