PAracas national reserve

 

 

We left from Ica early in the morning on a small minibus heading towards the small town of Paracas, one hour north. This is the last last leg of our journey. Paracas is a small fishing village that sits at the edge of a huge national reserve. The lands are barren and were once the floor of an ocean, so you can still find small fish and she'll fossils on the ground. The landscape is all yellows and red...the yellow are sand adn the red is the rock left over from the time when this land was once volcanic. This is also the place of the ancient Paracas people. There have been several tombs found in the are, including the somewhat famous mummies with elongated heads. The current theory is that the upper class purposely forced their babies heads into this shape (and that they are NOT aliens). There is a museum begin developed in the area. It is still in building phase, but was very impressive, detailing the geologic history of the land and will soon have mummies form the areas as well. Clean bathrooms--always a plus. A quick stop for some amazing sea food, a look at the birds...adn unfortunately a lot of Dead Sea lions washed up on the shore...then back to our hotel for the night. TOmorrow is a boat ride to the Ballena Isalnd to see penguins, then a bus ride to LIma.... We are two and a half sleeps away from home now. One night in Paracas, one in Lima and then another red eye back to Canada. We are all looking forward to sleeping in our bed, in our house. ..  

L