Day 3 in Ica was packed with an insane amount of activities and tourist hot spots. We started the day at 6:30am and had free breakfast at the hotel. There were tomales, cut up hotdogs, bread rolls, bowls of fruit, cereal, ham, cheese, and what I assumed to be Peruvian bacon. Not to my surprise there were room temperature smoothies available in mango, pineapple, and guava flavor. After breakfast we loaded up in the vans and headed to Paracas. As we were nearing our destination, I was excited to see the ocean since all we had really seen up until that point was the city of Ica and a variety of ruins and deserts.
Anyway, when we got to Paracas there was a boat waiting to take us on a tour of the Islas Ballestas. While on the tour we saw penguins, sea lions, hundreds of birds, seals, and vultures occupying the same islands. According to our tour guide, many of the birds or “aves” were endangered because so many of the conquerors had killed them off since their feces or “guano” made for a rich fertilizer. After the government passed an emergency act trying to preserve the birds, it became a rule that if you killed birds off in the process of collecting their feces, you would have to wait 3-5 years before you can do so again. I was able to take some pretty cool pictures of the animals and a couple of videos of the area we were touring. I even caught a seal fight on video since I was sure my guy cousins back at home would be interested in seeing that sort of thing.
When the boat tour was over we got off and explored the markets in Paracas. I bought a lot of souvenirs for friends and family, haggling the way my mom had taught me. I picked up a lot of cool stuff like purses, earrings, necklaces, and the “chocotejas,” chocolates specific and popular of Ica. I also got some lighters and Inca figures for my uncle.
After Paracas we saw the “Candelabra” figure in the sand. According to the tour guide, the figure can either be explained by two phenomena: 1) it is a map of some ancient treasure or 2) it is the tree of life.
After, we made our way to the wine factory and learned all about the wine-making process. We learned that the wine and liquor specific to Ica is the sweetest because the climate is so consistent. It is always sunny and thus the grapes that are used for the wine are sweet and juicy. We tasted about 4 or 5 different wines and liquors, the first 2 were sweet red wines, the next 2 were Pisco sour liquor (very popular in Peru), and the last resembled Baileys. I bought 3 bottles of alcohol, the first wine we had tasted which was my favorite, the Pisco Sour for my uncles to try, and a bottle of Peruvian Baileys for my sister. I also bought some grape chocotejas so that my aunts can try some of the famous chocolate when I get back. Hopefully I won’t have any problems bringing these particular souvenirs back to the states.
I was excited to hear that we were finally going to sand dunes after the wine tasting to buggy boarding. The opportunity was, for sure, once in a lifetime and I was super eager to get to the dunes. We arrived and got onto the special cars made to drive through the sand. To my surprise, the ride up the hills in itself was an adventure. Apparently, our driver, Alfredo, was the craziest driver of them all which I believed after he sped through the desert and jumped every hill he could find, no matter how monstrous in size. We stopped and parked to take some nice pictures with the hills in the background and finally found a big enough hill to surf down. Most people chose to slide down on their stomachs but the first time around I thought I could carve my way down just as I do when snowboarding. Unfortunately the straps on the board were too big for my feet and I ended up struggling and stumbling until I reached the middle of the slope. I finally gave up and jumped on my stomach, sliding my way down to the rest of the group. We had 3 turns down, riding down progressively larger and steeper hills. Around sundown, we drove to this spot in the desert that was great for taking pictures. We took turns taking jumping pictures, all sorts of silly pictures, and pictures of the group altogether with the drivers.
Little did I know there was another surprise waiting for us after the buggy boarding. We drove back to our vans but stopped before an oasis of water and lights in the middle of the desert. The story goes that there was a woman who was dressing herself near the water when a man stumbled upon her and watched until she was fully clothed. The woman, looking into a mirror, saw the man run away before she could catch him staring. She then dropped the mirror and it shattered and brought everywhere but a small section of the area to a complete desert. It is said that ever y year someone mysteriously drowns in the lake around the time that she died. I’m not sure if I believe the story but I am in complete awe of the oasis.
Although we were all exhausted after sand boarding and our early morning, we made another stop to Las Brujas de Cachiche, or the witches village. I was really creeped out by the atmosphere and strangely grown trees. We were told of the sacrifices made by the witches and the belief in a higher energy and theft of an individual’s luck. We even met a male witch who essentially showed us his lair and offered to read our palms for the price of 10 soles or tarot cards for the price of 20 soles. I skipped out simply because I don’t like hearing or messing around with the supernatural but the place really did give me weird vibes. Needless to say I was happy to be out of there when we finally did leave.
After visiting the witches’ village we stopped by a place in the city of Ica and learned about a church. Our tour guide spoke to us about how it is a wonder why the church was still preserved after all these years. He went more in depth about the history but at that point I was too tired to comprehend what he was saying in Spanish and focused all my efforts on staying awake.
I forgot where we all decided to eat afterward but I remember we walked to the supermarket to buy some chocolate cake and hung out in the hotel lobby area trying to sort out plans for the next day. We were given a free day so we spent the night trying to figure out what we wanted to do and I spent a good portion of my night in the hotel room fighting for a minute or two of wifi. I am now here writing this blog because my attempt at receiving wifi failed that and every night after until today when I moved into my host family’s house.
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