After Lima we decided to head straight south along the coast to Pisco, a small town that was obliterated by an earthquake in 2007. All we knew about Pisco was that it was within day trip distance of Paracas National Reserve, which we say on Google Maps. We did an image search and saw an interested natural arch in the ocean and decided it was a good place to head. Well, we didn’t hear or know anything about the Islas Ballestas before arriving and bought a cheap day tour package that included the islands and the Paracas Reserve, It was a pleasant surprise. We didn’t have any idea how much wildlife we’d see. It is essentially a poor mans Galapagos. Below are some of the best shots of the fauna we saw.

After the islands we hit Paracas which is just a desert reserve with some nice seaside cliffs. The photo below is actually of us at the “cathedral”, the arch we had read about and which motivated us to head to Pisco in the first place. Well, as you can see, it isn’t much of an arch anymore. Sadly, the earthquake of ’07 destroyed it…but I’d bet a new one will form in a few thousand years if conditions are just right.

Next: Las Aventuras Cusqueñas

So Pepe and I successfully met up in the Lima airport and so the journey begins.

We stayed in a youth hostel for a few nights about 2 blocks from the ocean in the district called Barranco. Barranco and its neighbor, Miraflores, are the more posh end of town. It didn’t seem like we where in a Latin American country. The colors, architecture, and vibe definitely aren’t like most places in Central America, at least. Of course, once you leave the posh districts it looks a lot more latino–dilapidated cinderblock cubes.

I admittedly didn’t know what to expect or what there was to see in Lima. I had, however, seen a commercial back in Guate that was promoting a board game that is dedicated to Peruvian cuisine. I was surprised to find out that Peru is notorious for a plethora of dishes. One dish we had set out to find right away was the Peruvian ceviche. Most Latin American countries seems to have their own varieties of ceviche, but apprarently Peru is its place of origin (or so I understood from a Jeopardy question I heard recently.) The dish of Peruvian ceviche we tried is basically raw seafood (oysters, octopus, fish) covered in lime juice. I think I prefer the Guatemalan version better–chopped tomato, onion, cilantro and shrimp over saltines. Another daring dish we tried is anticucho–skewered cow heart. If you didn’t know which organ it was you would probably think it was just steak. I exposed my blonde roots when I pointed out to everyone that you could see the vein canals…they were actually just the skewer holes. My bad.

The biggest food risk we will have to take is the cuy–guinea pig. They usually bake or fry them whole. It will be a hassle to convince Pepe to split it. He doesn’t even like to eat pork.

I’ve taken quite a liking to a traditional drink called chicha morada-boiled blue corn with apple cinnamon and clove. If you can find some blue corn in your local super, I suggest you find a recipe online and give it a try. (image from stock)

We didn’t spend much time in Lima because we would both prefer to spend more time in more natural places. In Lima, we mostly just walked around and hang out in the parks.

Next: Paracas National Reserve & Las Islas Ballestas

Mérida was my last destination in the Yucatán and I chose to spend my last day in México swimming in more cenotes (water caverns essentially). I had already visited two cenotes outside of Valladolid, but every one is different and incredibly fascinating, so I opted for more swimming holes rather than visiting the Uxmal ruins for my last Mexican experience. No regrets. The cenotes outside Mérida were by far the best yet. Adding to the experience, was the horse cart transportation that takes you from site to site.

I must admit that I was nervious about my week and a half traveling alone, but I had forgotten that there are always loads of interesting folks who are on a similar journey as yourself. One man that I met in particular had a great load of stories and wisdom to share. He is a retired Canadian school teacher named Dale. Dale is the kind of guy who bought a VW bus and traveled Europe for years at a time in the 70′s. He caught the travel bug early on and has been constantly traveling since. When I met him in Merida it was his 20th-something time. I have been thinking about going back to school to teacher languages, and it is people like Dale that make that more and more possible…I mean, we are given summer breaks for the first 20 years of our lives and they expect us to just give that up? I don’t think so.

(on an unrelated note Dale has met on seperate occasions Elton John, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Pink Floyd…I was half waiting for him to tell me that Almost Famous is based on his life…)

From Mérida I flew to Lima, Peru to rendezvous with Pepe where will start a little South American journey for X amount of time.

Some folks turn up their noses at Chichen Itza, others revel in it. I think it really is that great…you just have to get there early in the morning before the buses arrive with hundreds of pensioners from Cancun. Of all the ruins I’ve seen, Chichen is the best preserved and has the most detail remaining.

After Tulum, the next stop was Valladolid, a small colonial town in the center of the Yucatán.

From Valladolid a few Commonwealthers and I biked to the two cenotes, fresh water sinkholes/caverns, near Dzitnup. They are worth every penny. The water is so clear and blue and they are usually surprisingly warm.

Day 2 in Valladolid we went to the often overlooked Mayan ruins of Ek Balam. It is a shame most people pass this ruins by. The main pyramid is quite tall and the best thing about the ruins is that they aren’t near as restricted as most others. You can climb all over them and peak in all the little rooms and chambers, which is impossible in other ruin sites like Chichen Itza and Tulum where there is always a rope and 15ft between you and the structure.

While exploring the back of the main structure Michael, a Canadian traveler, and I discovered a Turquoise browed mot-mot. Unfortunately, my camera had just recently died, so I had to grab Michaels shots.

Last week was a time for tieing up loose ends. I resigned from my job in December. I don’t plan on living/working in Guatemala any more. Before I could leave though, one last thing needed to be done–the Annual Report. The only responsibility that remained was to pick up the printed work for my portfolio and future job search. Check. After that I packed by bag and said some temporary farewells. However, I’m not going home just yet. There are too many things to do and see down south.

First on the list is the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. It took 24 hours of busing to get to my first destination, Tulum.

Tulum is a good place to spend a few lazy days at Playa Esperanza-

Playa Esperanza attracts all types…but mostly it attracts the types that play with fire and never get real jobs…I’m not quite sure if I fit in that bracket-

Just a short 10 minute walk up the beach road are the Mayan ruins of Tulum-