Tales from the Loonybin

Peru Day 11: Paracas–This entry was written on May 18, 2006

We got up early for our boat ride to the Ballestas islands today. Unfortunately, there was no water in the room, so the hotel gave us the key to another bungalow so we could shower.

The boat ride was quite calm, but the stench of the birds made all of our stomachs a bit sour. Ick! There were a great many birds on the islands–Humboldt penguins, Incan Terns, Heron, Turkey Vultures, and some other birds I don’t recall. They were quite impressive. The whole top face of one of the islands looked like it was composed of loose, black, rock, but on closer inspection, the surface was moving. There were so many birds so closely packed in the colony that they defined the surface of the island.

We also saw a bunch of sea lions. At this time of year, there were a lot of pups, just a few months old, frolicking in the water and on the shores. I hope I managed to get some nice pictures, but I tried to concentrate more on the experience itself than on getting good pictures.

After we got back, we relaxed a bit around the bungalow, listening to the sounds of the waves lap at the shore of the Paracas Bay, reading a book beneath the palm trees, and generally enjoying our vacation. But we didn’t sit around long–we then went to another part of the reserve, in the middle of the desert.

Peru is a land of contrasts. Just a couple of minutes from the green grass and palm trees of our oceanside paradise is the desert. Just sand and rocks as far as the eyer can see. What water there is is the saltwater of the sea, washing up against a vast, barren sea of sand.

Although the desert itself was void of any vegetation, there were some animals. The flamingos had started to come down from the Andes for their winter. They were too far away from the lookout tower for me to get any devent pictures, but I could see them fairly clearly through the binoculars. Apparently they really do stand on just one leg! These flamingos were also a bit different from the Florida variety–they had white feathers with just a band of pink. Apparently they don’t eat all the shrimp that the Floridians get, so their coats don’t turn the same color.

As we were watching the flamingos, we got a special treat. We saw a shadow pass us on the ground, and as we looked up, we saw a condor circling overhead. As we looked closer, we discovered that there were actually three of them, just gliding on the air currents. They were close enough that we were able to make a positive identification, but by the time I thought to get out my camera, the wind currents had pushed them so high up that they were mere specks in the bright midday sky.

The condor is so close to extinction that I doubt I’ll ever have the chance to see one in the wild again, even if I should return to Peru. But there is some hope–these three birds were small enough that they were probably fairly young. Let’s hope the population can rise again, just as have so many of the endangered species in Peru. Everywhere we’ve gone, we’ve seen such a serious conservation effort that I wouldn’t have expected in a country with so much poverty. But the people here seem to genuinely care.

Finally, we went to Cathedral Rock, a natural formation along the coast that resembles a steeple and flying buttress. Geologists estimate that the structure has been formed over the past 30-40 million years by the natural erosion of the wind, water, and sand against the rock. Pretty cool. With that, we returned to Lima, where well spend the rest of our time in Peru, before flying back home.

Peru Day 10: The Nazca Lines–This entry was written on May 17, 2006

We got an early start this morning and drove from Lima to Ica for a chartered flight over the Nazca Lines. These are 500 year-old drawings in the sand that are so large that you have to fly over them to see them! It’s really quite impressive.

We don’t really know what they were built for, but some speculate that they were messages to their gods and had to be so big that they could be seen from up on high. The designs are so perfect, but the Naza couldn’t have gotten high enough to see them as they were being created. They must have had a refined enough measuring and mathematics system to design these patterns at a tractable size and scale them up to the final product! Each of hte symbold is made with a channel about 11 inches deep or so, as if people just walked the patter for days on end until the trails were made.

The flyover itself was also a lot of fun. We flew in a six-seater Cessna, which was remarkably smooth. But when the pilot lowered the flaps and dropped the throttle, banking tightly around so we could see the lines on the ground, thousands of feet below, I could feel my stomach performing its own gymnastics routines. It wasn’t bad, but I can definitely see how people get sick on these flights.

Afterwards, we went to the Oasis at Huacachina, a resort that is popular amongst many of the Peruvian tourists. It was an amazing paradise amidst the vast barren desert. It was also a welcome place to settle down after the flight, enjoy a nice, simple lunch, and relax. One of Peru’s larger crops is asparagus, so I ordered the asparagus salad for lunch. It was fantastic–I don’t think I’ve ever tasted asparagus so fresh and so delicious!

Tonight, we head to the Paracas Nature Reserve, where we’ll have our tour tomorrow I’ll have to be sure and take lots of pictures!

Peru Day 9–This entry was written on May 16, 2006

Today was fairly uneventful. We traveled back from Cusco to Lima without much trouble. We mostly just wandered around going to little shops and cafés around town. We found a neat little art studio that was operated by an artist and his wife. They had some very nice original artwork at reasonable prices. I think I may have to go back when we’re back in Lima on Friday. Tomorrow morning, we head down to Ica and Paracas.

Peru Day 8: Machu Picchu–This entry was written on May 15, 2006

Today is the day we’ve been building up to–Machu Picchu! We got up at 4:30 this mornign so we could catch the first bus and watch the sun rise over the mountains as it illuminated the ruins. Unfortunately, our guide overslept, so we didn’t catch the sunrise, but we did see the ruins as the morning sun crept from the horizon to overhead.

The ruins themselves are nothing less than spectacular. The Incas must have been crazy to have undertaken such a feat! They built an entire city of stone on top of a mountain, irrigated water from kilometeres away, and all with such remarkable craftsmanship. It is truly a marvelous accomplishment.

That said, we’ve been so spoiled by the ruins along the trail and their desolation that Machu Picchu seemed to be the Disneyland of Incan ruins. There were people everywhere, crowding the narrow passages, spoiling great photo opportunities, and even smoking in the archaeological site.

Nonetheless, the place is amazing. The amount of craftsmanship, tehcnology, and labor that must have gone into such a thing is unfathomable–and for who knows what purpose?

After we got done with the ruins, we headed back to Aguas Calientes and our hotel, wandered the grounds some more, and took our bags to the train station. The train ride to Vusco is four hours, but we saved 45 minutes by getting off at the stop before and taking a bus the rest of the way.

The train was rather pleasant–they actually did an Aplaca fashion show–an effort to sell us stuff, of course!–during the trip. The steward and stewardess took turns walking up and down the car modeling various sweaters, scarves, and shawls. The stewardess was especially gorgeous, and when she modeled some of the shawls, she wore this beautiful gold lace bra underneath that was truly exquisite. But I digress….

When we eventually got back to the hotel in Cusco, we made sure our bags were still there from before the trip, and headed out to dinner. We tried some guinea pig, which was actually quite good, but it was too much work, what with all of the small bones. What does guinea pig taste like, you might ask? It’s hard to describe, but it’s not too dissimilar to pork. I only had a little because I’ve not been feeling so hot. Altitude or digestion issues, I’m not sure which, but I suspect the latter.

Pery Day 7: Inca Trail Day 4: Aguas Calientes–This entry was written on May 14, 2006

Today, we awoke in an entirely different world from the one in which we went to sleep. Overnight, the clouds rolled in and turned the valley into a lake of beautiful, fluffy, white clouds. Someone one wrote that Man is not meant to walk above the clouds, but this view, this experience is something all men should encounter. I tried to get pictures of it, and some of them even came out, but, as with so many of the pictures taken on this trip, film (or bits) just cannot do these scenes justice.

Once we broke camp, we descended to some more Incan ruins. We explored them briefly before continuing along. Along the way, we passed Intipata, an Inca site that was full of these magnificant terraces and gabled structures.

We ate lunch in an Incan temple at another site, Winay Wayna, then finished out descent to the river in the valley below. A quick walk along the railroad tracks, and we reached our hotel in Aguas Caliented, 5000 feet below where we broke camp this morning.

Our hotel, the Pueblo Machu Picchu, is gorgeous. They have all sorts of beautiful ponds and fountains done in a style vaguely reminiscent of the Incas. The rooms are in cute little bungalows, all surrounded by an incredible variety of flora. It’s a shame that we’re staying here only overnight.

I’ve finally put together a Universal version of my AttachmentScannerPlugin for Mail.app. You can download it from the linked page.

Unfortunately, the Universal version weighs in at a whopping 7.3 MB (zipped to just under 3MB), because it has to include its own Universal version of Python. The version that ships with Mac OS X doesn’t have proper Universal support (even though it appears to). Thus, the hefty footprint on disk. If you don’t need Universal support, you can still download the PowerPC-only version and save yourself about 7 MB.

Peru Day 6: Inca Trail Day 3: Runcuracay and Phuyupatmarka–This entry was written on May 14, 2006

Yesterday, we left camp for the second pass. We met up with a bunch of people from other groups along the way, including some from the Bay Area and a couple from Buckhead. What a small world! The first part of the day was the hardest–climbing to the second pass, up a thousand feet. When we reached the top, we made an offering to the mountains in what might have been traditional. It’s hard to say, since so much of the culture was wiped out by the Spanish colonialists.

From the second pass, we descended 1800 feet to our lunch site, where the porters already had everything prepared for our arrival. Lunch was quick and uneventful, after which we embarked on a climb of 800 feet, back up to 12000 feet, to the third pass, which was also our campsite for the night. Along the way, we passed through a cloud forest, an incredible collection of plants that thrive on the cool air and humidity of the clouds. Fortunately for us, it was clear as we hiked, so we could see some incredible flora. By the time we made it to camp, we were rewarded with the beautiful sights we had just seen and a great view over the whole valley below.