Paracus - Pacific Coast

Well quell surprise !! After many buses ans taxis I arrived at Paracus to a great hotel, the only Hotel I might add on stretch of beach that went on for miles with beautiful views out over the seaand the islands. A very happy camper was I when I was assigned my sea view room which has a beautiful terrace and a little garden! A pisco sour and watching the sun setting over the pacific was quite a sight. Yes, for the first time I felt like I was on holiday.
Peruvian tummy prevented me from dining that night, but not from hanging out in the bar listening to the musicians and chatting to the other revellers about adventures in Peru. And guess what ??? A massage !! Bliss.


I was up at 7am the next day and off on a boat to the Ballistas islands with many other tourists. We passed the famous "Candlabra" which in my view surpassed the Nasca lines. I guess we were just so close and there it was, just sitting there carved into pale rock at the edge of the ocean. Quite stunning. On to the Ballistas, which the peruvians call their "Galapagos". Many different species of birds including pelicans and even penguins, although not quite my thing for long, the 'Maternity' beach , now that was something, Sea lions, male female mating, babies everywhere the noise was so deafening, the fighting between the males " she's mine, I saw her first, feck off you fat slob". Extremely entertaining !! Back to the hotel on a beautiful calm sunny day , vegged by the pool for a while and then treated myself to yet another massage. Oh, was I born to be massaged, or what !
Pancho my guide, collected me at 2.30pm and it was off to Ica to catch the bus back to Ayacucho. Another six hour journey and would you believe they actually sell tickets to peoplewho knew there d be no seats for them. Six hours standing on a bus winding its way up into the Andes is not much fun.. Unfortunately, I got sitting to the only other "Gringo " on the bleedin bus who turned out to be a psycho german tourist who gave me the creeps but I got on with it .
Taxi back to the 'Gringo' house and all the other vollunteers greeted me with big cheers and a Mojito which they were all getting into , Dave was an ace at making them , so after all my stories we finally staggered up the stairs.

Back to the grindstone, Wawa wasi the next day through the mud and the poor little kids who are all soo sweet and so happy to see me, " la Gringita". I brought toothbrushes, toothpaste, wipes and toilet roll in the hope that they'll be encouraged by their 'Mammy' there to use them . Its pretty pathetic to see a 2/3/4 year old whose front teeth are completely black. Sometimes, I wonder do the parents actually want to help their kids in this way or is it just all too much trouble. This is all available to them I swear , its so sad.

A child wet's herself, new clothes are put on (they dont wear underwear ), eventually soiled clothes are used to mop up the mess, no mop, no disinfectant. I really hope that if I brought nothing more to them, it was a sense of hygeine and please God they'll continue with it , but I do have my doubts.

I was sitting on the floor one day at another Wa wa wasi which we were visiting. I took off my shoes at the door and next thing I see this little guy weeing out the door , just like that! My shoes, I thought !! They were fine but according to Alisa ma volunteer that works there thats what they do all the time, just stand at the door and wee right out there into the mucky street.
Sue my roomie, is a nurse and has spent some time on house calls with a doctor. We were in complete shock when she told us that everyone they visited were given antibiotics and Panadol whether, in her view, they needed them or not . This is really shocking when you think about it , what state their immune systems will be in in no time..

Anyway, my last day at work , hugs and kisses everywhere, they are an extremely affectionate people and I will miss them a lot especially all the little cuties I've been looking after these past few weeks. Surprise lunch for me , how nice ! Which I might add I managed to keep down for about an hour, how embarrassing but a nice treast from all the other volunteers all the same. I'll miss them as we all shared a lot of stories. Luckily Rosemary, from San Francisco, is already in Cusco and we're staying at the same hotel and doing Machu Pichu together and over-nighting at Aquas Calientes ( look it up ) so we'll have a blast, She's great fun to be with and she said she'll have the coctails ready when I get there and the restaurant's sussed !!

I'm actually feeling like I'd like to be going home, I miss everyone a lot but I cannot leave Peru without doing Matchu Pichu, and as much as I've loved it here it's not a country I can ever see myself returning to. Volunteering elsewhere definitely but for now I think I'm almost done with Peru!!