Miles and Miles of Beach

SUNDAY:

Yesterday we woke up before the sun and took a 3-hour bus ride to Paracas. Upon arriving, all we could see was desert and no real significant landmarks. We decided to take a bus tour around the Paracas National Reserve with a guide that spoke both Spanish and English (we were actually able to learn without the language barrier!). I had never really taken a bus tour with a guide before, but he taught us remarkable information about a land that, from a distance, looks nothing but miles and miles of beach.

Paracas--Where the Desert Meets the Sea (Sunday June 14, 2015)

Several things struck me as interesting:

Salt Crystals (Sunday June 14, 2015)



Salt Crystal at Paracas (Sunday June 14, 2015)

• The roads within the reserve are not made from pavement but rather salt from the Pacific Ocean. Though it may seem like pavement due to the black coating, this is really only because of the car tires

• The mountains of sand are not actually sand dunes--they are hills of dense dirt and rock that cannot easily be blown away by the wind. There is a sheet of small pebbles and crushed shells that cover the sand beneath. Dig a bit deeper, and one will come across thin, but large, chunks of rock that act as a sort of foundation. In such rocks one can find salt crystals--the edible type! More information can be found here.

A Cathedral No More (Sunday June 14, 2015)

    Closer to the Pacific, there once stood a Cathedral Arch just touching the water. However, in 2007 it was completely destroyed by an earthquake. The only thing that remains are the birds and tourists.

Lunch at La Tia Fela, Beach of Paracas (Sunday June 14, 2015) 

sjdkfhskdjfhskdjfhskdjfhsdkjfhdskjfhskdjfh
sdfjkhsdkfjhsdkfjshdfkjshdfkjhsdkfjshdkfjhsd
ksajdfhaksjfhadkjfhsdkjfhskdjfhdskjf
skjdfhskdjfhskdjfhskdjfhskdjfhskdjfhskdfh
kdjfhskdjfhskdfjhskdjfhskdjfhsdk
For lunch we stopped at one of the local restaurants right next to the sea, La Tia Fela (I highly recommend it to all who wish to travel here!). While Michael felt brave enough to go for the shark ceviche, I stuck with camarones a la plancha (grilled shrimp). It was absolutely phenomenal, to say the least. Freshly caught from the ocean practically in their backyard!

Playa Roja--The Red Beach (Sunday June 14, 2015)

The 3-hour bus ride back was a bit more harsh. The unimaginably windy weather blew sand, dirt, and sea water onto our hair and clothes and made our skin feel like we just received a facial without properly rinsing off the crust. Nevertheless, it was a wondrous experience.

The Windy Paracas (Sunday June 14, 2015)