I'm combining these 3 cities into one blog entry, as they are pretty small and I visited them all within the space of about 5 days as I continue to make my way back towards Cusco.

Back at sea level, Paracas reminded me of the Bahamas. A small beach town (my hostel literally backed on to the shore), it was a good contrast from what I experienced in Lima. A nice place to unwind for two nights.

On my only full day there, I visited the Ballestas Islands. While we never actually stepped off the boat, it was a pretty cool little trip. We saw some sea lions, penguins and a ridiculous amount of seagulls. In the afternoon we drove around the National Park and whilst not jaw-dropping, again it provided some beautiful landscapes. I was forced into practicing some more of my Spanish as the tour guide didn't speak a word of English.

Playa Roja (Red Beach), Paracas National Park

Next it was on to Huacachina, which is basically a collection of resorts and restaurants around a blue-green laguna, surrounded by huge sand dunes. An antique image of the town is featured on Peru´s 50 Soles bill.

My gung-ho attitude to activities got me in a bit of trouble again. When booking a sandboarding tour of the surrounding dunes, I said to the travel agent "Sure, I've been snowboarding before!". I've literally done it once, and spent most of the time picking myself up. So, I was given a snowboard and boots, and up we went to the top of the dunes.

I made it down the first dune fine so when we approached the next one (it was massive), I was filled with a false sense of confidence. No surprises what happened next. I was flying down the dune and about half way down, began to wobble a bit. Not having a clue on how to fall properly, I proceeded to flip multiple times over my head, twisting out my knee in the process. Everyone else was watching (I was the only one game/dumb enough to be snowboarding), so naturally I dusted myself off, got up and went down the remainder of the slope.

The next day I was barely able to walk, and begun to fear if I would be able to complete the Inca Trail Trail trek, which started in 5 days (at time of injury). I'm still not sure if I'll make it, but I'm doing everything I can to be recovered in time. Including ice packs, anti inflammatory gel, anti inflammatory tablets, a knee brace, etc...

Today, with my knee feeling quite a bit better, I took the short bus to Nazca to see the famous Nazca Lines. The Nazca Lines are a series of ancient geoglyphs located in the Nazca Desert in southern Peru. It is believed the Nazca Lines were created by the Nazca culture between 500 BC and 500 AD, and the hundreds of individual figures range in complexity from simple lines to hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys, fish, sharks, orcas, and lizards. Unfortunately my camera isn't expensive enough to get a good enough photo, so I've had to blow my one up a bit to get a fair idea of what it looks like outside the small 6 seater plane.

Colibrí (Hummingbird), flying over the Naca Lines

The pilots were quite relaxed throughout the 40 minute flight and would often unexpectedly take a sharp turn or dip to give you a better view. Fortunately, the lady next me didn't throw up, although she did hold the sick bag for almost the entire flight and was sweating profusely. So I kept my distance.

So It's been a tricky couple of days, but I'll be crossing my fingers and toes on the overnight bus that my knee heals in time for Friday!