Kepfram & Ellie's Travel Journal

Pisco, Peru - basically it´s a pit: dusty, dirty beach town full of mangy and wounded street dogs and a really scary open air market (think: the stories we told about Granada, Nicaragua).
As a result of the market experience Kepfram was nauseated by all "fresh" foods, so we made dinner out of packages and cans (pasta, tuna, peanut butter, evaporated milk, canned aji - hot pepper sauce..... mmmmmMMMMMmmmmmm).
We did stay at a great hostel however: Hostel San Isidro in Pisco was VERY comfortable - we stayed in a nice room with a private bath & TV, and the hostel has a restaurant, guest kitchen, a swimming pool, and they let us wash our OWN laundry for FREE... (laundry has been our most pricey unavoidable expense). Plus we were very pleased with the tourist package offered by the tourist agents who work the hotel.
The reason to go to Pisco, is the nearby Reserva Nacional de Paracas (the 2nd driest desert in the world - which we had the pleasure of viewing during...: a sand storm.... ouch!! ....glad neither of us wear contacts....) and the neighboring Islas Ballestas - a protected sanctuary for sea birds (including Penguins (!!) and in the right season flamingos (unfortunately not now)), sea lions, and guano (the crap generated by a certain type of cormoran which nests here - apparently the best fertelizer in the world - every 5 years or so teams come out to the islands to "harvest" the guano, in the meantime there are 2 people living on one of these islands full time to protect the animals and "the most expensive crap in the world" from poachers...).

Peace,
Ellie