A few hours south of Lima is the fishing village of Paracas. There is absolutely nothing here apart for a dense stink of fish. But after a few hours there you suck it in so much that you can’t really feel it anymore. Since we didn’t book a place to stay in advance, once we arrive we just walk around a bit to see what the offers are. Hostal Santa Maria looks nice and is reasonably cheap, so we take that. The view is also very pleasant from the third floor. Along the beach, from what looks more like private houses, restaurants offer all sorts of fish, which you will eat in the company of many cats walking around your plastic table. They are lovely!

In the morning we get up early enough (7.15am!) for a boat tour to Islas Ballestas. This is truly an amazing place, so full of animals you can’t believe it! All sorts of birds are so packed that the rocks look black instead of white. There are also penguins, sea lions, seals and various seagulls.
The island is of course covered in guano, which they actually collect once every 6 years, to sell as fertilizer (that’s a hard job!). All the birds are flying elegantly to and from the different islands around, like following invisible highways in the skies (think Blade Runner). After the boat trip it’s time to leave with the 11 o’clock bus to Ica. The bus ride is comfortable along the desert on both sides. Once in Ica we get on a taxi to the nearby oasis of Huacachina. This is a silly place! Only backpackers are there doing all the possible things the place has to offer, which is really not much!

All around the little oasis there are huge dunes of soft sand, which you can climb all the way to the top. You should only try that when the sun is setting to avoid frying up too much. The view from up there is really stunning!
From Huacachina is worth discovering its non-touristic mother city of Ica, at least for its chocolate- or sugar-coated fudge-balls, filled with caramel and different nuts. You of course need to eat it immediately since outside it would melt in about 2 seconds. The city is very dusty and the roads are total chaos, full of 3-wheel taxis which are seriously polluting the air.