Trip to the Coast…

This weekend, my fellow volunteers and I took a long weekend to the Peruvian coast! Since Monday was a national holiday and no one had to work we were able to leave Friday and return Monday night. It was a whirlwind of sightseeing, adventures and lots of riding in the van! It took 8 hours to get from our home in Ayacucho to Ica on the coast. Ica is most famously known for the HUGE sand dunes there and it did not disappoint! We spent Saturday morning riding dune buggies and sand boarding down the huge dunes – it was pretty badass. After the dunes we went to a pisco distillery. Pisco is a local liquor made from grapes… unfortunately it tastes like tequila so I stopped tasting after my first try. Ick! Saturday night we drove two hours to Nasca. Of course, it was Halloween and we had to do something “Halloween-ie”. On the way we stopped at a “Witches village” where we met with a witch doctor. It was definitely a fun Halloween activity; however, it would have been infinitely better had the “Witch doctor” not been wearing khakis and a button down and listening to the Spanish version of “Yankee Doodle” on the radio. He should have at least had a few shrunken heads or something! We spent Halloween night in Nasca (where we saw a number of Michael Jackson costumes) and woke up bright and early the next day to fly over the Nasca lines. No one really knows where the lines came from – there are rumors of everything from aliens to the ancient Nasca people putting them there themselves. It was an experience I definitely didn’t want to miss but I will NEVER do it again! Planes built for 10 people are no bueno! I get car sick riding the backseat so the small plane thing didn’t go over so well for my equilibrium! Monday morning we got up super early and drove to Paracas, a small town right on the beach. We took a boat out to a little island on the coast where we saw hundreds of sea lions, penguins, and pelicans. It was definitely one of the cooler experiences I’ve had here in Peru and makes me really want to go to the Galapagos islands! All in all it was a very cool weekend, full of very cool experiences. After the 8 hour drive back, I was very happy to be home and very excited to get back to work with my kindergarteners!