Frogs, Toads, and Snails! OH MY!

Walking around Huancavelica, Mike and I noticed a large group of people surrounding a man shouting/holding a water bottle that appeared to hold really really dirty water. We listened for a little bit and discovered that he was selling unlimited toad/frog/snail/artichoke drinks for one sol! What a steal, right!? We listened a little longer as he listed off all the things this drink cured: headaches, nerves, epilepsy, asthma, bronchitis, chronic cough, arthritis, silicosis, osteoporosis, and scares! This sounded too good to be true! Yet everyone around us swore this drink worked. We watched as a little grandmother chugged her drink and asked for 3 more servings. We were sold. He gave us a 2 for 1 deal. It was not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It honestly tasted like watered down Quaker (here it is pronounced Quacker by the way.) All part of cultural assimilation :). 

Villa Cariño

On our second day in Huancavelica, we visited some natural hot springs/waterfalls right outside the main town. Again, it was incredibly beautiful but we again got rained out. I cannot wait to visit Huancavelica when it is not rainy season.

Mike loved this shot showing the mountains/town

Rock Forest in Huancavelica

On our first day in Huancavelica, some locals recommended we visit a beautiful rock forest a few kms outside of the city. We took a cab up and then hiked around for about 30 minutes. It was phenomenally beautiful but it unfortunately started to rain and we had to leave. I hope to go back and visit again and spend some more time up there. It was extremely beautiful, tranquil, and unknown.

Classic Mike... finger in the shot

Love this picture of us

Arriving in Huancavelica

After Paracas, Mike and I made the slightly sketchy and long journey to Huancavelica. We arrived at our hostal at 3AM and were a little worried when we saw the entrance (It was very cluttered and slightly messy.) Then we were lead up to a gargantuan but very cold room. I don't know about Mike but I fell asleep worrying about whether we had made the right choice visiting Huancavelica. However, we woke up to a spectacular panoramic view of green mountains! Our room was still super cold though and I did not want to take off the many blankets I had on top of me. Mike, oh so sweetly, brought me breakfast in bed. Our breakfast of fruit, and bread was amazing. A lady right outside out hostal was selling the most delicious bread I've had in awhile. She had sesame seed bread, whole grain, and the best cheesy bread I have ever eaten! We then went out and explored the many churches, cobblestone roads, and the plaza de armas.

40 soles a night room with spectacular views

Nice break from the coast

Bought some legwarmers here

One of the many beautiful Churches

Interesting fountain on the climb to the springs

The beautiful Plaza de Armas in Huancavelica

Isla Ballestas

After Nazca we visited Paracas where we went on a small boat tour of the Isla Ballestas, a group of small islands famous for their guano. The islands are covered in ~600,000 birds like the blue-footed booby, humboldt penguins, terns, pelicans etc. We arrived at the docks super early in the morning along with tons of other tourists and were then herded onto our respective boats. We raced off to see El Candelabro a geoglyph famous for looking like a candlestick. The boats then raced off to the guano islands. (I use the word raced again because the boats literally raced eachother.) Before the tour, we were warned to wear hats because of all the birds flying above us but I definitely did not think about how badly the islands were going to smell. It was really cool seeing all the different animals. There were thousands and thousands of birds on the cliffs. Within the swarms of birds there were a few penguins hidden. On top of this, there were hundreds of seals and sea lions on the beaches. While it was cool seeing all the different animals, I couldn't help but feel guilty for bothering the animals. All of the boat tours got really close to the islands and the seals/sea lions sounded like they were screaming as they ran away from the shore. Our boat was pretty good about not getting too close except when we were at the maternity beach (which was pretty much the worst area our boat could get close.) While the tour left me feeling a little sad, we met the sweetest abuelita (grandmother) during the tour. She wanted to know all about what we were doing here and invited us to dinner in Lima! This ended up being another trip highlight.

El Candelabro

How they move the guano

Some sleepy seals and sea lions

The beautiful islands

I really love this photo even though the colors turned out weird

some interesting little caves

Penguins!

This seal is kissing this rock!!

Really cool looking bird

Even cuter penguin

Some fighting birds

I LOVE this photo

Adorable sea lion

Penguins

Add caption

Sea lions just hanging out

Pretty adorable sea lion

Gives you an idea of how many seals/sea lions there are

Some adorable babies

adorable pose

 

Catching a snooze

Us and the abuelita!