Trip to Ica

   Our final morning in Ica was followed by various stops on the long ride back to Miraflores. The first was on the coast in Paracas. We boarded a boat and sailed around a couple of islands. There were dolphins in the water and many birds. In addition, we saw a couple of penguins and sea lions hanging around on the rocks of the islands. While the boat ride reminded me of hometown SK, the coast is much different in Peru. The waves wash into beaches or cliffs that immediately turn to desert. There are no grass dunes or trees near the coast and there was even a large symbol written in the sand dunes for passing boats to see that was said to have been there for a thousand or so years. There were many theories as to why it got there, the most interesting being a group of pirates carved it to mark Paracas as a good place to pillage. After docking, we took a trip to an Afro-Peruvian home and watched an authentic song and dance be performed. Their were children as young as 5 participating and the group had us get up and join the dance at one point. As a musician myself it was moving to see how performing brought the family together and how every single one of them was having such a good time as they played. Duck and rice for lunch was followed by sleeping the entire ride home.