We left Arequipa early for a long journey through the desert past the uninspiring and underwhelming Nazca lines to Huacachina, an oasis in the desert that was very touristy but great fun. Our free activity with Peru hop was a pisco vineyard tasting tour. We learnt how pisco wine is made and then moved swiftly onto the tasting. The wine is extremely sweet and we had about 4 shots before moving onto the hard liquor , all 40%+ alcohol . All before noon! Volunteers for a challenge were asked for and Callum’s hand was up like a shot. The aim was to down the shot so that there were no drips left in the glass , if there were you had to go again. Callum did fairly well, even licking the inside of the glass and won as one other bowed out after 2 fails. Unfortunately, there was no prize and the shots themselves were certainly no prize. After lunch, we went on the dune buggy and sand boarding tour. The drivers were quite frankly insane and we bounced all over the desert in our 10 person buggy. The sand boarding though was simply fantastic fun. It had to be done face first on your front so it took a bit of courage the first time and we worked up to the biggest dune which was still pretty scary. You had to steer and slow yourself with your feet but the sand certainly came at you quickly.

Our next stop was Paracas where we do think we stayed a bit too long. We had thought it might be peaceful but it was actually very small and VERY noisy. Nevertheless, we toured the national park desert and then the best part was to visit Isla De Ballestas by boat – Peru’s version of a mini Galapagos. The boat trip though only 2 hours was enough to see the most impressive glyph and so many sea lions and penguins. The penguins were their busy selves and the many sea lions lazed in the sun with their huge eyes which looked remarkably like Willow’s!

After talking to other travellers, we made some decisions on our trip to Lima from the next bus that has altered the rest of the trip. We had been planning on heading to Ecuador but the trouble (beheadings, riots and curfews) in Guayaquil (a transport hub that we couldn’t seem to avoid) made us decide to head for the Amazon in Iquitos and then Columbia instead. Therefore, the next morning was spent in Lima booking plane tickets and Amazon lodges. We were warned on the bus not to venture out of the Lima tourist zones of Miraflores and Barranca which we paid attention to though we did really enjoy the walk along the promenade and through Kennedy Park and meeting Paddington.

The following day, we flew to Iquitos (a place that you can only get to by boat or plane – no road goes there from anywhere yet) and stayed in a very sketchy place (not enough research clearly went into that one) but our Amazon lodge more than made up for it. We were upgraded to the Ceiba Tops Lodge and after an hour on a boat arrived to find a pool, 3 course dinners, our own guide and a lovely room. All the activities were included and we had an action packed 4 days with a couple of hours here and there in a jacuzzi that had a great slide into the pool which we were not the only ones enjoying like kids. We had a couple of night walks through the jungle seeing caiman’s eyes glistening at us as well as the sounds of the jungle before dinner.

We thought touring the local villages may seem a bit awkward but everyone was so friendly, we thoroughly enjoyed seeing how the river people lived and how the Amazonian tribes used to live. The school was having their version of Ofsted while we were there so the teachers were actually there – they apparently only turn up once or twice a week! The houses were all on stilts and more basic than we had imagined but the people were so proud to show us around. We also visited a replica traditional village where we saw some dancing , bought a few trinkets and had a go at using a blowpipe dart. Callum was most upset that I won that one! The lodge gives money and aid to the villages they visit and our guide explained how they had helped during covid too.

The following day was probably one of our best of our travels. We started early with a birdwatching tour by boat where the pod of feeding dolphins completely stole the show. These were grey dolphins so they do move like the ones you see in the sea but on other occasions we also saw pink dolphins which only just come to the surface and are quite tricky to spot. Later, we went to a sanctuary that returns animals (not the anacondas of course) to the wild after nursing them back to health. The anaconda had been fed a live chicken the day before so apparently we were quite safe. The baby caimans were surprisingly heavy and solid and we were surprised that the birds seemed very happy and did not try to fly away. Callum redeemed himself on the piranha fishing which was surprisingly hard. They managed to snatch the meat from our hooks far too often but he still caught 3 piranhas to my 1 piranha and a sardine!

After a large lunch, when we tasted our catches, we headed out to a monkey island sanctuary where wild and rescued monkeys live completely free. They took a real liking to Callum who spent the next 90 minutes with at least one brown woolly monkey wrapped round his head. Another had stayed with him for the first 20 minutes too but then got very upset with me, screeching and trying to grab the phone- it was a real teenage strop but with bared teeth! It was amazing to see them completely free, swinging through the trees that they got their own food from but also interacting with us and each other. The guide there was so passionate about his job and proudly showed us trees that he had planted 20 years ago that were now fully mature. It was interesting to discuss the local issues with both him and our guide who explained not the just the environmental issues but also the human ones. How to live in this poor isolated area when Peru has 52% unemployment as well as preserve local customs whilst living in a more modern world all whilst saving the rainforest.

We are so glad we decided on this detour despite our long overnight journey to come. It really was a once in a lifetime experience.