Paracas and the Islas Ballestas

When I was planning my trip I spent some time trying to work out a way to get to the Galapagos Islands. But realistically, on top of six weeks already, I felt I couldn't justify the extra money. The Galapagos are expensive!

But there was a small consolation. South of Lima, off Peru's southern coast, are a little group of islands known as the Islas Ballestas. Some people call them 'Peru's Galapagos', which I think is probably a little too favourable. In any case, they were my opportunity to go and see some wildlife in a cheap and efficient sort of way.

Pelican diving

The gateway to the Ballestas is the little town of Paracas. I'd been in the city of Arequipa for five nights, enjoying culture and good food and from what I'd read there wasn't much of either in Paracas. Which ended up being true, but that didn't mean that I didn't find myself rather liking the place. My hostel was small and welcoming and although it was overcast when I arrived, it was warm and the seafront was minutes away. I went for a walk past a string of interesting, attractive houses - mostly holiday homes I think, as they were mostly closed up - and got very excited when I spotted a pair of enormous pelicans flying and diving for their food. And then there were more, and lots of little wading birds, and seagulls, and crabs on the beach. It was instantly apparent that Paracas is good for wildlife.

The following morning I joined every other visitor in heading to the pier for 8am, when the main fleet of tourist boats heads off to the islands. The different companies were indistinguishable; all run large speedboats accommodating about 40 people with tours running for about 90 minutes to two hours.

Candelabra

The first 'stop' was at the Candelabra, which is a shape carved into the sandy side of the Paracas peninsula. Nobody knows who made it or how old it is but it bears a resemblance to the nearby Nazca Lines, which I didn't go and see. Various theories suggest it was made by the same civilisation which made the Nazca lines, and that it's a cactus rather than a candelabra; others think it was made by the Spanish conquistadors and is a candelabra acting as a sort of fairly useless lighthouse ("here's a big cliff, avoid it!")

Then we went on to the islands themselves. Every eight years the Ballestas islands produce vast quantities of guano, mainly from cormorants which at this time of year nest in their thousands. They're also home to other seabirds, more pelicans, quite a lot of sea lions, and some Humboldt penguins. Naturally the penguins we saw, hopping unsteadily down to the cliff edge to go hunting, were the best because they're just so cute. But there were a lot of birds and it was a good little trip around the islands.

The black patch is all cormorants

Back at the hostel I rented a mountain bike from them and headed to the Paracas national reserve. The peninsula south of the town is all protected and you can get bus tours around it, drive, rent a sandbuggy or cycle. The latter option is pretty tough going. The roads are variable - some really nice ones and some very sandy and bumpy - and the terrain up and down. There was also a stonking headwind for a lot of the ride. At one point I came around a bend and instantly lost 10kph on my speedometer (I was recording on my watch). The end point of the ride was a beach where I sat in a moderately sheltered spot and watched people's beach umbrellas get blown away!

The landscape though was incredible. It was like cycling on the moon, or on Mars. There were hills and dunes all around, some tinted red, and nothing else to see until you hit the coast. There, the golden-red of the sand contrasted vividly with the bright blue of the sky and the deeper blue of the sea. It was really one of the most unusual places I've ever been, and more than worth adding to anyone's Peru itinerary.

Not the Moon

Peruvian cuisine

After getting a bit bored of Brazil's meat-rice-beans-chips combo of food I was looking forward to Peru, said to be a culinary destination in South America. By and large it didn't disappoint, although I wasn't expecting some of the best food I had to be in a series of tents on the Salkantay trek!

Basics

Traditional Peruvian food is vegetarian and simple and revolves around a few staples: corn, potatoes, quinoa and rice. Corn and potatoes are grown in staggering numbers of varieties and the individual corn nibs are gigantic compared to the sweetcorn you get in the UK.

Potatoes are generally served boiled. In Arequipa I went to a restaurant called Hatunpa where they give you a plate of sliced, boiled potatoes (I had the 'special' with seven sorts) topped with your choice of various toppings including tuna, beef and chicken. 

Quinoa has shot up in price since the West discovered it as a superfood, and even more super-foody versions which are finer but a little less common are supplanting quinoa in Peru. Nevertheless you find it in soups and as an accompaniment to other things pretty often. They also make pretty good energy bars from quinoa and its relatives kiwicha and kaniwa, which are handily light and quite tasty.

Rice is also common as a side dish and as the base for chaufa, which is a sort of fried rice that has developed from the large-scale Chinese immigrants of the late 19th century. Like Brazil it's not uncommon to get rice plus another starch, mainly potatoes. An Aussie couple I met in Cabanaconde said they'd been given quinoa and rice and nothing else as dinner in Colca Canyon. Yum.

Luckily Peruvians love a bit of spice and often serve a sort of salsa called pico de gallo with meals – a bit of chili, tomatoes, peppers and onions and herbs, usually coriander, all chopped up and adding just a little kick to your soup or whatever you're eating.

Fish and seafood

One of Peru's best-known foodie highlights is ceviche, which is a simple, effective dish of raw fish (or seafood, or indeed vegetables and even (cooked) meat) marinaded in lime juice, fish sauce and chillies. I had ceviche in a cevicheria in Barranco, Lima, which was pretty good if spicy and overloaded with raw onion, but it wasn't until we made our own on an excellent 'culinary experience' afternoon in Cusco that I appreciated how to properly make it. You need the freshest fish, which you mix with lime juice and finely-chopped chillies, salt and pepper and a little fish sauce. You let it marinate for only a few minutes, add a little milk if you wish to take the edge off the spice, and serve with a little boiled potato or sweet potato and the amazing toasted corn nibs which are found everywhere in Peru. The idea is to mix the textures up.

You can also find grilled and fried fish everywhere in Peru. Around Lake Titicaca trout is common; they introduced it to the lake and it's now dominating. Tasty though. We had some amazing trout for lunch on our first day on the Salkantay, poached with a vegetable sauce. 

Chupe de camarones at 'Chicha' in Arequipa

In Arequipa they make a chowder from river prawns called chupe de camarones. The prawns are more like crayfish really and it has a bit of chili in it, potatoes, corn, and other vegetables. It's pretty good.

Meat

The best-known meat dish is lomo saltado, which isn't actually as exotic as it sounds. It's basically beef stir-fry with peppers, onions, coriander and yes, a bit of chili, served with chaufa. You can also have lomo saltado with alpaca meat. Alpaca is found everywhere in Peru although I don't think the locals eat much of it – it can be chewy but I had some really nice alpaca on my travels. It ought to taste like lamb or mutton given the similarities between alpacas and sheep, but is more beefy than that. 

Lomo saltado crafted by my own fair hands

I couldn't bring myself to try guinea pig, although it's reasonably common in touristy restaurants. When I went to the food fair in Arequipa there were stalls grilling loads of the poor beasts and serving them up on trays with all four paws sticking out. It's the paws that did it for me. I also never got around to trying anticucho, which are beef hearts on skewers. I had chicken hearts in Rio and I wasn't a massive fan – I know offal is good for you, but it just doesn't really appeal.

Guinea pigs grilling

One thing Peru does do well though is meaty sandwiches. Actual sandwiches, in bread rolls and sometimes with a bit of salad. (If there's one thing I've missed from the UK it's being able to get a good sandwich for my lunch.) The classic sandwich is chicharron, roast pork with crispy skin and plenty of fat. I had a really good chicharron sandwich for just S/. 5 (£1.18) in the market in Arequipa, with plenty of pork and some salady stuff, spicy sauce and mayonnaise. Impossible to eat neatly but incredibly tasty.

Fruit and veg

Peru is good for fruit. Like Brazil there are juice bars everywhere and especially in the markets, where ladies lean over elaborate displays of fruit and cajole you to buy one of their glasses of mixed juice.

In the markets there's lots of choice. At the culinary experience in Cusco we tasted seven sorts of Peruvian fruit including the best mango I've ever had, completely string-less and melting in the mouth. I tried a few other mangos but never found another quite like it. Passionfruit is common and I got fond of granadillas, which come as hard-shelled orange fruit that you can peel open, sinking your nails into the thick skin, to reveal the greyish interior of pips like any other passionfruit. It's sweet and juicy and very good, plus convenient to carry in a bag because it's not easily squished.

Vegetables are less exciting. Apart from the ubiquitous corn and potatoes, tomatoes and peppers feature in sauces, but getting vegetables with your main course isn't that common. I'm sure some of the vegetables I was served as main courses in homestays and in the Colca Canyon were tinned or frozen – diced beans and carrots!

Drink

The main drinks in Peru are tea, pisco, beer, chicha, and the fluorescent yellow soda called Inka Kola which I didn't try.

They serve a lot of coca tea to tourists in Cusco and in the other towns at high altitude. Coca tea is made by steeping the leaves of the coca plant (from which cocaine can be and is extracted) in hot water. It's quite a nice taste, unusual but it grew on me, although I didn't need the tea much to help with altitude sickness because I didn't suffer from it much.

Capachica tea

On the Capachica peninsula my homestay host gave me tea which is also made from steeping a local plant in water. This time it was some sort of thyme, slightly minty, and really lovely. I drank quite a lot of that.

Pisco is a spirit akin to grappa made from grapes, grown on the coast south of Lima where the climate produces very sweet wine (I did have some Peruvian wine, it was fine but not exceptional). Pisco is very clear and strong and can be drunk straight or in cocktails, notably the pisco sour which is ubiquitous throughout the country: pisco, ice, lime juice and an egg white, shaken until the egg white is frothy and seasoned with a couple of drops of bitters. I like them; I had a passionfruit version a couple of times which was arguably even better and pisco also lends itself well to other cocktails like the Chilcano which features ginger beer. 

Beer is mainly lager – Cusquena is the brand you find everywhere, drinkable enough. Sadly the Brazilian habit of providing a cooler for your large bottle hasn't yet caught on. There are some good craft beers around, with an emphasis on IPA and pale and amber ale and I enjoyed some decent brews especially in Cusco and Arequipa.

Chicha was the Inca alcohol, beer made of corn. I saw people drinking this cloudy brew but didn't try any. For a more refreshing option chicha morada is a sort of non-alcoholic juice made from purple corn. It's a bit like grape juice, and is better cold. We had it on the Salkantay but it wasn't chilled (fair enough, we didn't expect them to carry ice!) and wasn't quite as nice.

Inka Kola isn't cola at all. I have no idea what it's made of, although I think coca is a component. It's such an artificial colour it didn't appeal.

One of my biggest Peruvian culinary disappointments was that I still drank mostly instant coffee, although finding cafés serving coffee made in a machine was a bit easier than Brazil. Staying in cheap hostels means that instant is the option in the morning. It gave me the caffeine hit, but I am looking forward to decent coffee again. I bought a bag of beans from the coffee farm we visited on the Salkantay, where we had the best coffee on the whole trip, and am going to invest in a grinder when I get home.