36) LIMA – PARACAS – NAZCA: THE COAST OF PERU (15 and 16 September 2016)

My first motorbike trip is about to start! 15th of September 2016, mid day, I left Lima and its crazy traffic to go South, along the coast. About 260km for a first ride. I had to stop once to tighten my backpack to the bike: it is just too painful to wear it!The website Horizons Unlimited and the application Overlander help to find hostel in which the bike can be driven in. Safer! This is how I ended up in the Kokopelli hotel, 13.5 usd per night in a dorm.It is also a way to meet other motorbike travelers, such as Alberto, touring the Americas for 2 years!Paracas is a little town on the coast, famous for its National Reserve and the Ballestas islands, protected home of many species of wildlife, especially birds: it is the largest concentration of birds in the World!A bit too touristic, the boat tour is necessary to get closer to the millions of birds: penguins, pelicans, guaynay (the guano bird, a prosperous business in the 19th century), but also seals and sea lions.This pelican does not like to be touched on the head!A quick infill, and I am going leaving the Coast, direction Nazca 220km further. The road is straight, crossing the desert. Yes, Lima is built in a desert.The Nazca lines are a UNESCO World Heritage. They were drawn by the Nazca culture between 500BC and 500AC, and perfectly conserved into this dry and windless plateau. Most of them represent animals. I did not have much time to stop. In Nazca, I stayed in a cheap hotel (12 usd), and prepared myself: tomorrow, with KLaRa the motorbike, we will climb at more than 4,000m!

Leave a comment