These are the Ballestas Islands just off shore from the town of Paracas south of Lima. This island is home to thousands, probably millions of birds, some Humbolt penguins and sea lions. As we pulled toward the islands in the boat they appears to be dripping with white icing. Of course, this isn’t icing, it’s bird guano (poop)! Over the period of seven...

We were walking back to the hostal from dinner one night last week when we looked down and these snails were all over the side walk. A few of them had been smashed by people walking along who didn’t see them. Apparently they live in the grass beside the sidewalks and come out on to the sidewalks in the evening. People eat them here too. It is better than guinea...

   Today we visited the Magdalena Market in Peru. This a typical Peruvian outdoor market where the locals go to get all of their goods. There are supermarkets in the wealthy areas but they are very expensive. In these markets it is important to know your source. You can see from all the meat and fish hanging and lying around in the open that this could present...

c Last night we went to the Peruvian Dinner Theater. These are a few photos from the tradional dances of Peru. The one with the large head is like the lucky Buddha of Peru. The show had dances from many of the areas and cultures of Peru – Lima, Cusco (Inca), Puno, Ica and other coastal regions. The costumes were very colorful. My favorite dance was the...

  Today our program director Edith took us with the social worker and a child from PPA (Juan) to look for his home for a surprise visit it was an unbelievable day. To get there we took a taxi from the children’s home. The air quality in Lima is very bad. They do not have emissions control. They dump there trash all over the place in the shanty towns that...

Great nights sleep and feeling rested now. It was a good idea to come in a day ahead of everyone else and make sure we got over the jet lag. Doug has caught a cold from someone on the airplane and I am worried about him, for his own sake and for the possibility of transmitting it to the other climbers. I have started taking loads of Emergency and my Coptis Chinesis...