Monday 5th August
We spent the morning packing and cleaning up our apartment then met the owner's brother to return the keys and get our deposit back before taking the bus into town for lunch. At the bus station, we were surprised to learn that the bus we had planned to get was fully booked, so we had to wait three hours for the next one. We decided to spend the time in Starbucks. When our bus eventually left, the seats had been oversold, and there were seven people squeezed into the five seats at the back and people sitting in the aisle. This surprised us only because it was a bus which had assigned seating. When we arrived in Chivay, the largest town in the Colca Canyon, we went for a late snack then crashed.
Tuesday 6th August
After a consolation from our friendly hostel owner on things to do in the area, we decided to catch a minibus to the next town and do a circular walk from there, which took us across the Río Colca and through some lovely scenery. Back in Chivay, we lunched then rested before going to a café for wifi and a spot of work.
Wednesday 7th August
After breakfast and packing, we went for a walk across the river in Chivay and wandered aimlessly around in the countryside for a while before heading back to town for coffee and cake. Which was of course quickly followed by lunch before boarding our bus back to Arequipa. On the bus, we picked up a new friend who we went for one last dinner and wifi session with in Arequipa before returning to the bus terminal for our overnight bus to Nazca.
Thursday 8th August
We stepped off the bus in Nazca and made our way to the main square to see if we could find breakfast. No. So, we went directly to our hostel, expecting to be turned away for being too early, but instead they gave us something to eat, which was nice. We were then able to check into our room (to our surprise they'd upgraded us to a suite!), where we showered, changed and rested. Zab skyped his best friend and I worked before going out for lunch then coming home for a much needed nap. Later, we recharged ourselves with cake.
Friday 9th August
We decided that the first order of business in Nazca was to visit the Museo Didáctico Antonini to get an overview of the history of the region. Unfortunately, the displays were mostly impenetrable and we found it difficult to connect with the stories of the different peoples having really no context for when or how they lived. We did enjoy watching the preening peacocks in the garden, however and looking at the scale model of the geoglyphs on the desert floor. Back in town after ice cream then lunch we rested then worked, and in the evening we visited the Planetarium for a show about the Nazca lines which was fascinating and a look through a telescope at Saturn before coffee and cake.
Saturday 10th August
Having educated ourselves on them the day before, we went out to see the Nazca lines for ourselves. This involved being dropped off after a short bus ride into the desert at a man made mirador beside the road and climbing up to get an oblique view of the Hands and the Tree. We then had to wait a bit for a bus to pass on its way back to Nazca where we had lunch and ice cream before resting, working and travel planning for the rest of the afternoon and evening.
Sunday 11th August
After all the excitement of the previous few days, we decided to have a rest/work day. That is Zab mostly rested, and I mostly worked.
