Paracas

I've been working in southern Peru where the earthquake was and there's a nearby National Reserve called Paracas. Paracas is what I imagine the surface of Mars to look like, but on the coast of the Pacific Ocean and with a huge image of a candelabra formed into the side of a hill overlooking the sea. Archaeologists think that it’s the work of the Paracas People who lived in southern Peru before the Inca, and that it’s a compass pointing north and south for ritual purposes. But, no one really knows. The Islas Ballestas are home to sea lions and PENGUINS! Hot weather penguins! It's an endangered species called the Humboldt Penguin, very cute, an excellent endangered species poster child if you ask me. We saw a baby sea lion learning to swim. It was paddling along behind its mom and would crawl up on her back to rest every few minutes. When she would dive under he would get a little frantic, look around, and dive behind her.