It was hot when we arrived in San Martin. The desert with its dunes looked very
beautiful from where the ship was based in port.
The tour group I was assigned to was soon on the road through the
reserve, in which the port is based, and out into the desert, finally reaching
San Martin and heading onto the Trans American Highway for a few minutes before
turning off onto a dirt road. The track
eventually ended up at a farm surrounded by grape vines and citrus trees. Being in the desert you would think nothing
grows there however Peru learned from Israel about farming methods in the
desert. Water from boreholes/wells is
tapped and drip-fed to plants.
Fertiliser is guano and compost comes from recycled plants and grape
waste.
We arrived at the Bodega 1615 distillery where we had a tour of the
vines and distillery where we learnt about the production of Pisco (Peruvian
white brandy), final testing and blending of the product. The spirit is obtained by distilling fresh
grape juice or musts with no adding of water or sugar. Fermentation takes about 7 days followed by
distilling in copper stills and the liquid then rests for 3 to 6 months in stainless
steel containers. The final product has
between 42 to 43% alcohol content.
Afterwards there was a tasting session and an opportunity to purchase
some bottles of the product. I liked a
cocktail that we were given – it was very refreshing however I didn’t like
Pisco itself – having 2 tasters then refusing any more. For my palate it was bitter and euuuggghhh!
We then headed back into the Paracas Reserve and stopped at the park
ranger’s station where there is information about the park and what one can
expect to see. Our guide did his best to
explain things however there was someone in the group with a very loud voice
made it difficult to hear what our guide was saying, which was a real pity and
it is something that I find is very rude.
Eventually a rather angry guest went up to her and, managing to keep his
temper in check, asked her to turn down the volume! Yay! A
little later we took a walk across the beach towards the water’s edge to see
flamingos and soon the avid bird watchers in the group had their binoculars and
cameras out.
Our next few stops in the reserve included seeing fossils, La Catedral (a
rocky prominence in the sea from the cliff edge that used to be a natural arch
but was destroyed by an earthquake in 2007), and a red beach at Playa
Roja. We were also able to see a variety
of bird life at Playa Roja.
I was glad to eventually get back on the ship – I was exhausted. I think jet-lag is still in full force. We have 3 sea days ahead of us so I may end
up trying to catch up on sleep.
You can see my photographs on facebook via this link: Excursion: Paracas National Reserve
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| Route to our next destination: Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica |
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