July 18 - South of Lima (#50)

Jenny and I went for a guided trip with Alvaro Ali of Peru Sea Kayaking. Alvaro has real sea kayaks which were a nice change from the boats I had paddled on the previous two trips. We drove from our B&B in Barranco, Lima south to a summer holiday community of Santa Maria were we launched the kayaks. We paddled south along some spectacular cliffs to a neat little islet with a magnificent surge channel. Might have been fun in a plastic single! Afer that we made our way back to a small protected bay for lunch and a rest.
There was a fairly good southerly swell and probably 5-10 knots of wind throughout that made the sea conditions a bit more interesting. Again you can see from the track image how desolate the desert is adjacent to the rich ocean. Alvaro organised a good tour and had good equipment which was a nice change! The same evening we started our long trek back to Canada!

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11 km, YTD 648 km

July 16 - Paracas (#49)

After visiting the amazing Ballestas Islands and the spectacular Paracas National Reserve, we had a free morning, so I rented a sit on top Hobie kayak from the nearby Hilton resort. The kayak was an absolute tub, but at least I was out on the water amongst pelicans, boobies, terns, cormorants and skimmers! There were small fish jumping all over, testifying to the richness of the local waters. I paddled from the resort to the point by the town, pausing for a brief visit with Jenny who was taking it easy that morning in our hotel. I would love to paddle this area more extensively in a real sea kayak... You can see from the track image how dry the surrounding desert is - not a plant to be seen! You can also see from the track how slow the Hobie SOT tub was to paddle!

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6 km, YTD 637 km

July 10 - Lake Titicaca (#48)

Jenny and I paddled out in a double from Puno to the Uros floating Islands in Lake Titicaca. It was pretty cool to be paddling at 3850 m (over 12500 ft!) and gorgeous conditions. We paddled out through the reeds, seeing lots of water birds (and a fair bit of garbage!) and reached the Uros floating Islands village (clearly visible in the track). This community is made up of about 40 islands made from floating totora reeds. It was pretty neat to see, though a bit touristy. After this we joined a regular group to go out to Amantani and Taquile Islands for an overnight.

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5 km, YTD 631 km