Friday, 29 August 2014
What a busy day!
Had to have breakfast at 7 am because we leave for Ballestas Islands at 8 am. Last night was very cold again with the result that I didn't sleep too well. I think I'm coming down with something too. But I digress.
At 8 am we left for the islands from the El Chaco Pier. On the way, we saw what they call a 'chandelier', or 'El Candelabra' which is tree-pronged like a trident. It is a giant figure etched into the sandy hills, which is over 150m high and 50m wide. No one knows exactly who made the geoglyph, or when, or what it signifies, but theories abound. Some connect it to the Nazca Lines (although to me it looks nothing like that), some say it is the trident of Poseidon, some the trident of the devil, some that it served as a navigational guide for ancient sailors and was based on the constellation of the Southern Cross. Some even believe it to have been inspired by a local cactus species with hallucinogenic properties. Some (of course!) say it was aliens who did it. It was discovered about 150 years ago when there was an earthquake. Apparently it does not ever erode with time, it always stays the same.
At the islands we saw millions of guanay guano birds or cormorants, the guide told us there were at least 22 million, and they collect its guano for sale. We also saw sea lions, Peruvian boobies, pelicans, and Humbolt penguins! I didn't get to see penguins in the Galápagos Islands so this completes my trip! They are really small fellows. The entire trip to the island took about 2 hours.
What a busy day!
Had to have breakfast at 7 am because we leave for Ballestas Islands at 8 am. Last night was very cold again with the result that I didn't sleep too well. I think I'm coming down with something too. But I digress.
At 8 am we left for the islands from the El Chaco Pier. On the way, we saw what they call a 'chandelier', or 'El Candelabra' which is tree-pronged like a trident. It is a giant figure etched into the sandy hills, which is over 150m high and 50m wide. No one knows exactly who made the geoglyph, or when, or what it signifies, but theories abound. Some connect it to the Nazca Lines (although to me it looks nothing like that), some say it is the trident of Poseidon, some the trident of the devil, some that it served as a navigational guide for ancient sailors and was based on the constellation of the Southern Cross. Some even believe it to have been inspired by a local cactus species with hallucinogenic properties. Some (of course!) say it was aliens who did it. It was discovered about 150 years ago when there was an earthquake. Apparently it does not ever erode with time, it always stays the same.
At the islands we saw millions of guanay guano birds or cormorants, the guide told us there were at least 22 million, and they collect its guano for sale. We also saw sea lions, Peruvian boobies, pelicans, and Humbolt penguins! I didn't get to see penguins in the Galápagos Islands so this completes my trip! They are really small fellows. The entire trip to the island took about 2 hours.
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