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But the Guano Islands were not always a mere tourist attraction - they were the main income source for Peru, and a reason for war. In the 18th and 19th century, the guano would be collected and exported as fertilizer. Nowadays, only once in eight years the shit is taken off the islands, and we were in year four after the last cleaning... you can imagine the rest.

Martin makes me write beautifully about the animals that we'd seen. Well, they were beautiful, indeed :D. Martin told the people who work with the animals to bring some penguins down from Argentina - what a sweet surprise :D, so, on these islands, I saw the first penguins ever (after Ushuaia). The sea lions were truly sweet and noisy, and lively, as well - not like the one we will feature in the Chacra article. Thousands of birds, also sweet baby birds, I felt like in Hitchcock's film :D. I was truly happy. And Martin bought a Paracas hat in vain, we did not get any excrement dropped on us :D

When we arrived in Lima after a long bus ride, it was just to get Cris a Colombian visa - as usual the bus was late so we didn't get to see the consul, because "we are working according to some rules" as the guard said before shutting the little window in the front door in our face. The next day we came back to be served after hours of waiting, to be told "the consul is still not here, he will be back next Wednesday, though". So we had a week time to go South, and Mart felt his watch getting heavier, his heart longing for a nice Colombia around his nice Cris... but we tried to have a nice time, still, and went to Pisco. It was hard to adjust to regional customs ("don't pee into the toilet"), but we tried.
Arriving in Pisco, we saw funny cars on and off the track.
Pisco, the town of the national spirit of the same name, was destroyed by an earthquake 6 years ago, so we tried not to judge it.
Instead, we realized our situation (little time and less money) and went to the poor man's Galapagos - also called Islas Ballestas or the Guano Islands. Guano is another word for "white rain falling off birds" (excrementos). A new experience after christmas on the sun island, really.

Cris first played with the pelicans, before we got on the boat. Well, they were trained, that's why they didn't run from her or play dead (remember the smarter animals? the llamas?) until their masters stopped liking Cris and called them away.

Mart was delighted to also see his poor man's Nazca lines, a candelabra of which nobody seems to know anything. But we are used to nobody telling the truth to us gringo tourists, so we think they just don't wanna tell... life is a beach.

Depressed article? Come on, you should visit shit islands, hungry, sick, and on unsafe boats. Just joking. We're having fun writing.
Cris will tell about beautiful animals we saw, now. (Do it, come on. I know, I don't want to do it either.)

You didn't find the face? No worries, Cris imitates it to ease your life :D
Not funny enough? No worries, the rain and us as Ampelmaennchen should do. Did I mention Cris revenge for the llamas ignoring her? Well, I don't tell how she did it, but I sure am nicer with her since I saw it...
And to make sure you know what Peru is all about, check "the red picture".

Wayna Picchu is the mountain in the background, and it forms the nose of the "Inka", the ruler of the "Inka" people. Try and find the face the mountain range forms :D

Having been very lucky with the weather, we saw amazing skies and clouds. We climbed up to Wayna Picchu ("the young peak", Machu Picchu being "the old peak") and got the whole image of the Machu Picchu site.

Waking up at 4 am, we went up to Machu Picchu in the dark on day 4. Arriving around 5:30 at the entrance, we made sure to be among the first to get in touch with the local community. Unfortunately, the llamas weren't so eager to talk to Cris - but she paid them back, as you'll see on later pictures of the day

Machu Picchu was very nice and interesting. The stories behind are fascinating and you will find them in many places. Among them are, that it wasn't discovered by the Spanish, that's why it still is so beautiful. But it could be nicer, and more complete, hadn't some Yale archaeologists taken their findings... Machu Picchu was constructed in the 15th and early 16th century, until messengers brought news that Cuzco, the capital of Tawantinsuyo (the "Inka" empire) was invaded. The inhabitants of Machu Picchu fled to the jungle, and blocked the trails leading to M.P.

Now it is a beautiful and huge site for a day of discovery, even though the local brewery destroyed the most important sun clock when filming for an advertisement.

This is a special entry dedicated to our moms, Carmen and Elena - flowers of the Jungle. (Mart insisted to take the pictures!!!)

So that is what I was talking about: walking and eating the "freshest fruits" :D - cacao fruit.

Certain parts of the route were demanding, getting on the top assured us, though, that every muscle-effort was worth it.

So we arrived in Cuzco, all excited to finally get to see Machu Picchu. We celebrated a quite Silvester and made sure we are fresh for the 4-day-trek called Inca Jungle. (The other 4 people from our group had all alcohol intoxication, so we had a very romantic way to the "lost city" - the two of us and the guide :D.) It was amazing to just walk in the jungle and pick up fresh papaya, maracuia, chocolate-fruit, bananas, pineapple or mangoes. There was so much life in the jungle, thousands of bird and insect songs, monkeys jumping from tree to tree, colors, mountains, violent river, beautiful skies and finally an astonishing Machu Picchu.

The first day started with 30 km bike ride, which, let´s say, Mart and the guide completed successful :D

On the way we observed life.

Being such a party group, the bus driver, taking us from the Bolivian-Peruvian Border to Puno, proposed all of us to have a small stop at a local wedding party. There you are 6 Polish, some 6 Germans, me and 3 guys from unknown countries entering the party. Crazy view. Happy drunk people, dancing, falling down, getting up, dancing :D Seeing foreign people, everyone invited us for dancing, being so happy to share the happy moments with us.

The Groom: De donde estan? (Where are you from?)
Cristina: Moldova
The Groom: Que? Croatia? ( What? Croatia?)
Cristina: No, no, Moldova.
The Groom: Que dice? Croatia (What are you saying? Croatia)
Impossible to quarrel with the groom.
Cristina: Yes, Croatia.
The Groom: Yeaaaah.
So he dedicated a song for his new Croatian friends and followed us to the bus, explaining all the German-Polish bus how happy he was that Croatian friends stopped by to celebrate this big day with them.

We laughed like hell once the bus started.

"The Sun Island" was a religious site for the Incas. According to the local legends here is the place of birth of the Inca gods and people. Talking to some locals, I noticed that they still believe in the pagan religion of their ancestors and venerate the sacral sites.

PS: On this table human sacrifices were made in the name of Gods, as you can see, this ritual still takes place :D