Islas Ballestas Paracas - Ica

I don't know about you but when I travel I thrive off of meeting new people and experiencing new things that I don't generally take part in during my life back home in the states.  Since being in Peru I have made some amazing friends that will definitely be a part of my life for many years to come.  Whether traveling with friends, family, or complete strangers, there are many things that you begin to learn about yourself and others when traveling in buses and living in close quarters with each other.  So far during my trip in Peru I have really begun to realize the small things that happen around me that I can be thankful for.  Whether it be food on the table (deliciously prepared by Lucy) or the opportunity to learn from our mistakes, everything we do has the potential to build us up as individuals.  That being said I hope you enjoy some of the pictures and commentary from my trip to Islas Ballestas Paracas. 

While it has been about two weeks since I got back from Ica and Islas Ballestas Paracas I love to look back at pictures and remember the fun times we had.  Before heading to Islas Ballestas Paracas we went sand boarding in La Huacachina and had the time of our lives and then spent the night at the Las Dunas hotel.  If you are staying in Ica for a night I highly suggest this hotel for all travelers.  Between the two pools, volleyball (sand and water), ping pong, golf course, skate park, and paintball arena there is definitely something to do for the whole family!  After a day on the sand dunes I was definitely grateful to be able to jump in the pool and cool off while playing some volleyball!

After a nice night at the hotel we woke up early, had a delicious complementary breakfast, and then headed off to Islas Ballestas Paracas.  I believe the bus ride was around an hour or so but I was pretty tired so I don't think I was up for a minute of it.  Once we got to our stopping point we all took a bathroom break and did a little bit of shopping and then headed on our boat tour.  Before jumping on the boat there were a number of pelicans that were hanging out on the beach and I couldn't help but think of Finding Nemo.  On our boat tour we saw many different aquatic 
birds like pelicans, a few penguins, and peruvian 
boobies (these are birds for those who are wondering).  Since there are so many birds on these islands the locals actually harvest the bird feces, called guano, and use it as a fertilizer.  Guano is a good fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen.  Besides being a fertilizer guano has also been used to make gunpowder and other types of explosives.  

Besides seeing many birds we also were able to see many sea lions.  One interesting thing I learned from our tour guide is that the main difference between seals and sea lions is that sea lions have ears and seals do not.  While watching the sea lions I couldn't help but envy their laid-back lifestyle, although I don't know how comfortable posting up on rocks all day would be. 

After an afternoon on the water, watching the wildlife, we headed back to the mainland to get some food to eat and finish off our shopping.  If you are a seafood fan I would highly suggest eating ceviche while at the beach because it is hard to find anything more fresh than fish straight out of the ocean.  To finish off my time at Islas Ballestas Paracas I did a brief push up workout with my friend Evelyn.  Since we have been traveling around together to some amazing places Evelyn and I have decided to make a series of push up videos to document where we have been!  I hope you enjoy the video and photos!    

Exercising While Abroad: Machu Picchu Workout

While studying abroad it is hard enough to try and juggle a new culture, new cuisine, new school atmosphere, and new set of friends, yet alone try to fit in a workout now and then. That being said I have done my best to make do with what I have.

Since the first day of being in Lima I quickly realized that all floors here are rock solid, thus there is not really a good place within the house to do a workout on the floor. While I have not actively been searching for an athletic store, that is something that has been and will continue to be on my list of places to go, in order to get a yoga mat or something to exercise on. Despite not having a cushy floor to workout on I have started to do a 100 Push Ups in 8 Weeks workout plan in order to keep my body active. While I have not always been a push up guy I would highly suggest this to anyone who doesn't have a lot of time or space to workout and they want to stay fit. Whether guys or gals this workout is set up to give everyone a good workout! Here is the link for the workout if you would like to follow along!

• 100 Push Ups

Along with doing some upper body work I have enjoyed going on evening runs in the park here near my house. The first week or two I was running regularly every other day but then I got to a point where I was having extreme pains in my right knee, being so young I was a bit concerned but I ended up realizing that the major cause seemed to be wearing flip flops all the time. While I am not a doctor and can't confirm 100% that flip flops added to my running struggles I would say that due to the lackage of support in the back of flip flops I started to compensate how I walked and ended up readjusting my step. Now that I have assumed flip flops to be the culprit of my pain I have decided wearing regular shoes more often is an easy enough compromise and it has allowed me to hit the streets again and get in some good cardio workouts!

If anyone out there has suggestions of other good workout to do at home with minimal to no equipment or if you live in Lima and have a suggestion of where to go to buy sporting goods stuff please let me know!

I hope you enjoy the video of me and my friend Evelyn doing some push ups at Machu Picchu. We were inspired by seeing some other Americans busting out some push ups so we decided we would join in the fun, get a workout in, and get some awesome footage of Machu Picchu at the same time!

Thanks for reading and please leave comments below!