Pisco part 2

On Sunday Jen and I did an excursion to the Ballestas Islands with a group of 12 volunteers. The Ballestas Islands are known as Peru´s ¨poor man´s Galapagos Islands,¨ or more commonly the bird shit islands. These islands are huge rock formations reached by a long speedboat ride out into the Pacific Ocean. They are host to numerous bird species such as seagulls, boobies, penguins, etc. There are also many sea lions who inhabit the islands. Seeing the Ballesta Islands is an amazing sight, but visitors may want to bring a nose plug as the smell of guano is strong. The bird feces of this island are high in nitrites and are mined once every five years to make fertilizer. On the way out to the islands we saw mysterious, giant sign made in the sand over 1000 years ago by a pre-Incan civilization. The symbol is almost two football-fields high (looks smaller in the picture) and was believed to be a navigation symbol for early civilizations. Please enjoy the following picture album.

The volunteering itself has been going quite well. Jen and I have tackled a wide array of activities. So far I have mixed and poured concrete, taught English, cooked for 70 people under a trained chef, colleted used oil to make bio-diesel, and broken and moved a small mountain. The work has been interesting and challenging! Jen has been doing wood collection, English teaching, interviewing of past charity recipients, and making concrete (by hand) and pouring it. We are both tan with chiseled bug-bitten bodies after one week. Hopefully we will be able to post some pictures of the hardcore work we are doing.