i saw a penguin in islas ballestas

Islas Ballestas is a cluster of islands about 20km off the coast of Paracas in Peru. Dubbed as the Peruvian Galapagos, the concentration of wildlife in these islands is just overwhelming. It is also known as the poor-man's Galapagos because for just a small fraction of the cost to get to the latter, one will see literally thousands of birds perched on the islands or flying above, a colony of sea lions and penguins. (I paid 107 Soles for a combined trip with Paracas Reserve from Ica and for the entrance fees.)

The boat tour to the islands took approximately two hours. There were about 40 people in the boat and our guide spoke Spanish, French and English. He explained everything in those three languages and probably only two people needed the English translation. Ehem. All throughout the trip, we were wearing uncomfortable over-sized life vests. Er, better safe than sorry.

The Candelabra of the Paracas culture.

Before heading to the islands, we first saw the Candelabra which is a geoglyph etched on a slope of a hill in the desert. It was so called because of its shape although most believe that it is in the image of the weapon held by Viracocha, a South American god. Similar to the Nasca lines, the people of the Paracas culture made this by removing the surface materials and digging up to two feet deep. It's rather amazing how it was able to withstand the elements for more than two thousand years and still be clearly seen from afar.

Guano (the white stuff) covered Balleestas Islands and sea stacks.

Islas Ballestas is a sight to behold with its impressive sea stacks and sea arches that were slowly formed by the crashing of the waves on the islands' cliffs. The smell though was something one wouldn't look forward to. The whole island is practically covered with guano produced by the seabirds inhabiting it including cormorants, pelicans and boobies. People are not allowed to step on the island except for those who mine the guano that has accumulated on it. There are some structures built on the island which are used every after several years when it's time to collect the guano.

Structure for mining guano. And a sea arch.

When we got close to the island, a group of birds flew above us and I saw stuff dropping on the water. Good thing the birds didn't aim for us. The smell was bearable, but please, not that stuff on my hair. Our guide introduced the animals we saw as we went around and explained that these creatures flock the island because of the abundance of anchovies in the surrounding waters. He also added that they (the people) don't eat the anchovies, only the animals do. Hey, I kind of like anchovies...

Peruvian pelican.

Peruvian booby. Monogamous bird, accompanying the mate it chooses for the rest of its life.

I found one species of bird in the island very peculiar and interesting. The zarcillo or Inca tern has a very distinct color and plummage. Their red-orange beaks and feet made it easy for me to identify them. The zarcillo also tend to live in a very large community. And by large, I mean really large.

The black patch on the left of the island is a community of zarcillo.

A group of zarcillo.

The island is also home to Humboldt penguins, named after the water current they swim in and which breed in the coast of Peru and Chile. One of the reasons why I signed up for a tour to Islas Ballestas was to see a penguin. Unfortunately, there weren't much of them that time. In fact, I only saw one and I would have missed it if the guy behind me didn't shout 'pinguino!'

Hey penguin, where are your buddies?

But what made this trip more worth it was seeing sea lions. I was busy taking pictures of pelicans when our guide told us to pay attention to our left. And there they were, five lazy brown bodies propped on rocks, basking in the sun. They didn't seem to mind that we were very close to them and just went on with what they were doing, which was basically nothing except for scratching their necks once in a while.

At first we only saw a few of them in separate groups, some of them swimming. And then I heard this eerie sound that seemed to come from someone who was being choked to death, grasping for air, begging for help. It was an agonizing sound and it became louder and louder until I saw this large group of sea lions on a beach; adults and babies. The sound they were making, which was a call of the mothers to theirs pups, was deafening.

Sea lions.

The sight of these hundreds of creatures amazed me and moved me in a way I couldn't express. Perhaps it was because I didn't have much expectations when I stepped on the boat to the island. Or the fact that it was my first time to see these creatures and they overwhelmed my senses with their sheer number. If I wanted to, I could have seen them in an amusement park in another place, doing tricks to entertain people. But I'd rather see them there in the wild, doing what they wanted to do, freely roaming the waters and fending for themselves.

Hundreds of sea lions on a beach in the island. The adults are orange-brown while the pups are black.