Gaspar was an amazing guide! We couldn't have asked for anyone better! What an incredible experience! And Benjamín, our driver was a great driver! Gaspar explained everything in great detail. He even found us a great restaurant with a vegetarian menu in the town of Paracas. We had some spare time between lunch and our flight for Nazca Lines from Pisco, so he showed us a quaint little seaside neighborhood. It was a very comfortable and enjoyable tour. We saw amazing wildlife on Islas Ballestas-sea lions basking, hunting, loving and hugging, and of course Peruvian penguins being ridiculously adorable just being penguins, lots of pelicans and cormorants! It was all a feast for the eyes! And the Nazca Limes were simply mind blowing!
Nazca lines have been very high on my list of things to experience, so this tour was selected. Alex & Gasper were on time and ready to go! Be ready for a long drive, but I promise it is worth it! I am not sure was the special occasion was, but we hit a new record for police stops (5) in one trip. The great thing was that Alex had all his papers in order and the stops were nothing and we were off within a minute or so. Once we arrived in Paracas, we were taken to a restaurant for facilities (1 sol to use) and then we were placed with our group for the boat ride. The water was super calm and the presenter did a great job. We were the only English speaking people on the boat, so she would share information in Spanish and then again for us in English. It was a very sunny day (bring a tight hat & sunblock) and the trip to the islands went quickly with a few stops along the way to see the land before the islands and a cacti geoglyph. Even before we near the islands, wave after wave of sea birds were flocking around them, coming to them or leaving them. Once we arrived to the first island it was wildlife overload with sea lions and many different sea birds! We toured around the many islands which were covered in wild life and unique rock formations; and then I saw a penguin! As it was summiting the rock it kept calling out to which, two more penguins appeared! What an awesome time! We returned back to the docks, disembarked and Gasper was there waiting for us and back to the car for a short jaunt to the airport. Gasper shared that the Peruvian flag was based on area flamingo's and as we drove by the water, sure enough Gasper noticed a few of their heads peaking about the sand dunes! We arrived at the airport quickly...it was a massive airport that only had flights over the Nazca lines......Bad planning, but hopefully the government can fix the issues and get some more flights in and out (it is a very nice airport). Gasper was even kind enough to get us our "nazca stamp" for our passport! (it was actually pretty cool). There were 10 of us and we all fit comfortably on the plane. We flew for about 30 minutes of so before we started to see formations. I will warn you, the plane presents the lines to the right first then the left. When they do though; they bank very hard so get ready for a little amusement park type travel! Several passengers were ill from these hard banks back and forth. Me and my wife were fine as we were simply amazed at what we saw. You should also know, it is important to look with your eyes first then your camera/phone. For whatever reason, looking through your view finder, you will not see the geoglyphs and it is totally easy to miss the photo op! After the flight, we Gasper was there waiting for us, checked on whether we got sick from the flight or not and off to lunch we went. I told Gasper that we saw two large flocks of flamingos from the plane and sure enough, we drove by them. Alex, hit the brakes and pulled over so we could get some photos...Then off to lunch. We were given a couple options and we selected the Arnawa hotel. Oddly, the next day we were flying to Cusco & staying at the same hotel. Food was ok, atmosphere was fantastic. Once done, we were heading back to Lima. Again, more police inspections & heavy heavy traffic; but Alex got us through with no problems. The company throughout had fantastic communications and there were zero surprises, allowing us a stress free trip that we will cherish for a life time. If you have a chance to go, we highly advise taking this tour!