Dust Storm!

When we arrived in Paracas in late afternoon of 9/12/17, we were overjoyed to see the sun and had a beautiful sunset.  This picture is from our balcony.  

This was the only redeeming factor of our room.  It was so small, that it barely fit a double bed and chair.  To get to the bathroom, we had to keep the closet doors shut, and there was barely room for one person in the bathroom.  It was a small engineering feat to close the bathroom door behind you and not fall into the toilet.

We went on a tour of Reserva Nacional de Paracas on Wed.  We were glad we were in an air-conditioned car as we started driving through the desolate moonscape, rather than in dune buggies, as we could have rented.  This was especially so, as the wind picked up over the next few hours (at least 40 mph was a guesstimate from our guide) and it became a full on dust storm.  There were times where it was literally a "brown out" and we couldn't see where the road was!  

Dune buggies out on "Mars"

You can see why this is named Playa Rojo (red beach)

The red sand is formed when wind scours the nearby cliffs, and the resulting dust is carried by water currents onto this beach.  

When we got back to the hotel, still in the midst of the sandstorm, we found our laundry hanging on our balcony to be good and dry, but covered in dust!  We bagged the idea of going to Pisco for the afternoon, and took a nap instead.

Before we left on our tour, it was clear and sunny, so I got some pictures of the Paracas "harbor".  The pelicans, seagulls and cormorants hung out on the fishing boats.

The three amigos 

Now we're off to Ica and a desert oasis - looking forward to sun, warmth, and hopefully no sand storm!