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The Ballestas Islands
The Ballestas islands are known as the poor man's Galapagos. But at 40 minutes
in a fast boat its much easier to get to them.
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There are several of these bowed sea arches around the islands. And its these
that give the islands their name. Ballestas being the Spanish for a bow.
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The islands weren't always uninhabited. The vast numbers of sea birds, with a
good diet, deposit a huge amount of bird s**t. This is what makes the rocks
white. And in the days before industrial fertiliser this guano was
gathered commercially. The boats would come in to these docks. As you can
imagine with all the guano the place smells quite a bit.
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As well as the birds all around the islands there are large
numbers of sea lions. All the beaches were covered. I heard there are around
30,000 of these animals on the Ballestas.
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And if you look carefully you can also spot penguins. The Ballestas are unusual
that there is so much food in the sea the sea lions don't bother eating the
penguins.
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Look at them. Lying around stuffed to their whiskers, enjoying the sun :-)
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