Ballestas Islands and Pisco, Peru
After a few hours on the bus from Lima I arrived in Pisco, the home of the grape brandy of the same name and it's most famous cocktail the great Pisco Sour. The one thing you must do in Pisco is drink a Pisco Sour or three, because really this small town has little else to offer. Thankfully though nearby are the Ballestas Islands which are sometimes described as the "Galapagos for the poor". I took a boat out and around the islands to see what there was to see. The islands are not inhabited and it's forbidden to land on them to protect the wildlife and to protect the guano that builds up on the islands from the birds which is harvested once a year to make fertiliser.
The most common bird on the islands are the Peruvian Boobies as seen above.
There's a variety of other birds as well though, including penguins. Closer to the water's edge sea lions can be found, but not in the numbers you see them on the Galapagos Islands.
When sailing to and from the Ballestas Islands this 128 meter tall geoglyph is visible carved in to the hillside. It was created by the pre-Columbian civilisation called Paracas and serves as a reminded that you're not far from Nazca and the famous Nazca Lines. Back on dry land I went to visit a Pisco distillery and learn how the grape brandy is made. It's produced much like wine is produced all over the world, but instead of using barrels to store the wine in, these large stone vessels are used instead:
Once the wine is ready it's distilled and becomes the grape brandy "Pisco". Having learnt about the process I headed to the tasting room to try a few varieties. First the undistilled wine, which was pleasant enough, but not really what I was looking for. Neat Pisco was strong and not really to my liking so I tried a different drink that invovled Pisco and milk which tasted not unlike Bailey's. The best was saved for last though, the refreshing Pisco Sour:
Pisco Sour:
Ingredients:
- 2 fl oz (8 parts) Pisco
- 1 fl oz (4 parts) Lime juice
- ¼ fl oz (1 part) Simple syrup
- ½ Egg white
- 1 dash Bitters
Directions: Shake strongly with ice and strain into glass, bitters are used as a garnish on the foamy top.