Don't Drink Water From the Tap and Don't Flush Toilet Paper Down the Toilet: 5/22

Today was our last day in Ica! First we traveled to the coast and got on boats to go and see Paracas, Peru's version of the Galapagos Islands! Paracas is a series of islands off the coast of Ica and is home to a lot of different wildlife. On the tour we saw dolphins, seals, many different types of birds and even penguins! The amount of birds was overwhelming, and I got pooped on twice! We also went by something that looked like a trident drawn into the sand in a similar way the Nazca lines were. The tour guide said that no one knowns who drew that in the sand but it is about 2000 years old and has survived for that long because the area rarely if ever receives rain. Some people believe it is from the Nazca people, but no one can be sure.
After the boat ride, we traveled to go and see an Afroperuano concert. About 95,000 Africans were brought as slaves to Peru from about 1520 to 1850. Since slavery was abolished in Peru in 1856, African-peruvians have created and thrived in their own culture. The music and dancing we saw was all part of the Afroperuano culture. The men played percussion instruments while one boy played the violin, and the women and some men would dance to the music. The women wore bright beautiful colors and looked so happy when dancing. Even the little girls of the community got up and danced! The men got up too and did some dancing that represented tap dancing but without tap shoes. It was very cool! Then at the end we all got up and the dancers taught us some of their moves!