Our last afternoon in the Amazon was spent visiting one of the small villages along one of the tributaries.  Although dressed in traditional garb, we knew this was purely for our benefit.  But it's important for the tribes to keep traditions and this is a way for them to pass from one generation to another as well as give us a glimpse of their life not so long ago. We had our turn at the blowgun. I hit the target twice.  We learned the difference between poisonous (plants are poisonous as well as darts) and venomous (snakes and spiders).  We learned a few new dance steps too.  The idea of "Amazon women" came as a result when Spaniards saw people in grass skirts and what looked liked long hair.  It wasn't long hair but rather grass headdresses with a long back for brushing bugs away.  From afar, they looked like very big women and thus the story started. 
PARACAS - Yesterday morning (tuesday) we left the Amazon with all its greenery and lush jungle to arrive in Paracas. We drove over 4 hours along the desert coastline south of Lima.  This is very dry, rugged and very little vegetation. It's a hard life for people in this region.  Today our morning visit was to the Ballestas Islands just off the coast.  Some say a "mini" Galapagos.  Known to have the world's largest collection of sea birds, it was an amazing sight. We saw: Cormorants, Frigate birds, Peruvian pelicans, boobies, and the endangered Humboldt penquins. Of course we saw sea lions as well.  Thanks to these birds, their guano (poop) they produce is a highly coveted fertilizer ingredient making it 1 of 3 main industries (the other 2 are salt and fish meal)
The afternoon was another adventure as we took to the air in a small cessena to view the Nazca Lines.  Scientsits are still baffled by these picture lines that include a monkey, spider, dog, hummingbird, just some of over 200 designs etched in the earth and can only be seen by the air. Discovered in the 1920's, the first of these were probably made around 400bc and are still in tact.
We're now in Lima for one night.  After a brief tour of the city tomorrow, we fly to Lake Titicaca.  We will be just over 10,000. WOW.