Today I woke up and thought, "Wow, what a beautiful day. I think I'd like to slide down a giant sand dune on a piece of wood." So that is exactly what I did. It's called sandboarding and is just like snowboarding, only softer and warmer. It was such a workout just to hike to the top of a dune that I had to wait a while to catch my breath before I zoomed down. The first couple times I was scared, so I went down sitting on my board, which was like a big fast slide that throws sand in your face. Then I worked up the courage and went down standing up. I had to bail out a couple times when I started going too fast for comfort, but I had a great time, despite ripping my jeans and getting sand in my mouth, ears, and every other part imaginable!

In the desert city of Nazca, I got to see the world-famous Nazca Lines. I took a tiny plane with two other people on a flight over these mysterious figures etched out over 200 square miles. They can only be seen from the sky, so there is much speculation about the purpose of these designs that were created so long ago. And, yes, alien landing strips is one accepted theory! The flight was really fun and pretty bumpy (the German girl was about to throw up). You would have loved it, Mom!

While on the coast, I took a trip to the Islas Ballestas, also called the "Poor man's Galapagos." No giant turtles here, but I did get to see a whole bunch of turkey vultures, gulls, penguins, and sea lions. And the bird droppings on the islands used to be one of Peru's best exports because they are an excellent fertilizer. In some places it is many meters deep. Needless to say, the islands had a distinctive aroma.

In the last week I have tried two common foods of Peru. The first was cuy. Yes, guinea pig. I had to forget poor Peanut and Twinkle while I chomped on my cute little critter who was lying on my plate with his legs sprawled and little head still attached. It was actually quite tasty, although there wasn't that much meat on his little bones. The second national food I tried was ceviche, which is raw seafood marinated in lime juice. I really liked it, which I guess isn't that surprising since I like sashimi. And of course I washed these down with Inca Kola, the national soft drink of Peru. A bit of trivia for you: Inca Kola is the only national soda that sells more than Coca Cola. As the chairman of Coca Cola said when he tried it, "Looks like piss, tastes like bubble-gum." Delicious.