Poor man's Galapagos

Paracas is a small coastal fishing village surrounded by arid desert, about 4 hours south of Lima - though judging by the amount of hotel plots and plush waterfront holiday homes being built it won't be small or quiet for long. We came here just to visit the Islas Ballestas, known as the 'poor man's Gallapagos' because of the abundance of wildlife that live there, but having treated ourselves to a comparatively posh hotel with pool, decided to stay a few days and enjoy it. 
The islands are only small, but packed with colonies of cormorants, pelicans, vultures, humboldt penguins and sea-lions (it's the wrong time of year to see dolphins and flamingos too, but that's just being greedy). One area was packed so full of sea-lions and their pups that it looked as if the beach itself was moving, accompanied by a sound like the roar of a football stadium.    
Back in town Kim and Ned got to feed wild pelicans as they scavenged among the tourists on the beach (the pelicans, not Kim and Ned), and Annie and I finally had 'proper' wedding rings made - and for those of you who scoffed at our £1.50 stone rings from CenterParcs, I'll have you know these are a whopping £10 worth of solid silver. Each.
 - Extravagant I know, but she's worth every penny!