The bus we’re taking, “Peru Hop,” stops first in the town of Paracas a few hours south of Lima. There’s not a whole lot there, a couple of fancy beach resorts, a main strip of restaurants for tourists, and a couple of low and mid-range hotels. Peru Hop promotes a trip out to the Ballestas Islands, a two hour boat tour to islands that are sometimes called “the poor man’s Galapagos” and are primarily known as a source of guano. I didn’t put much stock in the “Galapagos” comparison, but it sounded interesting and it might be a good chance to see some interesting birds. Plus it was cheap, only 50 soles per person - about US $15 for us in 2018.