Time to escape the cities! After Rome, Madrid and Lima we were all ready for some nature!

We used Peru hop buses to do so. Not the private transfers the boys are used to but I was excited to get into the backpacking groove. The bus had charge outlets and plenty of leg room but it was packed! Every seat occupied with people from all over the world and all ages.

The first leg was an easy couple of hours to Paracas. Along the way we stopped at a very grand beautiful colonial house built on it the back of the slave trade. This contrast of beauty and harrowing stories always makes me emotional and incredibly grateful for my life.

Carrying these thoughts of gratefulness we headed to my favourite place the ocean! And finally some sun! The Peru hop afternoon activities were more aimed at the younger crowd, so we decided to skip the sunset tour and Pisco shots, instead chilled on the beach and let boys run wild for a bit.

At the far end of the beach was a deserted inflatable obstacle course… it is winter here. But that didn’t put middle man off who relentless asking wore us down. When it was confirmed that the boys didn’t need an adult with them, both myself and hubby let out a sigh of relief and agreed they could go on. We might have told the Boy Blue was 10 🤫.

I don’t usually say no to water based activities but with my back playing up and the water temperature being about 8 degrees colder than preferred, it was the best choice. Instead hubby and I enjoyed a rare 45mins of peace, a hot coffee and I even squeezed in a 20min workout on the shore. Plus Watching them fall off was an absolute pleasure that every parent should experience.

The boys had an absolute blast, running, jumping, falling, swinging around. They had the place to themselves for pretty much the whole time. I just felt sorry for the poor lifeguard who was trying to keep up with them. Actually I was super impressed with the safety… the lifeguard was very attentive and the life jackets were actually fitted correctly! ( i might have mentioned it before 😂😂😂, but bad fitting life jackets is a real pet hate of mine.)

As the sun set it quickly became cooler so a quick dip in the hotel pool and a shower later we headed out for dinner. We enjoyed a simple food at a little beach front restaurant with a wobbly but sheltered terrace and fantastic sea views.