Textu | The old way to do it
In the central and western Pacific Ocean, there is a famous small island with an area of about 2.5 square kilometers, known as the "Bird Kingdom", which is a bird island located in the Paracas Nature Reserve, 240 kilometers south of the Peruvian capital.
Bird Island consists of the South Island, the North Island, the Middle Island and 6 reefs. Don't look at its small size, but its fame is not small: thousands of tourists come here every year, and the "visit" --- only because the island is home to more than 6 million seabirds and about 200 species of seabirds all year round.
This rare natural wonder, of course, we will not miss: take a tourist bus from the capital Lima, looking forward to this "visual feast".
During the more than 4 hours of bus journey to Bird Island, the scenery seen along the way was basically like this: gray mountain beams and the occasional mess of houses.
When we arrived at paracas nature reserve, it was already sunset, which was not bad, allowing us to see the beautiful scene of red light and water and sky.
The hotel we stayed at that day was right by the paracas sea, which is a lido about 11 km from Bird Island, which we were going to the next morning. It's a great place for a relaxing holiday!
Paracas Nature Reserve was created in 1975 to protect the vast expanse of waters where Bird Island is located and the surrounding desert. It is really "seawater on one side and flame on the other".
The picture above is the town where the Bird Island Scenic Area is located, the name is unknown, let's call it "Bird Island Town".
Residents of Torishima Town, which lives near the water, are naturally "drafted by the water". The abundant fish resources naturally make them worry-free, and there are still a large number of tourists who come here every day to "throw money", and it can be seen that their days are still quite moist.
Days are "moist", and of course there are flocks of seabirds that inhabit the harbor all year round, and the birds I find the most are these big fat cormorants and pelicans.
At eight o'clock in the morning, we were fully armed and took a speedboat from Paracas Bay to Bird Island.
It is said that the wind in this area increases every afternoon, so the excursion to Bird Island is usually arranged in the morning.
Soon after departure, I saw a huge pattern on the slope of a small island, which resembled a symmetrical candlestick.
According to the accompanying tour guide, this huge painting carved into the rock was discovered in 1929. It is 128 meters high, 67 meters wide, the original depth of about 2 meters, now only 20 centimeters, it is said to be the work of prehistoric people. But the meaning of the pattern is still a mystery and has not really been solved.
After about 40 minutes of driving, Torishima slowly approached the tourists from small to large, and began to be viewed by a new group of curious people.
From a distance, Bird Island can be said to be "full of holes", and the cave stone cracks are all over the island, which is the result of crustal movement and long-term erosion of seawater, which constitutes the special and fascinating geographical landscape of Bird Island.
The speedboat quickly approaches the island and circles several islands, allowing visitors to enjoy the wonders of Bird Island from all angles.
In the face of the overwhelming flock of birds in front of you, at this moment, the only thing to do is to show off the big and small "guys" and concentrate on taking pictures.
It is worthy of the "kingdom of birds", and there are many kinds of birds and huge numbers. It is said that at most it can reach 40 to 50 million, mostly cormorants, pelicans, and seagulls, and the fish and shrimp eaten every day alone are as many as 10 million tons.
Here is "the sea is wide and the fish leaps, and the sky is high and the birds fly"
It's not only a haven for seabirds, but also for sea lions, seals, walruses and fur seals. After eating and drinking enough, these cute guys climbed to the rocks and squinted in the sun, and the days were so comfortable! Enviable! Hehe!
I heard that there are turtles, dolphins and little penguins living here, but we come and go in a hurry and have no chance to meet them.
A large amount of bird droppings has dyed the crimson rocks off-white. It is a naturally good fertilizer processing plant, and the production of more than 100,000 tons of guano per year is an important export resource for Peru.
But who would have thought that this bird island was once the "Blood Tear Island" and "Desperate Island" of tens of thousands of Chinese workers.
According to the records, from 1849 to 1874, Peru successively imported 100,000 Chinese workers from China's Guangdong and Fujian provinces, and a considerable number of them were sent to Bird Island to dig up bird droppings. Due to the extremely high intensity of labor and the extremely poor eating and living conditions, many Chinese workers chose to jump off a cliff to commit suicide because they could not bear the cruel abuse.
This is the wooden pier used to mine bird droppings, and it is a historical witness to the unbearable and difficult years of Chinese Chinese workers.
The houses and walls that the Chinese workers built on Bird Island have preserved to this day make people look at the mixed feelings in their hearts.
This is the famous Sea Lion Cave and is a symbol of Bird Island.
There are many similar arches on Bird Island, which is the only door opening that can be passed by speedboats, and it looks like elephant trunk mountain in Guilin, Guangxi from a distance.
On the way back, I finally saw a walrus in the water, so that the sky flew, the island rested, and the water swam, all of them were there, and the bird island tour was complete.
(Finished in March 2018, revised in August 2022)