Poop. Bird poop. Everywhere. Imagine entire islands covered in knee-deep bird poop with millions of birds making it deeper by the second. Imagine thousands of birds circling overhead making you wish you bought the $4 hat from the guy selling them on the dock. Although grabbing a small bandana from your daypack works in a pinch to protect you from bird-bombs – plus they look super stylish.

This is Islas Ballestas, a few outcroppings of red and white rock off the south coast of Peru. Once we got over our initial fear of being pooped on, the islands were teeming with amazing Peruvian wildlife (even animals outside the bird family). Islas Ballestas is known as the “poor man’s Galapagos” and if anyone cannot drop $3,000+ on Darwin’s famous islands then Islas Ballestas may be …Keep Reading!