The Birds

I encounter tourist magnets with mixed feelings. On the one hand, they have not without reason become the center of attraction for people from all continents and therefore usually possess something particularly worth seeing. On the other hand, they are often surrounded by characterless areas set up to accommodate the influx of visitors. In the small town of Paracas on the coast of Peru, whose nearby Ballestas Islands are a birdwatchers’ paradise, I found hardly any tourists. As a result, the place seemed not only nondescript, but also extraordinarily dreary. Nevertheless, I was thrilled to find an incredible amount of seabirds already in the town’s harbor. Similar to Hitchcock’s film “The Birds”, they sat on every free spot of the anchored boats and created an overwhelming soundscape.

Paracas (Peru), August 2017