Things to see and do Paracas

A two-hour excursion, which leaves in the morning from the port of El Chaco. The boats leave in the morning at 8am, before the fog sets in, and offer fairly standard tours with between 10 and 35 passengers on board and a guide who speaks Spanish and English. Second departure at 10am, only in summer season. You leave for the Ballestas, these islands which are funny ochre rock formations and shelter a diversified marine fauna: there are many colonies of birds such as the "zarzillo" (a kind of seagull), the "chuita" (red-legged cormorant), the pelican and the famous "piquero peruano" the one that produces guano - a fertilizer of capital importance for Peru which markets it -, but also many seals, sea lions and dolphins, and only a few specimens of Peruvian penguins, known as Humboldt's penguins, which are on the way to extinction. On the way, we come across a strange figure engraved on a hill, visible only from the sea: el Candelabro. This imposing geoglyph, 128 m long and 78 m wide, engraved in a sand dune, revives, as for the Nazca lines, the speculations on its meaning. Is it a drawing of a cactus, a venerated plant, or a sign to guide navigators? This remains a mystery.

It is not possible to go down to the islands (only people who collect guano are allowed), but we get very close to the beaches and rocks where the sea lions laze and bask, it is the highlight of the show.

South of Paracas begins the 335,000 hectare nature reserve, with its deserted beaches where lizards, flamingos, dolphins and sea lions can be seen. Wild camping is possible, provided that you bring food and drink.

Further on, we could observe a monumental rocky concretion, a bird's paradise, called the Catedral, but it was destroyed by the earthquake of 2007. We still pass by it and from the viewpoint we can see the beautiful grey sandy beach on the left.

The playa Roja with its red sand is just as photogenic. For swimming the calm waters of the Mina are perfect, dolphins sometimes come to greet you, beware the page is small and the influx is numerous at the end of the week.

The tours often stop at the small port of Lagunillas, go and have lunch in the most recommended "El Che" hut. You can also climb a small mirador to have a view on this small bay and its fishing boats.

To visit it: By organized tour in taxi or minibus (between S/ 25 and 80 for 2 or 3 hours of visit). However, we advise you to rent a mountain bike (S/ 30 for a day without a guide, count 7 hours) or a scooter (S/ 100): be careful, it can be very hot, in this case we advise you to stay in the sector La Roja-Lagunillas and La Mina. Or explore it by quad (S/ 80 for 2 hours in a group, one pilot + one passenger behind a lead quad).

In the Museo de Sitio Julio C. Tello de Paracas (at the checkpoint of the Reserva, free entrance), we learn that if the Peruvian coasts represent only 0.1% of the world's coastline, they nevertheless host 10% of the underwater wealth!

We also discover the beautiful site plucked from the sands of oblivion in 1927 by Julio C. Tello, who revealed the funerary textiles (superimposed bands of cotton which surrounded the dead and protected them from moisture) of the Paracas and Nazca cultures. This museum traces the evolution of these civilizations from 200 to 700 AD through 120 archaeological pieces. It also includes the necropolis of "Cabezas Largas", dating from 500 BC (the men of the Paracas civilization had their skulls stretched from birth), where most of the mummies of the Museo Larco Herrera of Lima come from.

If you stop at the Interpretation Center, don't miss the beach on the right at the end of a long path where pink flamingos are the most numerous to welcome you.