Peru - The Rough Guide to South America on a Budget - page 763

9 TOURS OF THE PARACAS RESERVE AND BALLESTAS ISLANDS

There are several local tour operators running standard speedboat tours to the Ballestas
Islands, leaving Pisco early in the morning and returning a couple of hours later. Many people
choose to do an afternoon tour of the Paracas National Reserve with the same operator,
making a whole day trip. The boat trips to the Ballestas Islands cost S40-50, not including
the S1 entrance fee, to be paid on the pier. They last two hours and take in the giant
Candelabra geoglyph on the northern part of the Paracas Peninsula, 124m tall and 78m wide,
before bobbing very close to the islands to give you the full measure of the impressive stench,
the rocks alive with wildlife and the sky dark with birds. You can sometimes see sea lions,
penguins and bottlenose dolphins.
Excursions into the Paracas Reserve typically cost S25, not including the S5 entry fee or
lunch. Tours begin at around 11am to coincide with the return of the boats from the Ballestas
Islands and take in a stretch of desert with 40-million-year-old fossils, two attractive beaches,
the popular “La Catedral” rock formation just off the shore, which collapsed after the 2007
earthquake, and a couple of fantastic viewpoints overlooking the desert scenery. Tours end
with lunch at the tiny fishing village of Lagunillas ( menú marino S25).
It's best to buy tickets the day before, as boats leave at around 8am and you can arrange to
be picked up at your hotel if you already have tickets.
TOUR OPERATORS
Most companies also organize cycling, camping and
dune-buggying trips into the reserve, as well as tours
to other nearby attractions, such as Tambo Colorado -
adobe ruins built by the Chinca culture - and dune-
buggy excursions into the desert.

Paracas Overland San Francisco 111, Pisco ( T 056
533 855, W paracasoverland.com.pe/home.htm), or
El Chaco, just as you enter the village ( T 056 533 625).
Paracas Explorer Paracas 9, El Chaco ( T 056 531
487, W paracasexplorer.com).

The Paracas Reserve
Founded in 1975, the PARACAS
NATIONAL RESERVE covers an area of
approximately 3350 square kilometres;
with a large area of ocean within its
boundaries, it also includes red-sand
beaches, stunning cliffs and islands. The
reserve is Peru's principal centre for
marine conservation and is home to
dolphins, whales and sea lions, as well as
many birds including pelicans, flamingos,
penguins and cormorants. The name
Paracas comes from the Quechua
“raining sand”, and the reserve is
constantly battered by strong winds and
sandstorms. Despite the harsh climate,
the area has been inhabited for around
nine thousand years, most notably by the
pre-Inca culture known as the Paracas.

mining that used to take place here, since
they are completely covered in guano or
bird droppings. Today the islands are all
alive with a mass of sea lions soaking up
the sun, and birds including pelicans,
Humboldt penguins, Inca terns, Peruvian
boobies and cormorants.

ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE
Just 4hr south of Lima, the Paracas Reserve is easily reached
via the Panamerican Highway.
By bus Only two bus companies, Oltursa and Cruz del Sur,
operate in Paracas proper, at the village of El Chaco. The
rest drop you off at Cruz del Pisco, in the middle of the
Panamericana, from where you will first have to take a
colectivo to Pisco (S3) and then another colectivo (S3) or
taxi (S15) to El Chaco. If travelling from Ayacucho, buses
drop you off at San Clemente, from where you will need
to catch a colectivo to Cruz del Pisco first. Oltursa has
an o ce in town at Av Paracas 6 ( T 994 616 492), while
Cruz del Sur stops at the northern entrance to the village
( T 056 536 636).
Destinations Oltursa to: Nazca (daily at 11am; 3hr 30min)
via Ica; Arequipa (daily at 11am; 14hr) via Ica and Nazca;
Lima (daily at 10am and 8pm; 2hr 30min); Ica (daily at
11am; 1hr 15min). Cruz del Sur to: Lima (5 daily only in
the afternoon; 3hr); Nazca (3hr 30min); via Ica (5 daily;
1hr); Arequipa (daily at 10am; 12hr).

The Ballestas Islands
Around twenty minutes offshore,
the Islas Ballestas , one of the most
impressive marine reserves in Latin
America, are protected nesting grounds
for vast numbers of sea birds. They are
sometimes referred to as the Guano
Islands, due to the intensive guano