South Coast - Peru - page 243

5 Obelisk C2

6 Paracas Necropolis B3

7 Punta Arquillo B3

8 Yumaque Beach C3

Sleeping

9 Hotel Libertador Paracas C3

10 La Hacienda Bahia Paracas C3

Transport

11 Boats to Islas Ballestas C2

Centro de Interpretación
Offline map
( 7am-6pm) Located 1.5km south of the park-entry point, where a S5 entrance fee is
charged, this modest center's displays kick off with a 12-minute rather twee video aimed,
it would seem, at wide-eyed teenagers. The subsequent exhibits on fauna, archaeology and
geology are weightier and more inspiring. The new Museo Julio C Tello Offline map next
door, which opened in July 2012, has upped the ante significantly. The bay in front of the
complex is the best spot to view Chilean flamingos, and there's now a walkway down to a
mirador (lookout), from where these birds can best be spotted from June through August.

MUSEUM

Paracas Necropolis
Offline map
A few hundred meters behind the visitor complex on Cerro Colorado are the 5000-year-
old remains of a necropolis related to the Paracas culture, which predated the Incas by
more than a thousand years. A stash of more than 400 funerary bundles was found here,
each wrapped in many layers of colorful woven shrouds for which the Paracas culture is
famous. There's little to see now; indeed signs warn you off the site. Lima's Museo Larco
( Click here ) and Ica's Museo Regional de Ica ( Click here ) exhibit some of these exquis-
ite textiles and other finds from the site.
Beyond the visitor complex, the tarmac road continues around the peninsula to Puerto
General San Martín, which has a pongy fish-meal plant and a port on the northern tip of
the peninsula.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE