Paracas

Paracas is a small beach resort. Tourists come here to visit the Ballestas Islands and the Paracas National Reserve.

Right on the waterfront, you can find a lot of boats that carry tourists to the Ballestas islands ($12 boat + $4 ticket). There lives a huge number of birds, penguins and sea lions. It's better to start boat trip at 8 am or earlier, tour lasts 2 hours. Not necessary to spend the night in Paracas, but then you have to leave from Lima at 3:45 am.

We really wanted to go, but there were strong waves on the ocean all the week, so boats did not run. There are no waves on the photos of the town as Paracas located in the bay. Here is the picture of the islands from the internet.


Since we did not go to the islands, we walked along the waterfront in the morning.














And then we went to the Paracas National Reserve. If you do not have your own transportation, it is possible to buy combined tour: islands + reserve. You can buy it directly at the hotel.

Some tourists prefer to visit the reserve on the rented bikes ($10/day). Note that it may be very hot and windy, so cycling trip is only possible early in the morning. In addition, road there is not very good.


In the reserve we saw only one location - viewing point La Catedral. The place is very beautiful.




Because of the earthquake, part of the beautiful rock collapsed not long time ago.


On the way we stopped at another place, where were found shells, which are 10-20 millions years old. Long time ago this desert was a bottom of the ocean.


Getting there: The newest option is Peru Hop, the tourist buses that stop in many places, and you can use any of them. Check their website for information: http://www.peruhop.com, ticket price to Paracas $14. Find here timetable of the buses to/from Paracas.