About 250km south of Lima are the famous Islas Ballestas: islands also called the second Galapagos. A great tourist destination that should be a must-see. We stayed a night in Paracas to do a tour of the impressive desert and to admire the Islas Ballestas with our own eyes the next morning. Although the desert is a great experience, the islands are disappointing. Why the Islas Ballestas was not a highlight and the desert was: read about it in the second part of our tour of Peru!
Paracas: the peninsula in the Peruvian desert
It is truly extraordinary: a desert that opens directly into the ocean. In Paracas you can admire this natural phenomenon. Including beautiful yellow cliffs jutting into the blue sea and bright red beaches. Paracas is a small village near the peninsula of the same name, which suffered extensive damage from a major earthquake in 2007. The village seems to live completely from tourism as it consists of hostels and hotels, restaurants and tour agencies. The main attractions are the Paracas Nature Reserve and the Islas Ballestas.
Reserva Nacional de Paracas: tour this impressive piece of Peru’s desert
As soon as we arrive in Paracas we immediately arrange a tour of this fantastically beautiful reserve. The guide is incredibly nice and tells the most interesting stories about this place. Thus, we learn that Paracas means sand rain. There is a huge wind which takes the sand of the desert everywhere. With a small group, we drive to various places on the peninsula. Where we hike, enjoy views and eat by the water.
The cathedral
After the first stop, we drive on to a point where we are blown away not only by the wind, but especially by the impressive views. The desert running directly into the blue ocean, with bright yellow cliffs and water smashing rugged shapes into the rocks. One of the rocks is also called the cathedral, where unfortunately little remains after the 2007 earthquake. We really feast our eyes on this beautiful place.
The red beach
Then we drive to a viewpoint on the red beach. The name says it all, of course. From here we take a short hike with beautiful views. The confluence of the red and yellow desert with the blue ocean remains impressive to behold.
Peruvian pelican spotting
We drive on to Lagunillas for lunch, but much more interesting are the Peruvian pelicans that make their home here. in the bay, dozens of fishing boats lie in the blue water, with the yellow desert as a background. From the restaurant, we hiked to a viewpoint to get a closer look at the pelicans. How cool! After dinner, we drive back to Paracas via the red beach.
Taking a boat to Islas Ballestas to see penguins: why it wasn’t a wow experience
After the amazing tour through the desert landscape of Paracas, we boarded the boat at 8AM the next morning to visit the Ballestas Islands. The archipelago is known for its many animals, such as penguins, many birds and sea lions. Unfortunately, the population of penguins and sea lions is declining. According to our guide, this is due to the huge number of tourists visiting the islands, so the stress causes the animals to seek another place. I can imagine. By the way, the Islas Ballestas are beautiful.
Candelabra Geoglyph: a mysterious figure in the rock
After about half an hour in the boat toward Islas Ballestas, you first pass the famous figure in the sand, which no one knows who made it and what it actually means. Beautiful it is in any case!
A rock with a face
On Islas Ballestas there are a lot of beautiful rocks, but this one was given specific attention. Not only is it a beautiful opening in the rock, but more importantly you can see a head in the rock. If you look closely. Do you pick out the shape of a face?
Penguins in sight
When you go to the Islas Ballestas in Peru you immediately think of penguins. Whether there were very many a few years ago…. I don’t know. But these days, it remains to be seen whether you see penguins at all. We talked to several people who didn’t see penguins, so I guess we were lucky. ‘As many as’ 4 penguins waddled by on the rocks. Very nice to see!
Stressed sea lions
After the penguins, we sailed to a place where you can see sea lions. As with the penguins, there are times when there are no sea lions. Which I can very well understand, by the way, because I can so imagine that those animals are enormously stressed by all the boats passing extremely close by.
Why the Islas Ballestas were disappointing
The Ballestas Islands are very beautiful. Beautiful rocks rising from the ocean, many beautiful birds and the raging sea. But what bothered me tremendously were the many tourist boats that sailed crowded together and got extremely close to the animals. At one point, I was completely uncomfortable being in one of those boats and wanted to leave as soon as possible.
Personally, I think a lot more distance can be kept on a tour like this; it’s best to consider the welfare of the animals. And that was clearly not the case here. I would have been fine with being able to admire the animals from much further away, then no close-up photos. The whole fact that there are so few penguins and sea lions left says it all I think. I myself would also leave if I had so much stress at home.
Although the place is beautiful, I could have skipped this just fine and only visited the desert at Paracas.
Paracas practical
How to get to Paracas?
In Peru, everything is extremely well regulated for tourists. Even without preparation, you will get everywhere without effort. We went from Lima at 7AM in about 4 hours to Paracas with bus company Cruz del Sur. The buses are all scheduled so that everything connects for tourists. If you are coming from Lima and don’t want to spend the night in Paracas you can leave at 3AM and on arrival go directly to Islas Ballestas and then into the desert. Then to continue traveling through Peru.
How do you arrange tours to Islas Ballestas and the desert?
There are many options in Paracas to book tours. Both at individual offices and in hotels. We arranged both tours directly at the Cruz del Sur bus station. The organization in question no longer exists, but there are many others. Everything was very well arranged and went on time and we had a very nice guide who knew a lot about the area. A tour of the desert takes 4 hours and the Ballestone Islands will take you about 2 hours. Care is always taken to be back in time to catch your bus connection.
If you don’t want to arrange it at the bus station, there are hundreds of options in the village itself.
Good to know in advance
- Although you are in the desert and it almost never rains here, it is not very warm, especially because of the wind. A windbreaker and long pants are not a luxury.
- A cap or hat is also handy, especially if you are going to the Islas Ballestas.
- Are you easily seasick? Then take pills with you or consider not doing the Islas Ballestas for that reason. At least eat beforehand. With us in the boat, there were 2 people who didn’t see anything because they were just throwing up.
- A boat tour to the Islas Ballestas is certainly not among the most responsible ways to travel. Certainly not when it comes to animal welfare. In addition, the many tourist boats can just make this a travel deception for you. If you value the environment and animal welfare, consider skipping this one. Would certainly have done that if I had known this beforehand.
Hotels in Paracas
There are many hotels and hostels in Paracas in all price ranges. Here is a list of hotels and hostels in Paracas.
Traveling through Peru
All tours and bus schedules are so coordinated that you can easily travel on to anywhere. At the Cruz del Sur bus station, buses go to both Lima, Ica (to go to Huacachina) and Nazca. All at convenient times. So no matter where your trip through Peru goes after Paracas: you can easily arrange this on the spot. We bought our bus ticket to Ica the night before.
Paracas: an impressive start (or end) of your tour of Peru! Click here for all articles on Peru.
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