Day 419 – Paracas
Isla Ballestas and Paracas National Park Tours
We woke up early at our guest house Buganvilla B&B and packed our day packs for our tours in Paracas. Just before 7am, a lady was knocking on the front door, as I was looking for breakfast. The lady I let in was the chef. She promptly made breakfast, which was nice.
Common Area of Buganvilla B&B
Ballestas Island
Then we walked to Kory Tours. We had to wait here until one other traveller arrived. We had booked the tour last night for 45 PEN ($20.07 AUD) per person (p/p) to Isla Ballestas and the Paracas National Park with a guide. Entrance fees were an additional charge.
We paid 17 PEN ($7.58 AUD) p/p for the National Park that covers both Isla Ballestas and Reserva Nacional de Paracas (Ballestas Island and Paracas National Park) to the agency. Then we had to line up and pay 5 PEN ($2.23 AUD) p/p to the Paracas Port. Afterwards, the guy from the agency left us in a line that was full of local tourists.
We got into a large open roofed boat, just after 8am. There were around 30 people on the boat with only 3 English speaking tourists, including us. We were fortunate that the tour guide kept coming to us and explaining everything in English.
We first went past Candelabro, which is similar to the Nasca Lines. It looks like a cactus or trident. The guide explained that there is no mention from the 1800s in the Spanish Chronicles. The earliest mention is 180 years ago by a priest. 180 years is still impressive as a minimum. Just like the northern coast of Peru, there is hardly any rain here.
Then the boat continued to the group of Islands known as Islas Ballestas. Along the way, we were surrounded by hundreds of birds. It was like nothing I have ever seen. The guide mentioned that the Humboldt Current (Peruvian Current) brings a lot of plankton into the area, which is one of the reasons for all the wildlife here.
Once we reached the island, it was incredible. It’s a bird watchers dream, except for the fact that you must stay in the boat, which makes taking photos difficult. We saw thousands of birds on these tiny islands. From Peruvian Boobies to Humboldt Penguins. It was incredible.
The most incredible thing, was an island that was covered with so many birds that it looked like black dirt from a distance. Even after the Galapagos Islands, this blew our minds!
The boat went around the various islands stopping to see various sites and birds. Then we went back to the port. Our guide explained that the main income for the region is from the international port, gas, fishing, agriculture and tourism. We were back on solid ground at 9.30am.
Pit Stop in Paracas between tours
After the tour, we had some time until our next tour. Therefore, we went to a restaurant along the pier called Delfin Dorado for coffee and tea. The views were nice. Most of the restaurants are empty this early in the morning.
Then we walked around the central plaza and purchased transport to Huacachina for tomorrow.
Close to 11am, we walked back to Kory Tours to wait for our guided tour of the Paracas National Park. There was a nice empanada bike shop parked nearby. We purchased two of them as we waited.
Paracas National Park
This time a mini bus arrived that took us to the Paracas National Park. The guide was really friendly and energetic. Once again, the guide was speaking in Spanish and English, but this time the split of tourists was around 50 50.
The National Park isn’t like any other we have been to. It’s a desert. The bus left the seaside town of Paracas and drove less than 20 minutes to our first stop, Museo de Sitio Julio C. Tello. The guide took us through the start of the small museum before we were given free time to explore. The twenty minutes was very rushed if you want to go through the museum in detail and then visit the Flamingos. We did both, but we didn’t get to take our time in the museum like we normally would.
The museum has some interesting facts about the region and the wildlife.
Then we went out to a viewpoint with excellent views of the area. It’s a crazy contrast between the ocean and the desert. From here we went to a beach. The beach was nice, but we couldn’t stay there too long.
After this, we were taken to a small area with restaurants. The tour guide took us to a restaurant that was a bit too expensive for us. Besides, we had bought packed sandwiches. We ate these and then went to a nice look out. It was super windy up here, but the views were nice.
Then we walked back to the restaurant, where the people were still eating. Therefore, we walked down another beach. I don’t know what the official name is, but it could easily be called Death Beach. There were several carcasses of sea lions and birds.
Once we got back the bus was ready to take us back into town. We were dropped off at the main plaza.
Paracas
Since we are leaving for Huacachina tomorrow, we went back to the guest house and packed. Later that night we went back to the beach to enjoy the sunset. After sunset, we went to one of the more fancier restaurants, El Arizal for a seafood dinner.
