Arriving in to Paracas at 20:15 we checked straight in to our hostel – Hospedaje Racs. Thankfully we had leftover pizza on the bus so we didn’t have to go out we could just head to bed.
Paracas is quite a small town on the coast, it’s a tourist hot spot due to the Ballestas Islands which is where we would be heading in the morning.
The two hour boat trip would head out into the Pacific Ocean towards the Isla Ballestas, which has been described as the ‘poor man’s Galápagos’.
The journey out to the islands was pretty, we got to see a bit of the Paracas Nature Reserve which we would be visiting in the afternoon.
We pulled up alongside the shore where we were shown a huge candelabra drawing – although I reckon it’s supposed to be a cactus. While it was similar to the Nazca lines we were told it was probably older, potentially 300BC – mad if true.
As we reached the rocky islands our guide almost immediately pointed out these little penguins.
There were thousands of birds surrounding the islands and the rocks were covered in poo.
As we rounded the corner we spotted another group of penguins, these are the Humboldt penguins.
There’s a cluster of small islands that are home to thousands of animals, mainly birds.
Next up it was a few sea lions sunbathing on a rock, the wildlife was surprisingly good!
Our guide pointed out these colourful spider crabs on the edge of the island.
Another type of bird on the island were the Zarcillo, they had red beaks with bright yellow bits on their faces.
The sea has taken its toll on the islands as many of these passages have emerged, I wonder if they’ll ever collapse.
There were loads of sea lions lazing around on the rocks, they looked very peaceful.
On the waters edge were these brown blobs which are actually a species of starfish, you can just about make out the legs on the one on the left.
A close up of one of the sea lions.
Our final stop was a pebble beach on one of the islands where there was about one hundred sea lions! They make quite a noise.
In the boat you could spot a few popping up in the sea, but it was difficult to get a picture. Here’s a few returning to shore after what was probably a successful fishing trip.
The return to the mainland was pretty quick, and thankfully we were sat at the front as the guys at the back got absolutely drenched by the waves!
For lunch we decided to try some fish as we were on the coast, the teriyaki fish with sesame seeds was delicious!
In the afternoon we had another free tour included in our Peru Hop pass. This was to the Paracas Nature Reserve which includes both land and sea.
Our first stop was the La Catedral lookout, which unfortunately no longer looks like a cathedral as it was destroyed in an earthquake in 2007.
However the views along the coastline made up for it.
Next we stopped on the cliff to get an aerial view of Playa Roja (Red Beach). You can see the dark red beach below.
We both had a picture from the viewpoint, both with a crazy red filter on, whoops.
The area was pretty stunning, desert one way and the beautiful coastline the other.
Our last stop was Playa Roja. Having seen Katie go here on her trip we were keen to check it out ourselves.
The red sand is called pink granodiorite and contains magma. It’s not a renewable sand so it’s protected from extraction.
Here you can see it looks a lot more red.
The two of us posed for pictures in front of the beach.
From here we returned to Paracas and had just over an hour before our bus to Lima. We grabbed some dinner and jumped back on the bus, just in time for another nice sunset.
The bus journey had one more free tour which was of the San Jose Slave Tunnels. The San Jose mansion was home to one of the richest Peruvians back in the day and at one point had 1,000 slaves working here.
The mansion which is now a posh hotel was very creepy at this time of the evening. It was pretty much deserted as it’s only really busy on weekends.
The tunnels used to run approx. 80 kilometres to the Pacific Ocean and were never actually used. They were basically built as an escape route if the family were ever attacked.
The tunnels were small and had a real bad smell which made it difficult to breathe.
We visited the punishment room which had a few bones in, presumably fake but you never know!
The tunnels were like a labyrinth, so thankfully the guide knew a way through. When we returned to the ground floor he told us how the food in Peru is so amazing due to the diversity. The slaves brought over so many dishes and flavours from Africa and there was also an influx of Asian immigrants too.
We were all given some lemonade in the creepy bar which again was deserted, definitely the start of a horror film!
Back on the bus it was another few hours to Lima…
Alex and Amy's Travels 