3 days in Paracas, Peru | A desert by the sea

The first stop of my 15-day trip in Peru was Paracas, a peninsula located 4 hours by bus from Lima. When planning the trip, I chose to spend 3 days there (which was enough to see the main attractions), but after visiting, I would have extended it by a few days to explore some nearby points, like Huacachina. But that will be for my next trip to Peru.

How to Get to Paracas

I chose to go by bus from Lima to Paracas. The journey took about 4 hours, and the company was Cruz Del Sur. I bought all the bus tickets for the trip in advance, as I didn't want to worry about it during the journey, and all segments were with Cruz Del Sur. They were extremely punctual (I was very surprised, as in Brazil, delays in departure times are quite common), the bus was new and very clean, and the seats reclined almost 180°. The price paid for this was 65 soles.

Another option would be to rent a car, but I think it's only worth it if you're with more people, as it will be parked on the days you're in the city since everything there is done on foot.

I met some people who bought the "Hop on Hop off" option with Peru Hop, which is a very interesting option as you can be more free to decide when to leave for the next destination. I didn't choose this option because of the price, which for 15 days would be $199, and didn't have the option to return to the initial city.

Where to Stay in Paracas

My chosen accommodation was the Viajero Kokopelli Hostel, for two reasons: the price and the possibility of connecting with people from all over the world during the trip.

The value for 3 nights was $34.

They have hostels throughout Latin America, and in various cities in Peru (Lima, Paracas, Huacachina, Arequipa, and Cusco). This one in Paracas has direct access to the beach, which is great for enjoying the end of the day drinking a Cusqueña.

Additionally, they have a schedule of daily activities for both day and night, such as walking tours, drinking games, trivia games, among others.

What to Do in Paracas

As soon as I arrived in the city, around 10 am, I walked for 10 minutes to the hostel (but don't worry, you have the option of taking a taxi that will charge you around 30 soles), left my bags at the hostel and went out to explore the city a bit and look for a place to have lunch. Paracas is quite small, and with a very leisurely half-hour walk, I had gone from one end to the other.

My lunch was a classic ceviche at Nautilus, which is on the promenade facing the sea, and soon after I went to make reservations for the tours for the next two days.

Paracas National Reserve

To explore the Paracas National Reserve, I rented a scooter from Play Roja Tours. The rental cost 100 soles (with fuel included), and I could keep it all day to explore everything at my own pace. It's also possible to rent bicycles and ATVs (all-terrain vehicles).

At the entrance of the Reserve, there's a booth where you need to buy the entrance ticket, which was 10 soles and gave me the right to enter the reserve and Islas Ballestas (which I'll talk about below). In the morning, I visited Playa Supay, La Catedral, Mirador Istmo, and Lagunillas (where I had lunch).

One of the things I loved most about this tour is that basically the entire way to Playa Supay I drove without anyone appearing, as I left early, at 7:30 am. And the feeling of freedom was magical. The scenery, the cold wind on my face, everything came together to make it one of the best experiences of this trip.

All the points where I stopped had a very good viewpoint structure, but nothing more than that. At some points, there were small vendors selling water and some crackers, but nothing much.

Oh, and very important, always go with some coins in your pocket to use the bathroom if needed (but only number 1, since these bathrooms on the way don't have a hydraulic network for flushing).

Before Play Roja, I took a detour to go to Mirador Istmo, which gives a complete view of Playa Roja, which has this name because of the reddish coloration of the sand (almost purple). And arriving at Play Roja, I stopped before the viewpoint to take some videos with the drone (be careful with the seagulls, I almost lost it to them haha).

My last stop of the morning was in Lagunilla, the only point in the reserve with a larger structure and restaurants. And as soon as you stop, there are 3 waiters with menus in your face and practically pulling you to their restaurant. But don't be afraid to say no. I usually like to see the menus before sitting somewhere to avoid any surprises with the dishes, and of course with the prices. So I looked at the menu of some options and ended up choosing Sol de Oro, which had options for set meals at great prices.

Even here, with restaurants, there is only one bathroom, and you need to pay 1 sol to use it.

After lunch, I went up to the Lagunilla viewpoint. This is where the fishermen concentrate, so the place is very beautiful for photos.

A curiosity about Paracas is that even with an accumulated precipitation of 26mm in the year, it dawns cloudy every day and the sun only starts to appear around 1 pm.

So at this time after lunch, I changed the clothes I was wearing for shorts and a shirt. On the scooter, even with the sun, the wind is still quite cold.

With lighter clothes, I continued to the last stop of the day, Playa La Mina. This was the only place where they requested the ticket to stamp. Here I went down to the beach and spent some time relaxing on the sand. There were some people in the water, but I didn't have the courage, as it was freezing.

Some tips for this tour: bring water and snacks. I brought my 2L Camelbak (as I usually drink a lot of water), and bought dried fruits to take (they have some wonderful dried sweet potatoes and bananas (I even bought a big pack to bring to Brazil, which I ended up eating before takeoff haha). And don't worry about how to get there. I looked up directions to all the places on Google Maps beforehand, but the route is well-signposted, and if you follow the signs, there's no way you can get lost.

Islas Ballestas

I booked this tour with the staff at the hostel reception, and paid 60 soles for the boat (in addition, you need to have the ticket, which can be bought along with the ticket for the National Reserve for 10 soles).

We left the hostel at 7:30 am and walked to the boat departure point (it was very crowded). There, pay close attention to your guide, as she will direct you to the correct boat, and with so many people you might get confused.

The tour lasts an hour, and throughout the journey, the guide speaks in Spanish and English about the places we're passing.

The island is known as the Poor Man's Galapagos, due to the abundant marine life, but at a much more accessible value.

We saw sea lions, starfish, various birds, and even penguins, which are quite small and almost the color of the rock, but if you pay close attention you can see some (but the guide always alerts when an animal appears).

On the island, there's the Agro Rural Institute, which counts and monitors all the animals on the island. Cool, right?

At the end of this tour was my first mishap of the trip, as the tour ended at 9:30 am and my bus to Arequipa was at 10 am (super punctual as I said above). It turns out that at 9:30 the boat had not yet docked. So when it stopped at 9:45, I ran back to the hostel (literally), grabbed my backpack, and made it to the bus station in time. I arrived as the bus was already there and people were boarding, just in time to buy water and continue to the next destination...

...coming soon in the next post.