A short guide about Overland Expeditions to Ballestas Islands
The Ballestas Islands are located about 30 minutes off the Peruvian Coast, and are inhabited by amazing marine life, with over 200 types of migratory and resident birds, including Peruvian Pelicans, Belcher’s gulls, Humboldt penguins, Guanay cormorants, Red-legged cormorants, Inca terns, Peruvian boobies and Turkey vultures among others. In addition the Islands have hundreds of sea lions resting on beaches, sleeping on rocks or just swimming near the boat.
The best way to get to the Ballestas Islands is to travel to Paracas Bay, which is located some 15km away from the modern city of Pisco. Around the bay there is a nice little fishing village called El Chaco, where there are some hostels and hotels. This is the best place to organise a boat trip to the Ballestas Islands and also include a land tour to the Paracas National Reserve. Another nearby village known as El Chako is virtually on the shores of the Pacific Ocean and has a small family owned hostel with nice furnished rooms. Both offer the perfect location to walk along the ocean shore or just relax with a glass of Pisco Sour at one of the many restaurants overlooking the sea
Paracas has a small museum with some excellent examples of the oldest textiles in the world and also it has some quite amazing deformed skulls. But Paracas biggest attraction is hopping on a boat to visit the Islas Ballestas or the Reserve National Park. Most people visit the area on a day trip from Pisco and from $7 US, they are said to be pretty good value. While watching hundreds of birds, be entertained by the large colonies of Sea lions that seem to be as interested in the tourists as they are of them. Most motor boat tours to the Ballestas Islands pass the Candelabro on the way there, a giant figure etched in the desert, similar to the ones found around Nazca. There are also tours around the coast of the Reserve visiting some archeological points of interests, seeing more birds and finding perfect places to swim.