For the second time that day, we arrived and were ushered out on a sandy crossroad before I had even realized that the bus had stopped. It hurried on accompanied by the ticket guy’s monotonous shouting.
It was like in a film, you get off the bus, dust blowing in your face and you stand there looking at your destination, in this case: Chaco beach, Paracas. One of the first things I noticed was the discreet King’s Hall, which looked more like a very humble abode (see photo). In front of us colourful, small houses lined the road down to the beach and further through the village and to some hotels on the left. Walking down to the beach, we passed an open tent advertising the boat tours to the Islas Ballestas, and several people approached us to try and sell tickets. The road ended in a small circle just by the pier, with souvenir shops on the right and the beach walk with restaurants on the left. The afternoon sun left the side of the peninsula opposite shaded, but nicely warmed the sand in Chaco. We took up some space down by the waterline and tried to be polite to everyone advertising their ceviche, fried fish etc. The water was nice and warm, like the Skälderviken bay at the beginning of August after a generous summer. It was only later that Michael told me about the small spiked rays that you, or rather, the soles of your feet might encounter if you move too quickly through the seaweed. Back on the beach we secured expertly chilled cristal beer and glasses from a gentleman in an orange t-shirt.
After sunset, we withdrew to one of the restaurants for crispy fried chita with rice –mmm! Afterwards we admired the pelicans, while one of the locals fed them with little fish and then asked for a tip. A bus took us back to town, and after having had a quick look at the main square with obligatory church and children playing on the grass until midnight we went home to our nice hotel room, leaving a substantial heap of sand in the shower.
The next morning, breakfast was served at the ungodly hour of 6.40, but I had some lovely scrambled eggs with ham (don’t blame me, the choice was American or Continental breakfast – at least I had fresh pineapple juice). The bus picked us and most of the other guests up and brought us out to Chaco again, while offering a dubious guided tour (hi my name is Juan and I’ll be your guide today) of the streets of Pisco, picking up more people as we went on.
In Chaco, we were seated in a large speedboat, with life vests and everything. Thanks to the early hour, the sea was calm, and the boats moved swiftly. On the way I spotted something really unusual floating and diving in the low waves: an otter. They were nearly extinct, but seem to be returning to Peru now. It felt like a good sign for the day.
First stop with the boats was El Candelabro, a strange symbol in the ground on the tip of the peninsula. No one knows who made it or why, but it has been speculated that it was used as a landmark by seafarers.
After another 20 minutes we approached the islands, and they were really amazing.
Unfortunately the light was most unfavourable for someone as inept with a camera as myself. But I can guarantee that it was a sight: on the stony beaches, sea lions were competing for space. On the rocky slopes of the islands, the anemones and sea stars in the waterline were succeeded by Humboldt penguins and Inca Terns, then black and guanay cormorants and Peruvian Boobies and pelicans. 
The more rare Red-legged cormorant (Chuitas) seemed to prefer to stay in couples a bit on their own. 
The curious vaults and caves of the islands only added to the spectacular views. The guide was ok, and sure enough knew all the names of the animals, but when he started explaining the larger systemic features of Peru's coastal water, the Humboldt current, El Niño and zooplankton, even I spotted some knowledge gaps. Nevertheless, he did well at explaining about the guano collection and other curiosa, while we admired the black “cormorant carpet” covering one otherwise white island. Our last stop at the islands was a big beach filled with sea lions, with some impressive big males raising their voices every so often. At the back, vultures were feasting on either an unfortunate sea lion cub or placenta from a newborn. Apparently, during the high season of sea lion births, condors are known to travel from the highlands to the islands to eat the placenta.
It was strange leaving the islands with all the images in our minds, and facing just water again, but a group of pelicans accompanied us for a while.
Back in Chaco we were given a 45 minute break, which Michael and I took advantage of to buy postcards, beer and lovely, just made papa rellena - filled potato mash.
A bus then took us further into Paracas, stopping at the national park museum, where the guide had another stab at destroying my faith in his biological expertise. Moving through the desert, we finally arrived at El Catedral, a cave/rock formation by the beach. to see the cave, we had to descend a narrow sand path onto the gorgeous, vast beach. Walking along and getting our feet soaked by occasional waves, I admired all the crabs getting washed up, and the lizards running over the hot stones near the steep rock wall. Michael showed me some stones with fossil shapes in them. The cave was huge, damp and chilled – a nice change from the scorching heat in the desert. I was wishing for my snorkel and mask. On the way out again, I managed to spot a red araña de mar – a type of crab – scuttling over the seaweed and sand.
Having climed back up to the top, we moved to the designated “panoramic spot” of the cathedral, and obligingly took lots of photos of the beautiful scenery; the cathedral, the yellow desert sand, the blue waves, and in the distance, more beaches and islands that reminded of Scotland, raking into the sky.
With our stomachs grumbling, we arrived in Langunillas, the secluded fisherman’s hamlet with 5 restaurants and a lovely beach with calm waters. The guide told us to be weary of the sea urchins, but assured a nervous Swiss that there would be no medusas (jellyfish). He was proven wrong the instant we set foot on the beach, where a big, brown jellyfish with a bell pattern like Arabic henna adornments was frying in the sand. Fortunately that was the only one, and the water was soooo nice. After my first contact with the spiky sea urchin bottom, I kept my toes where I could see them.
Lunch was had in restaurant "El Che". We had tiradito de pejerrey: small sardine-like boneless fish filets in lime juice with ají amarillo and cilantro, served with camote. Delicious.
Afterwards, Michael went for another swim at a different beach, and I took some pictures of rocks that hinted at very interesting diving sites.
At three o'clock sharp, the bus left, bringing us back to our hotel for around 4 pm. The evening before, we had decided that we'd like to stay the next night at "El Amigo" just by the beach in Chaco, so we paid the bill at San Isidro and returned to Chaco, passing by the market in Pisco to by some necessities (small yellow mangoes and bananas). After checking in, we spent the afternoon and the better part of the next day at the beach, before getting on the bus just after 6 pm Friday. It was definitely a very agreeable way to spend the days between Christmas and New Year, especially knowing that at home wind and rain were doing their worst - we even managed to avoid a freak rain incident in Lima.
The plan is to come back and maybe camp directly in Paracas, with nothing but the blue ocean and white-yellow beach, crabs and birds for company. We'll see, there is so much else to explore too!
It was like in a film, you get off the bus, dust blowing in your face and you stand there looking at your destination, in this case: Chaco beach, Paracas. One of the first things I noticed was the discreet King’s Hall, which looked more like a very humble abode (see photo). In front of us colourful, small houses lined the road down to the beach and further through the village and to some hotels on the left. Walking down to the beach, we passed an open tent advertising the boat tours to the Islas Ballestas, and several people approached us to try and sell tickets. The road ended in a small circle just by the pier, with souvenir shops on the right and the beach walk with restaurants on the left. The afternoon sun left the side of the peninsula opposite shaded, but nicely warmed the sand in Chaco. We took up some space down by the waterline and tried to be polite to everyone advertising their ceviche, fried fish etc. The water was nice and warm, like the Skälderviken bay at the beginning of August after a generous summer. It was only later that Michael told me about the small spiked rays that you, or rather, the soles of your feet might encounter if you move too quickly through the seaweed. Back on the beach we secured expertly chilled cristal beer and glasses from a gentleman in an orange t-shirt.
After sunset, we withdrew to one of the restaurants for crispy fried chita with rice –mmm! Afterwards we admired the pelicans, while one of the locals fed them with little fish and then asked for a tip. A bus took us back to town, and after having had a quick look at the main square with obligatory church and children playing on the grass until midnight we went home to our nice hotel room, leaving a substantial heap of sand in the shower.
The next morning, breakfast was served at the ungodly hour of 6.40, but I had some lovely scrambled eggs with ham (don’t blame me, the choice was American or Continental breakfast – at least I had fresh pineapple juice). The bus picked us and most of the other guests up and brought us out to Chaco again, while offering a dubious guided tour (hi my name is Juan and I’ll be your guide today) of the streets of Pisco, picking up more people as we went on.
In Chaco, we were seated in a large speedboat, with life vests and everything. Thanks to the early hour, the sea was calm, and the boats moved swiftly. On the way I spotted something really unusual floating and diving in the low waves: an otter. They were nearly extinct, but seem to be returning to Peru now. It felt like a good sign for the day.
First stop with the boats was El Candelabro, a strange symbol in the ground on the tip of the peninsula. No one knows who made it or why, but it has been speculated that it was used as a landmark by seafarers.
After another 20 minutes we approached the islands, and they were really amazing.
Unfortunately the light was most unfavourable for someone as inept with a camera as myself. But I can guarantee that it was a sight: on the stony beaches, sea lions were competing for space. On the rocky slopes of the islands, the anemones and sea stars in the waterline were succeeded by Humboldt penguins and Inca Terns, then black and guanay cormorants and Peruvian Boobies and pelicans. The more rare Red-legged cormorant (Chuitas) seemed to prefer to stay in couples a bit on their own. The curious vaults and caves of the islands only added to the spectacular views. The guide was ok, and sure enough knew all the names of the animals, but when he started explaining the larger systemic features of Peru's coastal water, the Humboldt current, El Niño and zooplankton, even I spotted some knowledge gaps. Nevertheless, he did well at explaining about the guano collection and other curiosa, while we admired the black “cormorant carpet” covering one otherwise white island. Our last stop at the islands was a big beach filled with sea lions, with some impressive big males raising their voices every so often. At the back, vultures were feasting on either an unfortunate sea lion cub or placenta from a newborn. Apparently, during the high season of sea lion births, condors are known to travel from the highlands to the islands to eat the placenta.It was strange leaving the islands with all the images in our minds, and facing just water again, but a group of pelicans accompanied us for a while.
Back in Chaco we were given a 45 minute break, which Michael and I took advantage of to buy postcards, beer and lovely, just made papa rellena - filled potato mash.
A bus then took us further into Paracas, stopping at the national park museum, where the guide had another stab at destroying my faith in his biological expertise. Moving through the desert, we finally arrived at El Catedral, a cave/rock formation by the beach. to see the cave, we had to descend a narrow sand path onto the gorgeous, vast beach. Walking along and getting our feet soaked by occasional waves, I admired all the crabs getting washed up, and the lizards running over the hot stones near the steep rock wall. Michael showed me some stones with fossil shapes in them. The cave was huge, damp and chilled – a nice change from the scorching heat in the desert. I was wishing for my snorkel and mask. On the way out again, I managed to spot a red araña de mar – a type of crab – scuttling over the seaweed and sand.
Having climed back up to the top, we moved to the designated “panoramic spot” of the cathedral, and obligingly took lots of photos of the beautiful scenery; the cathedral, the yellow desert sand, the blue waves, and in the distance, more beaches and islands that reminded of Scotland, raking into the sky.
With our stomachs grumbling, we arrived in Langunillas, the secluded fisherman’s hamlet with 5 restaurants and a lovely beach with calm waters. The guide told us to be weary of the sea urchins, but assured a nervous Swiss that there would be no medusas (jellyfish). He was proven wrong the instant we set foot on the beach, where a big, brown jellyfish with a bell pattern like Arabic henna adornments was frying in the sand. Fortunately that was the only one, and the water was soooo nice. After my first contact with the spiky sea urchin bottom, I kept my toes where I could see them.
Lunch was had in restaurant "El Che". We had tiradito de pejerrey: small sardine-like boneless fish filets in lime juice with ají amarillo and cilantro, served with camote. Delicious.
Afterwards, Michael went for another swim at a different beach, and I took some pictures of rocks that hinted at very interesting diving sites.
At three o'clock sharp, the bus left, bringing us back to our hotel for around 4 pm. The evening before, we had decided that we'd like to stay the next night at "El Amigo" just by the beach in Chaco, so we paid the bill at San Isidro and returned to Chaco, passing by the market in Pisco to by some necessities (small yellow mangoes and bananas). After checking in, we spent the afternoon and the better part of the next day at the beach, before getting on the bus just after 6 pm Friday. It was definitely a very agreeable way to spend the days between Christmas and New Year, especially knowing that at home wind and rain were doing their worst - we even managed to avoid a freak rain incident in Lima.
The plan is to come back and maybe camp directly in Paracas, with nothing but the blue ocean and white-yellow beach, crabs and birds for company. We'll see, there is so much else to explore too!
