PARACAS AND NAZCA

Inquire about the trips to Paracas & Nazca in February

The city of Paracas is located 260km south of Lima in the Province of Pisco. This small town is best known for its National Park and protected animal refuge of Paracas. The oldest marine reserve in Peru, it has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its significance.

In addition to the biological areas, the reserve protects prehistoric sites of the Paracas culture and other ancient civilizations. Near the museum is the Paracas Necropolis (100 BCE - CE 300), comprising the burial sites known as the Cabezas Largas and Cerro Colorado, where Julio C. Tello found many fine grave goods buried with mummified remains of the Paracas elite.

Also in the reserve is Pampa de Santo Domingo, where archeologists have dated finds of human remains to 6500 BC. Found there was a decorated quena (flute), believed to be the first musical instrument of Peru.

Tourist Attractions - See Slideshow below

The Ballestas Islands

One of the main tourist attractions include the Ballestas Islands which can be visited by boat only, on a tour lasting about 2 hours. In these islands, you can see different types of birds as well as giant schools of sea lions, dolphins and Humboldt penguins.

Paracas National Reserve

This huge peninsula is the furthest point to the west in the whole continent of south america. Couple this with the extremely frigid south ocean currents and BAM, you have the perfect recipe for a very unique marine wildlife. You can see sealions from the cliffs, a variety of birds flying all around you and even flamingos.

The Natural Cathedral

This rock formation in the Paracas Reserve has been an attraction for a very long time. The cliffs here as not as deep as in other parts of the peninsula and the arch allows the viewer a clear insight into the life of its inhabitants. There are also some trails that take you down into the enormous caves. This natural formation was destroyed during the 2007 earthquake, yet life continues just as usual for all the species found here.

Candelabro

The Paracas Candelabra, also called the Candelabra of the Andes, is a well-known prehistoric geoglyph found on the northern face of the Paracas Peninsula at Pisco Bay in Peru. Pottery found nearby has been radio carbon dated to 200 BCE, the time of the Paracas culture.

The reason for the Candelabra's creation is also unknown, although it is most likely a representation of the trident, a lightning rod of the god Viracocha, who was seen in mythology throughout South America. It has been suggested that the Candelabra was built as a sign to sailors, or even as a symbolic representation of a hallucinogenic cactus called Jimson weed or locally known as San Pedro.

NAZCA LINES

The Nazca Lines are a series of ancient geoglyphs located in the Nazca Desert in southern Peru. They were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. The high, arid plateau stretches more than 80 kilometres (50 mi) between the towns of Nazca and Palpa on the Pampas de Jumana about 400 km south of Lima. Although some local geoglyphs resemble Paracas motifs, scholars believe the Nazca Lines were created by the Nazca culture between 400 and 650 AD. The hundreds of individual figures range in complexity from simple lines to stylized hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys, fish, sharks, orcas, llamas, and lizards.

Hundreds are simple lines or geometric shapes; more than seventy are zoomorphic designs of animals such as birds, fish, llamas, jaguar, monkey, or human figures. Other designs include phytomorphic shapes such as trees and flowers. The largest figures are over 200 metres (660 ft) across.

Due to the dry, windless, and stable climate of the plateau and its isolation, for the most part the lines have been preserved. Nazca has only ever received a small amount of rain, but now with climate change, the fear of the Nazca lines being damaged is more real.

Click here for day to day itinerary of Paracas-Nazca February 2013! (Coming up soon).