Grandiosely nicknamed the "poor man's Galápagos," the rocky Islas Ballestas (park entrance S11, guided tour S30 to S40) make for a memorable wildlife excursion from El Chaco.
On the outward boat journey, which takes about 30 minutes, you'll first stop just offshore to admire the Candelabra Geoglyph, a giant three-pronged figure carved into the sandy hills, standing some 150m high and 50m wide. The jury is out on the geoglyph's mystery-shrouded origins: some believe it to have been an outlying etching of the Nazca Lines.
A further hour is spent cruising around the archipelago's arches and caves, watching out for the large groups of noisy sea lions sprawling on the rocks. Innumerable birds produce guano, the poo bedaubing many rocks. Species include the guanay cormorant, Peruvian booby and Peruvian pelican in colonies thousands strong. Other highlights are the Humboldt penguins and, if you're lucky, dolphins. You will notice extraction facilities on a couple of the islands, too. The Peruvian government mines guano from the archipelago (it's a great natural fertilizer), but does so only every eight years.
The only way to get to the Islas Ballestas is on a guided boat tour, offered by all El Chaco's tour agencies, touts and many of its accommodations. Between them, agencies have departures every hour throughout the morning and into early afternoon daily, with departures from Marina Turística de Paracas on the Malecón (waterfront boardwalk).
In addition to the park entrance fee and the boat tour cost, boat tour participants must pay a S5 boarding fee/port tax. Early morning tours have the calmest seas and offer the best wildlife viewing. The standard two-hour tours do not disembark at the islands, but you nevertheless get startlingly close to an impressive variety of fauna.
