Lima to Paracas
Driving on the famous Pan-American Highway we will first pass through southern Lima’s fast growing suburbs, then continue down the coast while passing the fertile river valleys off Canete and Chincha until we reach the village of Paracas.

Our adventure continues in Pozo Santo where we’ll lower the pressure of our Toyota Hilux 4-wheel drive tires and will drive through the desert on our way to the fabulous Paracas National Reserve. Within the reserve, we’ll see flamingos in their natural habitat, fossils millions of years old, beautiful desert dunes colored in deep yellows and reds, and gorgeous views of the ocean along the untouched coastline. The Paracas Reserve is dedicated to protecting and conserving

Today is a big 4x4 day, during which we’ll tackle some challenging sand dunes, much larger than the ones the day before. The spectacular dunes, in fact, are so large that we can toboggan down their sides! We’ll also experience some fesh fesh (powder) and will have a fantastic view overlooking a 50k- long beach where we’ll go to camp. But before we do so, we’ll have an exciting journey down a string of sand dunes, journeying through a very remote and beautiful area before reaching our camp.

Another fun and challenging day awaits us. First, we’ll follow the beach for 50 km, crossing the mouth of the Ica River, which flows out of the Andes and which once nourished the Paracas civilization, whose remains are scattered throughout the area, before arriving at Puerto Caballa. From here, we’ll do some big four-wheel drive climbs, reaching almost 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) above sea level. We’re now in the San Fernando National Reserve home of some 252 species of birds, 90 different kinds of fish and crustaceans, and amazing reptiles and mammals like the Andean Fox and the Puma. Hundreds of sea lions can be seen playing and resting on the beach. Meanwhile, we may see the majestic Andean Condor, which makes an incredibly long journey each day from the mountains to the ocean and back.

In the morning, we’ll have time to wander a bit around the San Fernando Reserve and then we’ll leave the beach behind and head inland towards Nazca, where the famous and enigmatic pre-Inca Nazca Lines are located and that can only be properly viewed from the air. How did the ancient Nazca people build them? What were they for? We’ll discuss all of the theories. We’ll also still have some fun crossing a few sand dunes to get there. We’ll spend the night in a hotel in Nazca, a quaint Peruvian coastal town.