1 Day In Port Pisco Peru–Soaring Over Time!
This post is part of a series on what to do when you have one day in port on a Cruise. You can find more posts from this series on my page, How To Spend One Day In Port.
The Nazca Lines: A Message from History?
The Nazca Lines have been in my bucket for a long time. I’ve mentioned my leanings towards archeology in other posts. This otherworldly group of geoglyphs, large drawings etched into the earth, is over 2,000 years old. It covers a landmass of nearly 190 square miles (500 square kilometers).
However, even for avid travelers like us, getting to this area of the world is unusual. There is no real reason to head to Pisco. But this 32-day cruise around South America gives us the chance to see the Nazca Lines up close and in person. This is why we spent our 1 day in the port of Pisco soaring over time, viewing the Nazca Lines.
My fascination with how ancient civilizations lived and created art (whether for religious purposes or not) never ends. A viewing platform in one location on the Pampa (plain) gives a person a minimal look at this incredible artifact. So, in spite of, or maybe because of, how large and how many there are, the best way to see the Nazca Lines is from the air.
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1 Day In Port Pisco Peru — General San Martin Port
We left Chile just over 48 hours ago, sailing north up the Pacific coast of South America. Our next stop is the Port of General San Martin, the stop for Paracas and Pisco. General San Martin is primarily a military and commercial port on a peninsula that juts out from the mainland, creating the Bay of Paracas.
Now for the realities of travel. The closest town to the Port of General San Martin is Paracas (on the mainland), which requires cruisers to take a 45-minute ride from the dock around the Bay into the town.
Pisco, where Capitan FAP Renan Elias Olivera Airport is located, is another 20 minutes north of Paracas. This airport is where the flights over the Nazca Lines depart from.
Should You Choose A Local Tour Or Book Through The Cruise Line?
One thing to note about taking a tour not sponsored by the cruise line: if you don’t make it back to the ship by the all-aboard time, the Captain may not wait. Ships have very little leeway on how long to stay in port. Tides and costs dictate when a vessel can arrive and when it must leave.
This is why many cruisers only take ship-sponsored excursions. The cruise lines generally guarantee that the ship will wait if you are on a sponsored outing and are late returning. However, in 20+ cruises and probably over 100 excursions, the only times we have been late returning to the ship were on ship-sponsored excursions.
On this cruise, the ship did have an excursion to the Nazca Lines, which cost more than double the cost of our tour through Get Your Guide. As of this writing, Get Your Guide offers this tour for $470 / person versus the price of Princess Cruises at $1119.95 / person. (All prices are subject to change.)
Because of the travel distances for this tour, using local transportation whose reliability we did not know, and the fact that we would be flying in a small plane that could get delayed for any number of reasons, I had some trepidation booking this tour through an outside vendor.
My DH is a bit more adventurous, but even he realized there was a possibility we might not make it back before the sailaway time. So we looked into alternatives to get to our next port in the unlikely event the ship left without us.
Not to keep you in suspense, we did make it back in plenty of time. At the end of this article, I will discuss what we did and how you can prepare for the unfortunate situation of watching your ship sail away without you.
Here’s How We Started Our 1 Day In Port Pisco Peru
As I mentioned above, we booked our Nazca Lines flight/tour through Get Your Guide. The package came with a private car to pick us up at the ship, the flight over the lines, and a return car to Paracas (where you could shop a bit and then catch the ship’s bus back to the dock) or directly back to our vessel. However, it was never made truly clear to us how to meet up with our car/driver.
Because we had booked a late morning tour, we let most of the cruisers on the ship’s excursions disembark before we headed down to the dock. Once on the pier, we hoped we’d see someone with our name on a sign, but this didn’t happen. So, for about 15 minutes, we walked back and forth, asking folks if they were from Get Your Guide. We finally found the coordinator, who quickly got us a car.
Our first driver, though, only took us as far as Paracas, where we were put in another car for the remainder of the trip to Pisco. The second driver took us to the airport, checked us in, and stayed with us until we were called for the flight.
I don’t speak Spanish, and my husband only speaks a bit. None of our drivers spoke English. These situations are why you want to know how to use Google Translate!
Pisco Gateway to The Nazca Lines — Soaring Over Time
Pisco is the capital of the Pisco Province of Peru. The town initially prospered due to the nearby vineyards. These vineyards create the “grape brandy,” known as Pisco. Pisco was exported from the port and became a very popular product. If you’ve been to South America, you have most likely been introduced to the Pisco Sour.
Founded in 1572 and initially named Santa Maria Magdalena, the grape brandy became so famous, and the demand for the liqueur was so great, that over time, the town became known as Pisco itself.
This part of South America is subject to earthquakes as it sits on the Pacific Coast and is part of the Ring of Fire. Most recently, in August of 2007, an 8.0 magnitude earthquake hit the region and destroyed much of the City. Pisco still has not recovered, and now its neighbor to the south, Paracas, is a more popular place to visit.
Capitán FAP Renán Elías Olivera Airport
This airport serves Pisco and is used by the Peruvian Army and civil aircraft. A new terminal building became operational in 2015. The new terminal is hoped to help bring commercial airlines offering destinations from Pisco to other cities in Peru and internationally.
However, this had not yet come to fruition when we were there. For now, the airport serves several charter flights over the Nazca Lines each day between 9:00 and 3:00 pm. As you can see in my photos, the airport was virtually empty when we arrived for our flight.
Flying Over The Nazca Lines
The charter companies use a variety of planes depending on the tours they have booked. The most common is the Cessna Grand Caravan (Cessna 208-A). The plane is a “turbo-prop,” with two pilots and 12 – 14 passengers, each with a window seat for good viewing.
Safety and Comfort
At check-in, we were asked a quick series of questions, including our weight. Don’t fudge here. The flight crew needs to know the weight of all passengers to ensure the plane is properly balanced. Based on this information, you will be assigned a seat number. If you are traveling with a partner or a group, they will work to keep you together. Still, the flight’s safety comes before anyone’s need to sit in a particular location.
Also, at check-in, we were given a map of the geoglyphs with the name and a picture of each glyph. This will come in handy when identifying the glyphs as you fly over.
Our Flight Over the Nazca Lines
Once your pilots have the plane ready, your group is led from the waiting area (in seat order) to board the plane. The pilots introduce themselves, and you are assisted in putting on your harness. Like most cars, the harness is a three-point safety restraint with a chest and lap belt.
When everyone was locked and loaded, the pilots headed for the runway and took the aircraft up into the clear blue sky. From takeoff, it took about 15 minutes of flight time before we reached the area of the Nazca Lines.
How I Photographed The Nazca Lines
The aircraft flew at a fairly low altitude, approximately 1,800 feet above the Nazca Lines. Once we were in position, our Captain, who happened to be a woman, provided us with the following information on how to view the different glyphs most effectively. The plane would circle each glyph twice, once tilting the aircraft to the left and then again tilting to the right.
The tilting is done over each geoglyph so that passengers on both sides of the plane have a good view of each glyph without leaving their seats. If you suffer from motion sickness, take your meds before the flight.
When the plane is tilted to the side you are seated on, the tip of the wing will be pointing at the geoglyph. Following the wing to the ground is the best way to aim your camera to get your photographs.
The flight path takes you over 16 geoglyphs. You need to be ready to shoot fast; the plane circles each glyph in about 30 seconds on the left and 30 seconds on the right before moving on to the next. Between the time at each glyph and the repositioning of the aircraft to the next, your flight time over the Nazca Lines is about 30 – 35 minutes.
When we’d seen our last glyph, the Captain announced that we were starting our return to the airport. About 15 minutes later, our visit to the Nazca Lines – Soaring Over Time, was over.
Carrying around a lot of heavy photographic equipment is not for me. I shoot all my photos using an iPhone. I like to travel light so I can be nimble. I paid money to enroll in a series of courses that focused on using my iPhone for photography, ensuring I could take good photographs with my phone.
For this trip, I used the iPhone 14 Pro Max. I’ve now moved on to the 16 Pro Max. The photos you see here were minimally edited, mostly cropped to highlight the geoglyphs. My best tip for capturing these aerial photos and making the most of the experience is to familiarize yourself with your equipment.
Discovering Paracas and Its Surroundings
A tourist can see a few other things in this dry, arid region of Peru, known as the Pampa Colorado.
- Many of our fellow cruisers chose to spend their day in port in Paracas. Several hotels with beach access in the area provide “day passes” for cruisers at a reasonable cost.
- If you want to spend more time on the water, there are day tours to the Ballestas Islands. Located about 19 km off the mainland. These Islands are home to sea lions, Humboldt penguins, cormorants, and pelicans.
- Visit the alien landscape of the Paracas National Reserve – a vast desert ending in high sandstone cliffs adjacent to the deep blue Pacific Ocean.
- Or visit the Huacachina Oasis and have an adventure driving sand carts up and down the Ica sand dunes.
What To Bring For Your 1 Day In Pisco Peru Adventure
Bring your camera, whichever adventure you choose, there’s bound to be great photography opportunities
Wear appropriate clothing. If you are hiking or out in the dunes, ensure you have good footwear. Apply sun protection liberally; there is very little shade. With that in mind, a hat and sunglasses will be very handy.
Lastly, you will want to bring some water and food, if your tour doesn’t offer snacks or drinks.
What Was Our Plan If We Missed Our Ship?
Knowing there was a slim possibility we might not return to the ship by sail-away time, we looked into transportation to our next port of call, Lima. As I mentioned earlier, there are no commercial flights from Capitán FAP Renán Elías Olivera Airport, so we knew we’d need to find ground transportation.
From Paracas to Lima, the distance is approximately 261 km, equivalent to about 162 miles. According to Google, the drive will take between 3 and 4 hours. I guess the road is not a freeway or an autobahn. So we looked to see if we could rent a car.
After researching rental cars, we found that taking a bus between these two cities is very common and affordable. Perubus makes two trips daily between Paracas and Lima. One trip left at 4:40 and the fare was around $15.00 US. This seemed the best way to get to Lima, should we miss sailing.
When you are in port, a port agent is designated for your cruise. The cruise ship has an itinerary for each day, and the information for the port agent is included in this itinerary, whether printed or available on your cruise line’s app. Make sure you have this information handy.
Meeting up with the port agent is crucial if you’ve missed your ship. The agent will have already been informed by the ship that they are sailing without you and may have been given your documents if you left them on board. The agent will also notify the ship of how you plan to rejoin the cruise.
You will hear varying theories about carrying your passport with you when you leave ship. And in some cases, you may not have a choice. There are cruises when the ship’s officers collect and hold passports as required by the local nation’s laws. However, when we leave the ship, we like to have our passports in our possession.
Knowing we had options alleviated most of my anxiety about missing our sail time. Most, not all…
We Loved Our 1 Day In The Port of Pisco Peru
Here are my final thoughts on our day in port. The beginning of the day was a bit confusing, but the staff hired by Get Your Guide were ready and knowledgeable. Our flight was magical. Seeing the Nazca Lines truly felt like we were soaring over time.
As we left port, I found myself reflecting on this historical mystery. Why and how did the early settlers of this land draw these fascinating geoglyphs? Did they know back then that thousands of years in the future, humankind would still be studying these drawings in the desert?
I’d love to hear your stories. Have you had a chance to visit the Nazca Lines or another sacred site shrouded in mystery? Let me know. It may be one of my next adventures.
