Tourism Week & the Independence Festival of Pisco (Sept 1-14)

In Pisco the city’s Tourism Week (actually two weeks) celebrations, meant to promote the main attractions of the province, continue. Throughout the coming week there’ll be art and food fairs, outdoor concerts, parades, Pisco brandy and wine tastings and competitions, Peruvian Paso horse shows, cockfights, and the International Sandboarding Competition.

There’ll be a parade today through the Main Square of Pisco, as it’s the anniversary of the landing of the United Armies of the Andes under the command of General San Martín to Paracas Bay. Four thousand Chilean, Argentinean, and Peruvian troops disembarked and headed to Pisco, where they set up General Headquarters near the main square from which they would launch the first battles of the Wars of Independence, clashing with Royalists throughout the nation over the following years until finally declaring Peru an independent nation.

How to Get to Pisco

Pisco is about 4 hours south of Lima by car on the Panamerican Highway, in the Department of Ica. Since it’s such a short trip, travelers usually get to Pisco by bus. by Contact Pirwa Travel if you’d like assistance arranging transport. If you’re staying at one of Pirwa’s Hostels in the Miraflores district of Lima, just stop by the in-house travel desk and get answers to all your travel questions.

While You’re There….

Grab a windbreaker, hat, and sunscreen and make your way to Paracas Bay and grab a motorboat to the Ballestas Islands to view the colonies of diving Humboldt Penguins, lazing fur seals and playful sea lions, and a great variety of sea birds that make their home among the grey, red, and sand-colored rocky outcrops collectively known as the Ballestas, carved into elegant twisting tunnels, arches and caves by water and time. Occasionally dolphins will enter the waters as well, or, with luck, humpback whales. If you’re planning on visiting, remember that Pirwa Travel offers tours of the Ballestas Islands and Paracas Reserves.