Just south of Lima department (called “states” in the U.S.) is the department of Ica. Ica offers some of Peru’s best tourism and you can get there and back in a day. I took my family and mother-in-law for a Saturday in Ica last month, in which we toured the Islas Ballestas, Huacachina and the El Catador vineyard.

With three small children it’s difficult to take any kind of vacations given we have to visit my in-laws in Arequipa a couple times each year as well as my own gringo family in the States every year. While cities like Cusco, Puno and Iquitos are some of Peru’s most visited destinations, I was always intrigued by all the things to do in Ica.

Ica is home to the Nazca Lines geoglyphs, Ballestas Islands, the Huacachina desert oasis, the provincial capital Ica, the historic Afro-Peruvian town of Chincha Alta known for its gastronomy and dance and, most important for me, Peru’s best pisco and wine vineyards.

Actually, the Afro-Peruvian gastronomy combined with the pisco vineyards are the biggest draw for me. My priority was a big spread of food featuring Carapulcra con Sopa Seca and plenty of pisco and wine.

Paracas and Ballestas Islands

My wife found our tour package on Teleticket. It left Lima at 6 a.m. and arrived in Paracas around 9 a.m.

To get to Islas Ballestas, speed boats leave from the fishing port of Paracas. There is a large handicraft market outside the port selling all kinds of stuff from the Nazca culture and more. But the beach isn’t very nice and the main attraction here are the Ballestas Islands.

The boats shuttle about 50 passengers each about 10 miles from the port to the Ballestas Islands. At first glance the southern Peruvian coastline isn’t the most beautiful or useful terrain. The beaches are OK at best, but it’s cold and overcast for half the year. In some places desert mountains come right up to the shore, making it impossible to develop.

But the unique combination of the cold waters of the Humboldt Current and the tropical sun make a very hospitable environment for marine life. These turquoise waters are absolutely teeming with life. Birds, fish, shellfish, all kinds of life. The marine life supported civilizations along Peru’s coastline for thousands of years. Peru was home to the highest concentrations of humanity before the Spaniards arrived.

You’ll pass by the Candelabra geoglyph en route to the Ballestas Islands. Archaeologists believe it was designed in 200 BC by the Paracas culture, which is better known for deformed skulls and beautiful textiles on display at Peru’s official history museum.

Arriving at the Ballestas Islands, the rocky oases are popular among thousands of birds including pelicans, seagulls, penguins and more. The Paracas National Reserve is one of South America’s largest protected marine reserves, eclipsed only by Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands and Chile’s Rapa Nui off the coast of Easter Island. On a lucky day you can see dolphins and whales in the water, or condors flying overhead.

The tour snakes between these island outposts.

The sea’s abundant marine life can be seen in the rocky shores just above water, which are covered with starfish, urchins, mollusks, crabs and more. All kinds of things that crawl, slither or float on the ocean floor.

But the main attraction are the sea lions. You’ll see a few small groups on small spaces of rocky island. But hundreds lounge on the beach pictured above. It’s the highlight of the tour.

Above are the baby seals.

Unfortunately for me, lunchtime came while in Paracas, as opposed to the provincial capital of Ica (city) or the vineyard. The Paracas restaurants all serve seafood, which isn’t at all different and certainly not better than what we get in Lima. We chose the Hotel El Delfin El Dorado, which had an interesting platter of clams distinct from the common conchas parmesanas.

But my disappointment of the day was no Carapulcra with Sopa Seca. For that I’ll have to do more than just one day, or skip the Ballestas Islands in favor of going straight to Pisco, Chincha Alta or Ica.

After lunch I stocked up on sweets, which Ica is also known for. While most Peruvian desserts are known for not being very sweet (exceptions being Picarones and Suspiro), Ica’s regional desserts are on the opposite extreme. The chocotejas are becoming commonplace in Lima. But other treats like the limon relleno are harder to find. The latter was too sweet for my wife and mother-in-law.

Huacachina

After Paracas our tour bus went to the Huacachina oasis just outside Ica. The hostels, restaurants and other tourism businesses all hug the small freshwater pond. But the thing to do is ride the sand dunes by either sandboarding or going on an excursion in a “tubular,” or dune buggy.

Unfortunately for me, you don’t go on dune buggies or sandboarding when you have children aged four, two and one. But you can get an idea of what’s possible in the Viator video above.

Instead we opted for a boat tour around the lake. Pardon the shaky video. I’m trying to get better!

El Catador vineyard

After Huacachina our bus went to El Catador, a 19th-century vineyard which produces pisco and wine. The place was great, but I was disappointed by the late hour we arrived at. The kitchen was closed. Even the bar was closed. They gave us some plenty of great samples, but the only stuff for sale was to go. I couldn’t have a proper pisco sour.

You’ll love Peruvian wine if you like it sweet. For me the best of El Catador were their pisco creams, kind of like Bailey’s. We took home chirimoya and lucuma, but they also had strawberry and algarrobina (black carob). Chirimoya is the best.