The Marcona coast boasts Punta San Juan and San Fernando, two areas rich in wildlife, as well as the fabulous, strangely beautiful beaches that stretch south of this town with a heart of iron.

Text: Efrén Alcántara
Photos: Alejandro Tello

As I unfolded my maps Marita Matos, the charming attendant who spoke almost without looking at me, told me of the particular beauty of the beaches of Marcona. At the back of the bus -in the half-light- our mysterious conversation distanced us from all the passengers, who were being entertained by some movie or other. I listened to her, captivated. In those moments her gaze (or her memories) travelled faster than the bus, beyond those dunes. Overcoming my limited understanding and imagination, I tried to accompany her on her journey. 

Life in Punta San Juan
I suppose that almost all the tourists I travelled with from Lima, on my way to Marcona, stayed in Nasca and flew over the plains to view the world-famous "Lines". Fortunately, on this occasion my itinerary was much more innovative: I was heading south to those southern beaches that evoke images of sea and sand, of miraculous fauna and dreamlike beaches - all of it just a breath away, so close that it gives one a sense of vertigo. 

It is just a one-hour trip from Nasca to San Juan de Marcona (or simply Marcona). It was there, in front of the town hall, that I met Alcides Roldán (48) and Santos "Tataco" Quispe (33), both of them expert fishermen and divers from the region. The next day we boarded Tataco's all-terrain vehicle and headed for the beaches between Punta San Juan (Marcona) and magical Yanyarina (on the frontier between the departments of Ica and Arequipa). 

In Punta San Juan the state project Proabonos is charged with caring for the largest colony of penguins and seals in Peru. Dr. Uriel de la Torre, who is a specialist in wild fauna, was waiting for us there, together with Ricardo Moreno, the Proabonos ranger. The two men guided us through the Reserved Zone. Access to this 54-hectare reserve is highly restricted, and with good reason: according to the last census (31/10/2006) the reserve area is home to 1209 Humboldt penguins (Spheniscus humboldti), 1135 seals (Arctocephalus australis), and 1590 common seals (Otaria flavescens), as well as a large and varied population of seabirds. As we left the reserve I felt that I had been introduced to a beautiful ecosystem which is also extremely frail and vulnerable. It is imperative that this area continue to be preserved. 

Challenge in the sand
On the beach circuit Alcides worked hard to show me the many rock formations which one's imagination easily converts into zoomorphic forms, principally elephants. After the fifth or sixth elephant I was beginning to have enough and my gaze turned to the landscape as a whole - particularly those limpid green, blue and turquoise waters... cold waters rich in fish and shellfish, enigmatically beautiful waters. 

Tataco is an experienced and expert driver well-used to the challenge of four-wheel driving on the dunes. Last summer, in the famous La Lobera beach competition (3 km from Marcona), he challenged the former mayor of Marcona (and ex-congressman) Ramírez Canchari, to launch himself in reverse from a cliff onto a great sand dune that sloped down to the beach at a sixty-degree angle. To cut a long story short, after thinking it over the politician pulled out and the fisherman -confident and resolved - launched himself at the dune diagonally to a standing ovation from the crowd. 

After a rather hurried tour we decided we would make a more thorough trip the following day. I felt a strange mix of joy and expectation when Tataco announced that we were entering Yanyarina, just as the sun was beginning to paint that southern sea a magnificent gold. It was almost five in the afternoon. 

Inhabitants of Yanyarina
To our right, facing the ocean, an elderly and distinguished looking man was smoking a cigarette as he fished with a line. In common with other beaches in the area Yanyarina boasts great rock formations both on the shoreline and under the waves: Beautiful and wild islets dominate the scenery. As we moved on we came upon one of those reefs, from which a slender, black, wooden cross rose and three Guanay cormorants (Leucocarbo bougainvillii) observed us in silence. Some thirty metres ahead a group of houses arranged in a half-moon caught my attention and we stopped. 

The beach sergeant, Mario Cueto (46), came out to greet us warmly before excusing himself for a moment to spread his fishing nets. Alcides -true to form- offered to help him with the task. Tataco, on the other hand, on seeing that all was in order, prepared to leave. He was leaving us in good hands. We soon met more of the village's residents: husband and wife Tulio Gómez (53) and Natalia Cabrera (54), Sofía Kuan (Tulio's mother), and a friend of theirs, Carlos Torrejón (56), a retired police commander who was the man we had seen fishing with a cigarette in his hand as we entered the cove. The generosity of this hospitable family went beyond my expectations - they even offered us one of their rooms for the night. 

Chuchuhuasi: Before the sea
Yanyarina is approximately seven kilometres long. Although its sands mark the border between the departments of Ica and Arequipa, the resort is located within the jurisdiction of the Arequipa district of Acarí. This was the only inhabited beach on our trip. In summer visitors arrive from cities like Nasca, Marcona, Arequipa and Lima to enjoy one of the most overwhelming natural landscapes on this part of the Peruvian coast, as well as the warm hospitality of the inhabitants and the splendid local cooking, which combines chicken dishes with seafood, such as crab. 

That night our hosts offered us an exquisite dinner: fried white bass with vegetables. It was unbelievable. An animated conversation evolved at the dining table. Alcides was the centre of attention - inevitably - with his fantastic stories. I remember that at one moment Carlos put a bottle of "chuchuhuasi" on the table. This is an agreeable beverage from the jungle region which is said to be an aphrodisiac - a claim I was unable to confirm: after the fourth or fifth glass I was overtaken by drowsiness and went to bed. 

Shipwreck at Three Sisters
The following morning we continued our journey. Mario pulled up in his old truck on the adjoining beach of Tres Hermanas ("Three Sisters"), a habitat for seals and several species of seabirds. The beach is named for an old legend about three sisters who after disappointment in love drowned in that splendid sea and were changed into the three islands that now face the coast: Truly beautiful islands of caves, tunnels and natural archways. As we were leaving Alcides showed me a large piece of rubber from a freighter that was wrecked here in 1963 - an event he still remembered in great detail. 

On our way back via the beaches we arrived at Tres Hermanas. I was impressed by the fact that Alcides knew by memory the internal divisions of this and the following beaches. Punta Colorada is the next beach on the map: it is named after a kind of reddish, truncated mound that faces the coast. Continuing north we came to Ensenada Chiquerío, (comprised of a number of smaller beaches), Punta Chiquerío, and then the popular La Lobera, a favourite beach for campers. 

Elephants and turtles
As we continued Barranquito soon came into sight, with its small pools surrounded by reefs, and a little farther ahead was Punta El Cenicero, with its cliffs blackened by the thick seam of carbon in its rock. Little by little we were approaching a place of considerable interest: Los Leones beach, with its remarkable rock formations. I could not believe my eyes when I found myself facing a stone elephant with its trunk submerged in the ocean. Alcides Roldán told me that in front of this trunk there lies a galleon that sank there centuries ago, the remains of which still turn up from time to time. Several hundred metres offshore we saw the famous "turtle", packed with guano birds. 

With our trip almost over we visited a beach the name of which, La Conchita del Diablo, belies its peaceful nature. It is a small cove where children - including Alcides - learn to swim. Alcides spoke to me constantly of the stone figure of a "mammoth" that his son Yerson Jack had "discovered", and he begged me to mention the phenomenon in my article. I would never mention such an unimportant fact. Never. The following beaches (Pingüinos, Acapulco and La Herradura) are also lovely, although they receive far fewer visitors than La Lobero, Tres Hermanas or Yanyarina. 

Prayers from the heart 
When we had walked some 14 kilometres we arrived at Marcona's small cemetery, which we entered silently to visit the grave of his son, who had died at the age of just three months. Standing in front of the humble niche I felt moved and I said a silent prayer. My friend, in contrast, prayed with paternal love. I don't know, but I think - I believe - that where he is now that little boy delights in playing with elephants, turtles and mammoths of rock and sand. Perhaps. It had been all too brief a visit but it was starting to grow dark and we had to keep walking. Half an hour later Alcides Roldán and I walked into the centre of the town of Marcona. It was six in the evening and my heart was still - as it is now - drifting through those beloved southern seas, and in truth I have no desire to rescue it from its fate.  

<< Back