Paracas Candelabra

The Candelabro is cut into a sloping hillside on the Paracas peninsula facing the bay: a vertical shaft with two symmetrical branches, about 180 metres tall and trenched up to a metre deep into the hard salty crust of the desert surface. It faces the sea and cannot be seen properly from land, so every boat heading to the Ballestas Islands passes it. Who made it and when is unsettled - it is usually attributed to the Paracas culture, with pottery of around 200 BC found nearby, though the association is circumstantial and other datings have been proposed. Interpretations range from a navigational marker for sailors, to a representation of a jimsonweed plant, to a trident of the creator god Viracocha; the nineteenth-century story that San Martín's independence forces made it is not credible. The desert here has almost no rain or wind erosion, which is why it survives.

What you actually see

• The figure - about 180 metres tall, trenched a metre into the desert crust.
• The orientation - facing the bay, effectively invisible from the land side.
• The uncertainty - attribution to the Paracas culture is likely but not proven.
• The preservation - almost no rain, so the trenches have survived intact.

When to go

Year-round. Boats to the Ballestas leave Paracas in the early morning, which is when it is seen. It is a passing view of a few minutes, not a stop.

Honest expectations

Boats do not land - you see it from the water for a short time as the boat slows. Morning sea can be rough and spray is common. Photographs from a moving boat are hard. It is one part of a trip that is mostly about the islands.

Nearby

The Ballestas Islands are offshore; the Paracas National Reserve is south.